The 'unique' knife sharpening cart in Vinh city

"cut hand" profession

The knife sharpener's simple tool cart. Photo: Diep Thanh

It is easy to see "knife sharpener" on the streets ofVinh Citywith a strange old bicycle. He leisurely roamed the streets, stopping at all the markets he passed and becoming close friends with many food stalls. Thanks to that, he had customers every day, no matter which area he went to. Or even if he didn't meet customers along the way, he had many regular customers who proactively called him on the phone.

On his bike, he erected a long bench that he designed himself to facilitate his knife and scissor sharpening work. The handlebars and basket were filled with other essential items such as speakers, water, baskets, etc. All were old and rudimentary. The most “modern” part of the bike was probably the hand-held grinder – the first tool he used in his sharpening process.

To start the work, he lowered the 30cm high bench down, and took out rectangular grinding stones with different levels of roughness from a homemade plastic basket attached to the back of the bench. The large water can hanging on the car was also taken down and filled into the dirty plastic basin - water is an indispensable "material" throughout the grinding process. Once finished, he found a power source to plug in the grinding machine. While preparing quickly, he chatted: "Before, I also studied construction engineering. There was a period when the construction industry faced many difficulties, there was no work, I applied to work in the private sector and then quit. When I retired, my health was not good, so I switched to this profession. The first 2 years I manually ground by hand and stones at the markets. Later, when I had a grinding machine, I was more flexible in my work, choosing to go to many places instead of sitting in one place, which was both fun and had more customers."

Before being hand-sharpened, the knives are wetted and machine-sharpened. Photo: Diep Thanh

Wetting the knife and sharpening the machine are the first basic steps. The sharpening blades are selected according to the condition of the knife or scissors. For rusty steel, use a brush first, for less rusty stainless steel, use a whetstone. Working with the machine requires the worker to be extremely careful and have a steady hand. “After many years of working, no matter how careful you are, there is still a risk of occupational accidents. The last time, I almost had half of my thumb cut off by the machine. Luckily, I was able to get to the hospital in time to reattach it,” he said. Wherever the grinder moved, sparks flew.

On average, it costs 5-15 thousand VND to sharpen a knife/scissors, but the "knife sharpener" does it very thoughtfully and carefully. Photo: Diep Thanh

After processing the rough part by machine, the knife sharpener moves on to grinding.handmadeby hand and stone. Rectangular whetstones are fixed to the bench to make sharpening easier. At this time, the knife sharpener's technique is shown through the tilt of the knife, the choice of the fineness of the whetstone, and the pressure of the hand on the knife. The sharper the knife, the finer the whetstone is chosen. During the process of sharpening, changing the stone, and washing the stone, the craftsman often has to test the sharpness of the knife by lightly touching the blade with his thumb. His thumb is covered with horizontal scratches - traces left by sharp knives.

While working, he proudly introduced his special whetstones to everyone. Pointing to two whetstones, half red and half white, he said: “Each of these is worth 500 thousand, they are Japanese whetstones that I ordered online. Japan has whetstones worth millions of dong. There are also many types of whetstones and mudstones in the market, but most of them are common, not very durable, good for family use, but not for professional use.”

The mind of the knife sharpener

On average, it takes him more than 5 minutes to sharpen each knife. For difficult cases, it will take longer. 14 years in the profession is enough to make his scarred hands become professional in sharpening, his eyes become an expert in choosing quality knives and scissors, and he is not afraid to share what he knows with everyone. He guides people on how to classify and recognize genuine knives, teaches housewives how to ask to buy a good knife, and frankly advises customers not to sharpen poor quality knives. "I can sharpen everything, but I always advise customers not to sharpen fake, counterfeit, and poor quality knives and scissors. Because their material is very thin, easy to rust, chip, and has a short lifespan, it is best to throw them away instead of sharpening them," he explained.

Many tools but scientifically arranged so grinding is very convenient. Photo: Diep Thanh

The “knife sharpener”’s step in checking the quality of the product after sharpening is to use a knife and scissors to cut a thin sheet of plastic. “Cutting paper is not as difficult as cutting plastic” – he smiled, his face satisfied looking at the sharp cut of the scissors on the plastic sheet after many tries and tries. He added: “I can completely finish my work faster, but that means losing my reputation. When customers trust me, I have to be dedicated to my work, definitely not letting them feel that the value of the money spent is not worth it.”

"Valuecoin"What he is talking about here is 5-15 thousand to sharpen a knife or scissors. His words made many people feel sad and his dedication to his profession made many people admire him. In the golden age of the manufacturing industry, when people prefer to buy new instead of repairing old ones, I hope that the "knife sharpener" still has many customers every day.

The chair records the knife sharpening appointment and the customer's phone number. Photo: Diep Thanh