The Glamorous Life of a Mobile Knife Sharpener

Setting up and spending time in the parking lot of a supermarket is not as glamorous as one would think...

Today would be a good example of that statement.

I took off for Lunardi's San Bruno to set up my mobile knife sharpening business for the day. I am at Lunardi's San Bruno every Wednesday.

Fall Leaves in Campbell, California

A real rainy day will usually cancel at Lunardi's San Bruno, as the setup is in the parking lot and there is no shelter from the elements. But — leaving Campbell in the morning the day seemed like it would be at least OK. Check out the picture above that I took on the way out of Campbell. Another reason that I headed out is that we are close to Thanksgiving — one holiday when everyone wants sharp knives — and that I will miss the following Wednesday (Lunardi's wants the parking lot for customers only the day before Thanksgiving) — so off I went.

Rain Clouds on San Bruno Weather Map

Well, it didn't take long for the rain to hit. Look at the weather map I took off my phone. I was set up in the parking lot, and was busy from the git-go! Sharpening knives you literally have your nose to the grindstone — so I didn't at first notice how much rain was coming down...

Next thing I know, I see my new knives that I have offered for sale (in cardboard display boxes) turning to mush, my extension cords under water, and everything wet. I put away what I could, raised my tools and power cords off the ground and kept at it.

Then my solar setup quit. Experience told me that my battery could run the sharpening machines for a day without getting run down. Well, it didn't. Perhaps it was not fully charged, maybe the battery has aged, I don't know.

I had anticipated this (but not quite this early in the winter season) so I had already bought a second battery to have on hand to supplement the existing battery. I didn't think I would need it this early in the season as I said, so I had just the battery — no way to put it into the circuit.

So — here I am, wet, customers waiting — holding this spare battery and trying to decide what to do.

Deep Cycle Battery Jury-Rigged

I decided the un-fussed side of the one Anderson plug that I had on hand would work for one pole, and a file would be just the trick for the other pole!

I clamped the Anderson plug wire between the two black terminals, wedged the file under the red terminal and, pressing it down to make contact, clamped the file so that it bridged the two red terminals.

Success!

My View of Lunardi's San Bruno's Rainy Parking Lot

Here is my view out over the knife sharpening machine.

Knife Sharpening at Rainy Lunardi's San Bruno

So — even though it was a rainy, cold day — it was busy, and since I was bundled up I was not cold. I enjoyed the day!