The Fancy Cars Visible from a Mobile Knife Sharpening Booth

Being that my mobile knife sharpening business is outside — mostly in Supermarket parking lots — I often see some nice cars. These cars might be vintage, unique and expensive, or just fun. I decided to take pictures of some of them and post them up on this blog.

Yellow Hot Rod at Gene's Fine Foods Pleasanton

I am not the best at identifying cars, and I am usually too busy to take notes — so let me call this car a yellow hot rod.

I was sharpening knives at Gene's Fine Foods in Pleasanton when this car parked. Gene's is near the fairgrounds in Pleasanton, and the Good Guys car show was the same Sunday so a lot of cars drove by.

Yellow Sports Car at Lunardi's San Bruno

I'm sharpening knives at Lunardi's San Bruno when this little number parked. The owner asked me, "Do you know what a barn find is?" I said I did. He said that this was a 'garage find,' that his girlfriend had it stored in her garage for years, just sitting, very low miles. He finally convinced her to sell, so he is now driving it around and restoring it bit by bit.

Two Cars at Gene's Fine Foods Pleasanton

Here are two cars at Gene's. A bug behind the little red number.

Gene's Fine Foods Pleasanton Hot Rod

Another fast little number seen at Gene's.

2015 Ford F150 Pickup at Lunardi's Bascom San Jose

I know the make and model of this beauty — because it's mine! This is my new Ford F150 Pickup. It is the Super Cab model (so it has the back suicide doors), and I have a Diamondback tonneau cover on the bed. This picture is at Lunardi's San Jose/Bascom and shows the beginning of me setting up for knife sharpening.

Old Jaguar Visiting my Knife Sharpening Booth

This is a 60s ear Jaguar. All I remember from our discussion is that it is a six cylinder and has three carbs. The hood latches need adjustment and so the car's owner was in buying a 12 pack of beer to bring as a bribe. This was at my Lunardi's Bascom in San Jose knife sharpening location.

Nice White Corvette

This sweet ride pulled up next to my knife sharpening booth at Lunardi's Walnut Creek. I am surprised at how nice white looks on sports cars, I always thought of white as a working truck or van color.

Message Board Car at Piazza's Fine Foods Palo Alto

I see this car rather often at Piazza's Fine Foods in Palo Alto. It's a car with a message for sure!

A Row of All-The-Same SUVs at Lunardi's Bascom

I looked up while sharpening knives are Lunardi's Bascom San Jose, and I had to take this picture because — even though they are different makes, models and colors — they are all pretty much all exactly alike! The compact jelly bean shaped SUV is definitely the sales leader now-a-days!

Caterham Superlight R Car

This bad boy pulled up next to my knife sharpening booth last Saturday at Lunardi's Walnut Creek. It's a Caterham Superlight R.

Caterham Superlight R 

Here is the cockpit view of the car.

Classic Pontiac Catalina Convertible

Right before the Caterham this Pontiac parked just behind my booth. I am always surprised at how incredibly long these vintage cars are!

A Gaggle of New White Ford F150 Pickup Trucks 

OK, since I have one of the new style Ford F150 pickups, I just had to take this picture. All of these white F150s are the new body style, which makes them either model year 2015 or 2016. Of the the three is my 2015. This was also at Lunardi's Walnut Creek.

  

New Knives Have Hit the Door

I finally got back to documenting some of my fixed blade and folding knives that I have been selling.

Today I got a box chock full of way cool knives! Condor, Microtech, SOG, Kershaw and a few other brands must be rattling around in the box.

SOG, Microtech, Kershaw and Buck Knife Shipment

Here is an overall picture of what came in. The knife across the top is a Condor machete. There are two Bucks (in the yellow boxes), then two Kershaws, the Microtech. Just below the Microtech are two small black boxes with Gen2 knives. The SOG Snarl fills in the bottom of the group.

Kershaw Launch 3, Microtech Ultratech DE

Here are two nice knives. The top is the Kershaw Launch 3, the bottom is a Microtech Ultratech DE.

I think that the Kershaw Launch is a beautiful knife — and most everybody would agree that the Microtech Ultratech DE is an expensive bad-ass knife!

Kershaw Link, Buck Nano Bantam,  Buck Rush

The Kewshaw Link is an assisted opening knife, This one has a plain edge blade (no serrations) and the blade has their Blackwash finish.

Condor Warlock Machete and Leather Sheath

This pretty boy is a Condor brand machete, called the Warlock. It has a Micarta handle, carbon steel blade and a leather sheath.

Rebuilt my Mobile Knife Sharpener's Solar Power Storage Box

For those of you who are paying attention, I have had to change my solar power system's storage box.  My first storage system used a tool box or cart made by Stanley. Below is a picture of it in use:

Solar Storage System Using Stanley Tool Box

I really liked this Stanley tool box. The bottom compartment held the AGM battery, I had a shelf built to hold the power inverter just above the battery, and the top box held extension cords and other tools and parts related to storing and distributing the DC and AC juice.

The other nice aspect of the Stanley tool box was the flush mounted wheels, and the folding handle. 

Since my business is mobile — mobile knife sharpening — I need everything that I use to work in this mobile environment. I drive to where I will set up, pull everything out of my truck and set up my sharpening booth.

The Stanley tool box, with the wheels made it easier to set up. The AGM battery that I use is made of lead, and lead is heavy. The wheels on the  tool box made it a lot easier. The wheels being flush mounted (and the folding handle) made it a lot easier to pack away.

The tool box — unfortunately — was not robust enough to hold up to day to day business, especially with an obscenely heavy 56amp hour lead acid AGM battery. In the photo above I can see the half circle of air where the right wheel of the box used to be. The wheels were the first to fail. The metal axle was held in place with plastic tabs, and they let loose after some time. Once that happened I started to drag the tool box around. Dragging the tool box on asphalt did not help matters!

My Poor Battery Storage Cart Abandoned in a Recycling Cart

My Stanley Tool cart spent its life helping me sharpen knives by holding the battery and the power inverter that I needed for my solar power system. This is how I reward my loyal tool — abandoned in a recycling bin. So sad...

Plywood Battery Storage Box

I could not find an off the shelf tool box that seemed to fit my needs, so I decided to go the custom built route. 

The picture above shows the beginning of the box. Visible in the bottom are the cleats that will hold the battery secure. After this picture was taken the wood was sealed, and a couple of wood pieces that are placed above the battery were cut.

Solar Battery and Power Inverter Storage Box

Here is a picture of the completed box. This view shows the entire box, the power inverter, and the Anderson connectors that runs to the solar panels.

The AGM battery is visible at the bottom, the power inverter is the large black chassis mounted up on top, the power inverter sits on the rails that hold the battery down. The box is as open as it can be so that all the parts and pieces can be easily accessed for inspection and maintenance.

Solar Powered Knife Sharpening

Here is a picture of the whole setup. The box is in back, the folding solar panels are in front. The box — with the heavy lead acid battery and other gear — makes a great anchor for my popup canopy. In this picture you can see a bungie cord running from the metal handle of the box up to the popup.

Everybody asks if the this solar setup can operate my knife sharpening system. I say 'yes.' I explain 'duty cycle,' in that the machines are off when I am awaiting customers, and also mostly off when I am actually doing knife sharpening. Other that the actual sharpening when the machine is running — other work steps include inspecting the knife, adjusting the machine, cleaning the knife, wrapping the knife and such. All of these steps are done with the machine off, and during all this time the solar system is charging the battery.

With most any sunny summer day the battery sits full, and the charge controller has the voltage to the battery turned off.

Giant Shipment of Arno Bernard Knives!

I received a giant shipment of Arno Bernard knives. Well, giant for a specialty knife retailer, one who's retail sales are a bit less than let's say Wal*Mart...

Unboxing of Arno Bernard Knife Shipment

I like vintage things; a vintage Ontario Eureka cannery knife is my knife of choice for opening boxes and other tasks.

Back to Arno Bernard, here is the box of knives that I received yesterday. It contains seven knives.

The Larger Arno Bernard Knives

This picture shows most of the largest size knives that I received. 

The knife at the top is called the Elephant. Arno Bernard groups their knives into collections that they call Series. They are grouped by size. The Elephant is in the Giant series, the largest series. Following the Giant series is Predator, then Grazer, Scavenger and finally Bush Baby.

This Elephant knife has a giraffe bone handle.

The knife in the middle is called '2015 Featured Knife.' This knife was created to celebrate Arno Bernard's 35 years making knives. The 2015 Featured Knife has a warthog ivory handle with lanyard hole, and has a horizontal sheath. The sheath — as all Arno Bernard knife sheaths — is made of cape buffalo leather.

The knife at the bottom of the picture is the Great White. This Great White knife has a giraffe bone handle.

Arno Bernard 2015 Featured Knife with Warthog Ivory Handle

Here is a closeup picture of just the 2105 Featured Knife. This is one beautiful knife! The steel used to make this knife is S35VN, and this steel is known for its superior edge retention and toughness.

Arno Bernard Dassie and Gecko Knives

Here is a group shot of the smaller Arno Bernard knives that I received. The two brown handled knives are Geckos (one of my favorites). The knife in the middle is a Dassie.

The Gecko knives have giraffe bone handles, the Dassie has an warthog ivory handle.

Come see them in person at one of my mobile knife sharpening locations here is the San Francisco Bay Area.

More Estate Sale Finds

I have been busy looking for knives and any other edged tools, any that is that meet my requirements. I look for quality pieces, and I always award extra points for unusual or distinctive design or construction.

My current booty pile:

Spoils of a Knife Hunt

There are five knives in this picture. The upper three are Shun knives

Vintage Forged 8" Sabatier Veritable Breswick Chef Ritz Chef's Knife

I came across this nice vintage carbon steel chef's knife:

Vintage Forged 8" Sabatier Chef's Knife Veritable Breswick Chef Ritz

This knife is a forged knife made of carbon steel — rather than stainless steel as almost all knives today are made of. There are collectors for everything, and since mainstream manufactures no longer make carbon steel knives, knife enthusiasts are always on the prowl for vintage carbon steel knives.

This one is in very good condition considering that is has been in different kitchens for all these years. 

I have put this up for sale on eBay. 

My Helle Knife Stock is Replenished

The Helle knives that I had requested have finally arrived.

Helle Knife Unboxing

Here is my modest shipment of Helle knives. I ordered a total of six knives.

Helle Knives

Here is a group shot of three Helle Knives. I had high hopes for this shot, posed on top of the Helle catalog and all — but it came out rather sad...

The knife on the left is the Viking, The Viking is made of carbon steel, and other than where the blade is ground and sharpened the blackish gray heat treating color is left on the blade. The Viking has a leather sheath with a belt loop strap and this sheath allows the knife to be on your left or right side.

The knife on the upper right is the new Utvar. The Utvar is Helle's first full tang knife. This knife has a curly birch handle with a brick red liner accent and a leather sheath. The handle has two rivets, and they are open through the handle so a lanyard could be tied to the knife if desired.

The bottom knife is Helle's always popular Eggen. This is one of Helle's most popular knife. It is more typical of knives that are popular in Europe — smaller, and with less bell's and whistles. All the knife one needs and no more.

Helle GT Fixed Blade Knife and Leather Sheath

This is the Helle GT. I think it is the only Helle knife that has a metal bolster, the GT has a stainless steel bolster.