![]() ![]() Rodgers’ process involves the belt sander and four different grades of high grit sanding belts. He was previously calling his company The Better Blade before changing the name to Rodgers Sharpening Services. His first three attempts at a business name were already taken. He’s been in the process of establishing an LLC for the last month. Then he had some business cards made and launched an Instagram page. He started out going to local restaurants and pitching himself. ![]() “I really thought about it and realized there’s no other reason than I just haven’t gone for it,” Rodgers said. ![]() For several years Rodgers didn’t do much with the skill other than sharpen knives for his mom and a few cooking-minded friends until about eight months ago when a friend asked him why he hadn’t made a career out of it. Rodgers trained under Means and soaked up as much knowledge as he could, and Means gifted him the equipment he’s using out of his trunk now. Zebert was Bruno’s head chef at the time and asked Means if he would show Rodgers the ropes. Means sharpened the kitchen crew’s knives at downtown restaurant Bruno’s Little Italy. Rodgers learned the process of professional knife sharpening from a metal worker named Bob Means. Honing his skills and going into business “When he gets into something, he goes full on and learns as much as he can.” She said he gave her the first knife he made, which was “rudimentary but super cool.” And he made her iron handles for sliding doors to her back shed. Zebert said her confidence in him was so strong that she was never worried. “When he was burning the massive air-driven fire, that got a little scary every now and then.” Rodgers’ father described the process as somewhat terrifying. They drilled a hole to install a burner that would attach to his grandmother’s tank, creating a torch to heat whatever metal Rodgers and his friends were working with. Rodgers and his dad cut one end off a smaller empty butane tank and filled it with concrete insulation refractory material. Rodgers’ home forging got more serious, and arguably more dangerous, too, after his grandmother moved out of a remote cabin in the Ozarks and she no longer needed the huge tank of butane to heat her home. Pearl Zebert KNIFE MAKERS: Young Henry Rodgers (left) and Julian Kresse. Rodgers said it eventually became like an unofficial internship that went from just watching Rhea in his shop to getting to do some hands-on work that was worthy of school credit. Matthew Martin METAL SHOP: Rodgers’ grandfather built him a metal shop in the backyard when he was around 11 years old.ĭuring the summer, Rodgers and Kresse spent time at the Historic Arkansas Museum learning about blacksmithing from master bladesmith Lin Rhea. “They would sit out there and if you didn’t make them quit it could be like 10 hours of the worst noise you’ve ever heard,” he said. ![]()
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