My day today sharpening and how it was changed by the JAM

I rarely sharpen anymore due to my schedule and arthritis, but there are a limited number of salons that insist that I am their only sharpener. So I charge $30 per shear with no quantity discounts.

Today I am eager to sharpen for one of these accounts and put into effect the things I learned at the week-end sharpeners Jam. It is pouring rain and as usual I get lost which I always do going to that salon. So I travel down familiar roads which turn out to be wrong roads. Eventually I back track and find I was on BriarLake and not BriarCliff and find the small shop. I park in the alley in the back because it is closer to the door. The salon is packed, busy and hopping. There are 9 stations in this booth rental shop with only one station not occupied. The owner greets me and helps me clear off this spare station loaded with Avon orders, purses, product and usual salon debris.

I set up my machine using the positioning proposed by Johnny Cash of Tallahassee. It has become my position of choice since the clamp and shear rests on the arm, yet I can clearly see the bur as it pops up. I try setting up my station like Jay Hunter, neat and organized with all my tools set out before I need them. Everything is set up in about 3 minutes and I’m ready for my first shear.

Ted, the only male stylist in the shop … in fact the only male in the shop, hands me his shear. Ted is new. He surprises me when he gives me a swivel thumb Vortex. It surprises me because I know it’s the most expensive shear in the shop except the ones in my case. I am surprised because he has never seen me and gives me his expensive shear. But, I am even more surprised because 2 days ago David Trissel of Virginia, Jay Hunter and I had a thorough discussion of this same shear. David was concerned about sharpening the white Teflon ride on this shear. Jay said he always hangs the ride off the stone when doing the inside hone, I said I always place it on the ride. David had heard that working the Teflon area could embed tiny pieces of metal in the ride causing noise. He also said the Teflon needed to be higher than the metal to work correctly. The first observation seemed reasonable and could be solved by using a clean waterstone. The second observation did not seem reasonable since I had sharpened shears with the Teflon popped out, and the shears still functioned.

So, now confronted by this same brand of shear with a Teflon ride I use a clean hone, which I might not have one week prior. I also lay it on the hone and lift it off in the method Jim Turner had demonstrated at the Jam.

I wash off my micron pads before sharpening like Frank Davis’ suggestion. I did notice a better shine. I sharpen at a 40 degree angle in my usual manner. (I used 40 degrees since the shears were severely nicked and I assumed by observation that Ted rarely did slide cutting… he was doing a roller set.) After sharpening I now test them in a different way from a week prior… I use very wet toilet paper. Horrors! I would have died rather than test a shear like that seven days ago, but David Trissel two days earlier was using toilet paper (cheap Cosco brand) and wet it thoroughly. I wanted to prove his method was inferior but in a comparison test, his toilet paper caught some flaws that passed my wet single ply Puff. So I have adapted and changed.

I continue sharpening and set out my shear tray and select shears for the stylists to try based on what they are currently cutting with. I am actually taking my time sharpening the shears so that there is plenty of time for them to test the shears. I chat with a stylist’s ten year old daughter who is watching me and tells me she wants to work in a hospital when she grows up. I say doctors need their tools sharpened, too and that sharpeners work in hospitals. She is interested in what I am doing now.

Another stylist drops by and I hear about her frustration with her son-in-law. In the conversation I accidently sharpen a convex edge and put on a bur at 30 degrees (the setting from the last bevel edge Tondeo scissors). I knock off the bur and redo the ride on that blade and resharpen at 40 degrees. I finish up the shears and they cut perfectly. I can not tell the blade I made the mistake on.

I take back a Kuroto shear. (I’ve never seen this brand anywhere else. It’s marked “Japan”. The stylist has been cutting with the Disco and the Promaster. Everytime I’ve been in I’ve tried to sell her a pair of shears because I have been sharpening these same Kuroto shears for 14 years. She says, “I haven’t bought a new pair of shears in 20 years, maybe it’s time.”

I agree, “You deserve it,” I say.

She tells me she has just turned 65 and now has Medicare. She wants to spend the money the would normally pay for her health insurance. “How much?” she asks.

I tell her the Disco is $119 and the ProMaster $199 fully expecting her to pick the Disco. “Why does the Promaster cost more?”
“Better steel, better workmanship. They are made in Taiwan, not China.” She buys the ProMaster.

I finish sharpening. One shear is a Diane shear for the stylist at the station next to where I am working. I would have been surprised if the shear cost more than $25 and I am sharpening it for $30. I apologize for the price. “I can’t charge differing prices, but I feel bad charging you $30 for this. You really need to upgrade your shear.”

“Yes, I have had these since beauty school but I can’t buy without talking to my husband.” She pay me $35.

“That’s too much.”

“No, the $5 is a tip.” It is my only tip that day.

I explain handle styles and hand positioning and help her in a selection in case shear purchases later. Meantime the Kuroto stylist walks over and peruses my tray of shears. “I think I might need a thinner, too.”

“The second shear is half price,“ I reply.

“Sold,” she says.

I’m caught up on my sharpening and the shop owner is ready to give me her shears. She has 2 thinners, a Tondeo, a Dovo, a Prism and a Kaleidoscope. All but one thinner and the Tondeo she has purchased in the past from me. I test them all first and decide two do not need sharpening.

She likes the rainbow color shears and selects a blue Disco from my case. After I sharpen she says, “I think I’m ready for another pair. These cut nice and they are pretty.” I add them to her receipt. As I am leaving she asks what the other stylist bought.

“She bought two shears, a ProMaster and a thinner.”

“She bought two?” she asked surprised.

“The second is half price.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I want to save money, too. What thinner did she buy?”

I showed her and she bought it. I then set up an appointment for February. This was a suggestion from Jay that I would not have done last week. They are excited to get an appointment card because they prebook all their appointments.

I briefly think about putting my head into the spa and nail area to see if anyone needs sharpening but decide against it. It’s 2PM and I’ve been there since 10:30. I walk out in the rain to my car with over $600 in my wallet.

Last adventure is getting out of the alley. It seems I’m blocked in. I get so frustrated I call Gene to come rescue me but as I find out later he has forgotten his cell phone. I suck it up and decide I’m a big girl and slowly, carefully in the pouring rain back out with my rear wipers working frantically.

Mystie is happy with my receipts each marking the name of each shear sharpened and the angle.

Birthday Time at Bonika

Three birthdays. Mystie our office manager was Friday. The big 30! We celebrated with cake. Unfortunately Mystie went home sick that day, but there's some in the refrigerator for her to eat today.

Friday is Gene Megowan's birthday our sales manager. I won't say how old, but Mystie is his daughter, so he must be over 39 by now! Carissa Roper baked Mystie's cake and will be baking Gene's cake on Friday. However on the 15th it's Carissa's birthday. Who will bake her cake?

Brooke began crawling on all fours today so there are lots of things to celebrate at the office this week. This time of year is fun when things slow down before the hectic season begins in late January.

I've got to upload the business / family thanksgiving dinner photos taken at the Dillard House. There would have been 5 sharpeners at the dinner table, but Jay our local sharpener and son-in-law missed out because he was sick. He was so generous afterwards, he gave his virus to Mystie on her birthday. Nice husband!

Susannah, my oldest granddaughter wants to learn to sharpen, but I told her she had to be 5 years old. She has 2 years to go yet.

Website is Down for Unknown Reasons

Our www.bonika.com website is down for unknown reasons. The engineers who are working on getting us back on line tell us it could take up to Friday. We've been having email issues with Gmail for the past 3 months and a different set of Internet engineers were working on this problem, pronounced it fixed and it wasn't. So you can see why this new issue really worries me. By Friday we will have lost thousands of dollars and lost credibility as well.

It happened yesterday around noon when I went to the website to look up the dates on the show that we added to our schedule in Richmond, VA. Leah Watson was checking her calendar to see if it would fit into her film and media schedule. It was off. In the past you could still get to the website through www.store.yahoo.com or www.bonikashears.com or even some of our other domains like www.flathonesharpening.com www.findasharpener.com and www.sharpenersjam.com. None of these work. My biggest fear now is that I will have to completely rebuild the website. That will be very time consuming, although I will admit I had been thinking of doing this anyway with one of the newer software programs. It seemed such an insurmountable job, but I may be forced to do it. Any suggestions on changes for the new website please tell me. I've heard some want to be able to order wholesale on the site and have a coded password. I think I will try to incorporate that this time.

Once again as horrifying as this has been, there is a joy in knowing God has all things under her control, even the Internet. All things will work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28. It will also make for an easy week with no orders. Mystie Hunter, my office manager and eldest offspring, has already set about housecleaning and assigned jobs to everyone. I have some bookshelves to clean off. The Bonika Towers guest room has been redone with a new bed and mattress, removable of the spare crib and addition of a new junior bed. So the multifunctional guest/daycare room looks inviting. We need to keep a log of all the sharpeners who have slept here. After a sharpeners first visit to our office for training, their subsequent visits we allow them to use the Bonika Towers guest room if it is available and if they want to.

Back to the website problem. I will be checking it periodically and so can you. Call me if you see it up. It is possible, I'm old it may spontaneously come about. Oh, and about the emails. If you've been using the email bonika@gmail.com please begin using bonnie@bonika.com or megowan@bonika.com. We will continue to get the bonika@gmail.com emails, but they will bounce around before they appear. We had to switch to a Yahoo email system instead of the Gmail to correct our email problem.

Premiere Orlando 2008

I will try to upload some pictures later of the Orlando trip to the Premiere Show. Our sales were up over last year and there was a lot of interest in our new Twister Sister. Jay Hunter sharpened nearly 200 shears which was great considering we were charging $5.00 more per shear this year than last year. Special thanks to all our workers: Ron Ellis, Carla Ellis, Harry Megowan, Tammy Megowan, Mystie Hunter, Jay Hunter, Chuck Bigalow, Bradley Bigalow, Judith, Danny LaPrade, Gene Megowan, Bonnie Megowan, Sheila Tate, Leah Watson, and Carissa Roper. I hope I didn't leave anyone out. It was a successful show and when it was over we all went to Disney World. Just a word of advice, if you go to the Magic Kingdom go to the Pooh's buffet at the Crystal Palace. It was well worth the money.