Just like the title states. What tools/machines and supplies would be needed to have a mobile sharpening business? Mainly for pet groomers and barbers/hair salons

Groomsman,

Personally when I go mobile I do it out of my car and not a van. I have a small clipper machine and also a scissor sharpening machine that I take into the shop I am working. I have a DC powered flat hone that also converts to a vertical wheel scissors sharpening machine I do beauty scissors on the flat hone and grooming scissors on vertical diamond wheels all on one machine. This same machine can also be use with a 12" clipper wheel. Everything fits into an upright toolbox with two wheels and a telescoping handle made by Stanly that you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot.

What I found that is better than going mobile though is to set up a route that I go to every month and pick up sharpening and bring it back to my shop to sharpen. For groomers I pick sharpening up on the first Tuesday of every month, I normally get $800.00 to $1200.00 of sharpening every month from just one route in one day. I then sharpen everything in my shop and return it to the groomers by Friday.

The only time I go mobile now is when I am finished with all my groomers and then I may fill in with doing beauty shops. Mainly though the rest of the time after I finish with the groomers I make scissor sharpening machines and clipper wheels for my fellow sharpeners so I don't sharpen as much as I could because of that so right now I only have the one route I go to once a month.

that sounds like a pretty good gig. I am thinking of building the 12" clipper wheel for starters. I have a motor already from an old table saw or something with a 5/8 shaft. will 3450 rpm be okay for the 12" wheel or does it need to be 1750 rpm. And since its a different motor than the harbor freight one will the box have to be built different? by the way im going to be sharpening dog clippers for starters.

Groomsman,

Two reasons to use the Harbor Freight motor. You touched on both reasons, first the plans are built around the HF motor so any other motor will not work without doing some major re-designing of the machine.

Second on a 12" clipper wheel you do need a faster speed than 1750 rpm to sharpen clipper blades faster. I recommend a speed of around 2000 rpm to 2500 rpm for a 12" clipper wheel.

Since the HF motor has a top speed of 3600 rpm that is also a little too fast so I use a momentary foot pedal to control the wheel speed. (it is very easy to use)The HF motor works well with the foot pedal because it is a shaded pole motor. Capacitor start motors like you get out of a table saw will not work with a foot switch so there is no way to control the wheel speed with any other type of motor than a shaded pole motor from HF.

They only cost $80.00, but you can get it for less when it is on sale and you can also go online and type in HF coupons, and then print them on your computer and get an additional 20% off the sale price.

James

Ok well the motor I have is actually a 1/3 hp 1725 rpm so also sounds like a no- go. What's the part number for the hf motor? Then all that I would need after that is a wheel, hub adapter, and the foot pedal? Is the pedal also at harbor freight?

Also what about building this machine you speak of that did the scissors and clippers? Can that be home built too? It would seem to be more cost effective to build something like that if I wanted to sharpen scissors too. All on one machine

Groomsman,

Here is a link to get the 20% off discount coupon:>
http://www.harborfreight.com/20off-coupon912-aff-17547.html

And here is a link to the motor you will need:>
http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-bench-grinder-buffer-94327.html

And here is a link to the momentary foot switch you will need to control the wheel speed:>
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=momentary+foot

I can supply you with the motor hub, hand nut, and clipper wheel. The machine that sharpens scissors and clipper blades is not one that can be made without a lathe and special tools. At this point I am not offering it for sale, but I may be offering it in the future.

The machine for scissors I do offer is not one that can be made at home either, but I do offer it for sale and it works very well as a mobile unit for scissor sharpening, but not for sharpening clipper blades.

Is that the correct motor for the clipper sharpener?

There is a foley belsaw model 354 for sale for $200. Will that do hollow ground? I'm thinking it'll only do flat grind but possibly good for scissors? Any input would be much appreciated

The Foley 354 was the first clipper machine I bought. (About 16 years ago.) It turns out that it does not work as a clipper sharpening machine or anything else I tried to use it for. I ended up throwing it in the trash two years ago when I moved to a different house. It wasn't worth keeping and I would have felt like I was cheating someone if I tried to sell it so I threw it away instead. Save your money and don't buy it because it is a worthless machine as are many of their other machines that they sell. This particular machine is well know as the "Boat anchor", but in reality it is not even good for that.

Ok I guess I'll take your advice :(. Wait!...did you have your new and improved wheel on it? Maybe that's why it didn't work well. Darn I was liking the price of that machine and thought about sending the wheel to you to reshape it with the 0.014" and secret sauce
Anyway I was still wondering if that was the correct motor you posted earlier for the clipper machine because it has a double shaft and mounts horizontally

The 354 has a cast iron wheel and only turns at 130 rpm. Super slow! It is way to slow to work even with a good aluminum wheel it still wouldn't work.

The motor is the correct one, in the clipper machine the left motor shaft is mounted vertically and sticks up through the hub and the right motor shaft is removed with a hack saw or cut off saw.

Ok now I understand thanks. I'm sure you posted that somewhere on this forum so I may have missed it

Now I've got a guy trying to sell me a Nebraska CS-10 machine "Little Red" for $400 with all the extra goodies that come with it when you buy the starter kit. But it only operates at 1050 RPM,s so that's too slow. Plus it's only 10" and who know if it needs resurfacing or not. I think I need to save my money and go for the homebuilt 12" lil sparky