“Never A Dull Moment” For Family Sharpening Business

2019 - Volume #43, Issue #5, Page #07

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“We’ll sharpen almost anything except hair clippers and band saw blades,” says Missouri sharpening expert Tom Roy. “We do baler and brush cutter blades, chopper knives, and anything up to 6 ft. long that needs a razor-sharp edge. We do a lot of woodworking and metal-working tools, including drill bits, router bits, saw blades and grinding tools.”
Most of Roy’s customers are within a 100-mile radius of Joplin, although they’ve had customers from several states send items for sharpening. “My brother started this business 50 years ago, in 1969, and I joined him 10 years later, then bought it in 1985,” Roy says. “We’ve grown steadily over the years, adding new sharpening equipment to handle diverse customer needs. Now we’ve got two people fulltime in the shop and two people on the road making deliveries.”
People call or email to tell Roy what they’ve got. “Most of the time, we can handle it,” says Roy. “They ship it to us and we ship it back or deliver it when it’s sharp.”
Roy’s Southwest Grinding shop has Brown & Sharpe grinding equipment, several Cincinnati tools, a Foley United profile grinder, a Heller cold saw grinder and KO Lee grinders. “For a lot of sharpening we have to build our own jigs to hold the piece we’re sharpening,” Roy says.
Asked where he learned the skills required for the business Roy is quick to say “Knox University, the school of hard knocks. There’s really no place to learn what we do other than figure it out ourselves.”
Recently they built a machine to sharpen large diameter slitters that cut insulation. They also sharpen serrated tooth slitters and all types of knives used in meat processing.
“I’ve enjoyed the business every step of the way,” Roy says, “I tell my customers we never have a dull moment around here.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tom Roy, Southwest Grinding, 5735 N Main Street, Joplin, Mo. 64801 (ph 417 781-1814; swgrinding@hotmail.com).

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“Never A Dull Moment” For Family Sharpening Business MOWERS “We’ll sharpen almost anything except hair clippers and band saw blades ” says Missouri sharpening expert Tom Roy “We do baler and brush cutter blades chopper knives and anything up to 6 ft long that needs a razor-sharp edge We do a lot of woodworking and metal-working tools including drill bits router bits saw blades and grinding tools ” Most of Roy’s customers are within a 100-mile radius of Joplin although they’ve had customers from several states send items for sharpening “My brother started this business 50 years ago in 1969 and I joined him 10 years later then bought it in 1985 ” Roy says “We’ve grown steadily over the years adding new sharpening equipment to handle diverse customer needs Now we’ve got two people fulltime in the shop and two people on the road making deliveries ” People call or email to tell Roy what they’ve got “Most of the time we can handle it ” says Roy “They ship it to us and we ship it back or deliver it when it’s sharp ” Roy’s Southwest Grinding shop has Brown & Sharpe grinding equipment several Cincinnati tools a Foley United profile grinder a Heller cold saw grinder and KO Lee grinders “For a lot of sharpening we have to build our own jigs to hold the piece we’re sharpening ” Roy says Asked where he learned the skills required for the business Roy is quick to say “Knox University the school of hard knocks There’s really no place to learn what we do other than figure it out ourselves ” Recently they built a machine to sharpen large diameter slitters that cut insulation They also sharpen serrated tooth slitters and all types of knives used in meat processing “I’ve enjoyed the business every step of the way ” Roy says “I tell my customers we never have a dull moment around here ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Tom Roy Southwest Grinding 5735 N Main Street Joplin Mo 64801 ph 417 781-1814; swgrinding@hotmail com

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