Neighborhood Knife Sharpening

A knife sharpener who sets up at the farmers market on Saturdays has a grinding wheel mounted to a bicycle frame and sharpens any blade for $5. Bringing my chef's knife last week, I watched him hold it at the right angle against the spinning stone, checking the edge with his thumb every few seconds. Knife came back sharper than when I bought it, and the whole process took 4 minutes. Something satisfying about a service that requires real skill, takes almost no time, and costs less than a sandwich. Line is always 8 or 9 people deep, which tells you that a lot of people have dull knives and no idea what to do about them.