By Cathy Miller

Eric Wunder has always needed to stay sharp.

He has served in the military as a communication specialist and volunteered on the local first aid and fire department. He became a Mobile Intensive Care Paramedic, retiring after 20 years, and was also a Nuclear Medicine Field Service Engineer for 10-plus years.

After all that, it was time to “reinvent” himself.

He established a mobile dog grooming business and then found his passion: “I needed a quality sharpener for my mobile dog grooming business and discovered the closest quality one was three hours away!” He opened Fix My Edge Mobile Sharpening Service to fill that need.

He was referred to the National Beauty Tool Sharpeners Guild (NBTSG): “I became a proud member of the NBTSG in 2015 and now I’m vice president of the guild! I am a National Certified Sharpener for Scissors, Shears and Clipper Blades, certified by the NBTSG in 2018.”

In 2019, he hired Jill Filippone, a groomer and one of his customers who was seeking a career change. A member of the NBTSG, she became his Clipper Blade sharpener.

An experienced sharpener, Eric is prepared to sharpen any style blade, noting, “All the equipment inside my Mobile Unit is state-of-the-art,” powered by a quiet generator for smaller jobs, and, when needed, a massive 13,000 watt unit built into the truck.

Sharpening knives isn’t a straightforward job.

His truck houses three different machines just for knives, along with a special serration machine for bread knives. Eric explained, “Since the thickness and angle of each blade varies, every knife requires a different touch and sharpening technique.”

Home sharpening tools set all the knife edges to the same angle, he said, which alters the effectiveness of a dedicated edge, whether a filet knife or a chopping knife.

Do you know your knives?

Home-chef knives run the gamut from fairly inexpensive to extremely expensive. Food service knives are lighter, as well as easier and cheaper to replace. Japanese knives have high quality blades with a strong razor-sharp edge that last a lot longer than lesser knives.

One commonality among them all: eventually they’ll need to be sharpened for efficiency and safety.

But it’s not just knives that need sharpening. Fix My Edge also works with hair salons, pet stylists, and barbers to sharpen clipper blades, clippers, shears, and trimmers.

Eric recently moved from Rockaway to Washington, bringing his business along for the ride. A vendor at the Washington Borough Business Improvement District’s Farmers Market, this season marks his first time participating in any farmers market. It’s going so well, he’s already planning a return in 2021.

Beyond sharpening knives at the Farmers Market (where he and Jill happily field questions about knives and blade maintenance, and sell several models from everyday knives to fine Japanese and German cutlery), Fix My Edge can travel to businesses and residences. Mail-in service is even available for out-of-area customers. Drop-offs are accepted by appointment only.

To experience “The Art of Restoring Your Cutting Edge” firsthand, visit www.fixmyedge.com for contact information. For walk-up service, stop by the Washington Borough Business Improvement District’s Farmers Market on Saturdays through October, from 10 am. to 2 p.m. in the Pocket Park.