Art Downing was introduced to knife sharpening by his grandfather who believed that “… a dull tool is no tool.” Photo by Ryan Lely.
Art Downing’s grandfather gave him his first knife – a three-bladed pen knife – when he was a boy of seven or eight. “Gramps,” a wheat farmer in McDonald, a tiny town in northwest Kansas, taught him to sharpen because, as Downing said, “He believed a dull tool is no tool.”
Now, some 50 years later, Downing is the proprietor of EdgeWorks, a mobile sharpening shop he started in 2005. This summer he’s driving his van to 10 farmers markets a week, including the two in Sonoma.
Even though Downing always sharpened his own knives and tools, he took an indirect route to his current occupation. In 1968, he dropped out of college to move from Colorado to San Francisco, where he became a member of the Sutter Street Commune for four years, helping publish a free weekly newspaper distributed to other Bay Area communes.
His next stop was southern Oregon. In Grants Pass, Downing founded a citizen action group, called Headwaters Association, to protect the watershed. With the help of pro bono lawyers and experts, the group took the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to court to force it to practice responsible timber harvesting.
Then for eight years Downing ran his own wood products business. Deciding it was time for a change, in 1990 he moved to Santa Rosa and went back to school to become a substance abuse counselor. For 11 years he worked for a San Rafael company that helped medical professionals overcome substance abuse so they could keep their licenses and return to work.
Tired of the commute on Highway 101 and wanting to work with his hands again, in 2005 Downing started sharpening part-time at the Sebastopol market, which had an opening. The following year he went full-time, adding Sonoma’s Friday market and Santa Rosa’s two markets. He joined Sonoma’s Tuesday market last year and now sets up his shop at four year-round markets, and also sharpens knives for a dozen restaurants.
“I like the sensation of a really good edge and the gratification of taking something that’s not working well and making it work well,” said Downing. In his van, he has equipment – powered by a portable generator – to sharpen knives, including most serrated blades, axes, garden shears, scissors and even paper cutters.
His two sons-in-law, who cook professionally, keep him up-to-date on the latest knives chefs are using, and they evaluate his technique to help him improve. Although he doesn’t cook much, Downing always keeps his kitchen knives sharp. “In the summer I eat a lot of tomatoes,” he said.
During the coming winter, his off-season, he plans to learn a new skill – how to sharpen beauticians’ shears, which cost hundreds of dollars a pair.
EdgeWorks Sharpening Service
707.694.3721
art@edgeworksharpening.com
www.edgeworksharpening.com
