Greensburg man might be the sharpest knife in the drawer

Of all the words Kevin Sheftic might use to describe his life, “dull” is not one of them.

After decades in the corporate world, Sheftic decided to pursue an entrepreneurial path providing services people rarely think about.

In 2016, he founded Line Pro Striping, a company that paints lines on parking lots. His most recent venture is Precision Sharpening Services, a sole proprietorship that sharpens knives and all manner of cutting tools.

“Every household in America has a drawer full of dull knives, so I just saw an opportunity and an unmet need,” Sheftic said.

Sheftic, 51, of Greensburg was certified as a master sharpener after taking a two-week training course in Santa Cruz, Calif., last fall. He’s already building up a clientele of mostly commercial, but also residential, customers who depend on sharp knives.

He recently spent an afternoon sharpening kitchen knives for J. Corks restaurant in downtown Greensburg. He also has sharpened knives for Rizzo’s Malabar Inn in Crabtree, Luigi’s Ristorante in Clymer and IronRock Tap House in Hempfield.

Sheftic hopes to build up a residential clientele by providing a mail-order service. He is qualified to sharpen not only knives, scissors and pizza cutters, but also gardening and woodworking tools.

“There are very few of us out there doing this kind of work. It’s a unique service,” Sheftic said, noting local hardware stores have no one to send their customers to for sharpening services.

A native of Ebensburg, Sheftic studied English at the University of Pittsburgh and contemplated a career in journalism. Instead, he went into sales for pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

While considering a switch to knife sharpening, he researched equipment manufacturers and learned about a Westmoreland County native who went into a similar career in California.

“I called this company, Tormek, and they said the guy you need to talk to is Terry Beech,” he said.

Before long, Sheftic was studying with Beech at his Sharp-Quick school for master sharpeners.

Beech, a native of Washington Township, took a circuitous path to California and a career in knife sharpening. A 1960 graduate of Washington Township High School, he studied physics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and pursued a career in science education.

Beech left teaching and got involved in training for telecommunications companies in California. Laid off after the dot-com bust of 2001, he spent some time looking for new opportunities.

“My wife suggested I try starting a sharpening business because I was always sharpening our knives,” he said. “Being a scientist at heart, I did some research and ended up with this very successful business.”

Sharp-Quick is in its 16th year. When he isn’t training students, he sets up in parking lots and provides sharpening services to walk-in customers.

Beech believes Sheftic will be successful, partly because knife sharpening is an act of conservation in an era of heightened environmental awareness.

“Reuse, repair and restore are the bywords for this business, and it is greeted with joy and thanks by the general public,” he said. “I think Kevin’s going to do fine. He’s making a good go at this business, which is kind of a lost art.”