Longtime High Ridge scissor sharpener expands blade business | Business | myleaderpaper.com

Dale Shrable of Dale’s Rapid Edge Sharpening in High Ridge demonstrates how he sharpens a blade.

Dale Shrable, owner of Dale’s Rapid Edge Scissor Sharpening, has expanded his business to include a permanent shop with industrial equipment, allowing him to branch out from scissors to gardening tools, saw blades, kitchen knives, and beyond.

Shrable, 62, of High Ridge said since 2001 he has traveled in a mobile van to the county’s beauty salons, sharpening hairstylists’ often expensive and valuable scissors.

A few weeks ago, he opened a new shop, 349 Old Sugar Creek Drive, in his three-car detached garage with plenty of space and professional equipment to expand his offerings.

“I’ve put a sign in the yard, and now every other day I have somebody dropping off lawn mower blades, chainsaw chains, and pruning tools,” Shrable said. “I’m doing lawn mower blades for a couple of landscaping companies, and they’re coming back, saying, ‘Geez, I’m not even seeing grass left behind after you get done sharpening them.’”

Shrable said that if he’s not home or otherwise available, customers can leave their blades in a box placed near the garage with a note attached detailing what they would like done. Shrable will contact them with a price breakdown and an estimation of when the service will be completed. Once sharpened, customers can come back to the shop and pick up their blades.

Shrable called blade sharpening “a forgotten business,” as more and more people buy new blades instead of caring for the ones they already have. He said buying new can become costly over time.

“It takes good equipment to get good results,” Shrable said. “Me, coming from a mechanical background and also sharpening scissors, I know I give 120 percent to everything that I do.”

If someone has a dull blade, Shrable said he can sharpen it. For more information, call Shrable at 314-346-3448 or email [email protected].

“There’s a gentleman, who lives down the street, he’s a World War II veteran, and he asked me to do the bayonet that he used to carry with him,” Shrable said. “If you’ve got something that needs to be sharpened, I can sharpen it.”