Peter Kahugu of Banana Hill just outside Nairobi makes a living using his bicycle.
And no, he is not a professional cyclist.
AfriGadget reporter Afromusing and I had an opportunity to interview Peter who has modified his bicycle with a belt, a set of tensioning pulleys and a grinding stone to make it a knife-sharpening machine. By kicking the bike up onto its stand and engaging a gearing system, he is able to use “leg-horsepower” to drive a grinding wheel and sharpen knives while “on the move”.
Peter has been at this for 2 years now and he makes about Kshs 500 ( app. 10 US$) a day by riding his mobile workshop from client to client sharpening all their knives as he goes. The grinding stone he uses has lasted an astounding 2 years and he has had to replace his drive belt a couple of times but that is as simple as cutting up a long strip of rubber from an old car or bicycle tire inner tube.
Be sure to click though on the image for video on YouTube of the Peter and his bike in action.
DIY gadgets in Africa: the knife-sharpening bicycle June 23, 2007 at 4:56 am · Filed under MunchMe News Xeni Jardin: [IMG] The excellent Afrigadget blog has a post up today about a man named Peter Kahugu, in Banana Hill, Kenya (near Nairobi), who makes a living using his bicycle to sharpen knives for his neighbors: AfriGadget reporter
DIY gadgets in Africa: the knife-sharpening bicycle June 23, 2007 at 4:56 am · Filed under MunchMe News Xeni Jardin: [IMG] The excellent Afrigadget blog has a post up today about a man named Peter Kahugu, in Banana Hill, Kenya (near Nairobi), who makes a living using his bicycle to sharpen knives for his neighbors: AfriGadget reporter
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Xeni Jardin: [IMG] The excellent Afrigadget blog has a post up today about a man named Peter Kahugu, in Banana Hill, Kenya (near Nairobi), who makes a living using his bicycle to sharpen knives for his neighbors: AfriGadget reporter
Xeni Jardin: [IMG] The excellent Afrigadget blog has a post up today about a man named Peter Kahugu, in Banana Hill, Kenya (near Nairobi), who makes a living using his bicycle to sharpen knives for his neighbors: AfriGadget reporter
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Xeni Jardin: [IMG] The excellent Afrigadget blog has a post up today about a man named Peter Kahugu, in Banana Hill, Kenya (near Nairobi), who makes a living using his bicycle to sharpen knives for his neighbors: AfriGadget reporter
Xeni Jardin: [IMG] The excellent Afrigadget blog has a post up today about a man named Peter Kahugu, in Banana Hill, Kenya (near Nairobi), who makes a living using his bicycle to sharpen knives for his neighbors: AfriGadget reporter
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Xeni Jardin: [IMG] The excellent Afrigadget blog has a post up today about a man named Peter Kahugu, in Banana Hill, Kenya (near Nairobi), who makes a living using his bicycle to sharpen knives for his neighbors:
Xeni Jardin: [IMG] The excellent Afrigadget blog has a post up today about a man named Peter Kahugu, in Banana Hill, Kenya (near Nairobi), who makes a living using his bicycle to sharpen knives for his neighbors:
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Xeni Jardin: [IMG] The excellent Afrigadget blog has a post up today about a man named Peter Kahugu, in Banana Hill, Kenya (near Nairobi), who makes a living using his bicycle to sharpen knives for his neighbors: AfriGadget reporter
Xeni Jardin: [IMG] The excellent Afrigadget blog has a post up today about a man named Peter Kahugu, in Banana Hill, Kenya (near Nairobi), who makes a living using his bicycle to sharpen knives for his neighbors: AfriGadget reporter
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officina. Sul manubrio ha una pietra per molare collegata ai pedali con una cinghia di trasmissione. Peter va di casa in casa, di baracca in baracca, di slum in slum, guadagnando ogni giorni in scellini quasi l’equivalente di 10 dollari. Questo è il sito, questo Peter all’opera ( basta cliccare sul video di YouTube)
officina. Sul manubrio ha una pietra per molare collegata ai pedali con una cinghia di trasmissione. Peter va di casa in casa, di baracca in baracca, di slum in slum, guadagnando ogni giorni in scellini quasi l’equivalente di 10 dollari. Questo è il sito, questo Peter all’opera ( basta cliccare sul video di YouTube)
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all their knives as he goes. The grinding stone he uses has lasted an astounding 2 years and he has had to replace his drive belt a couple of times but that is as simple as cutting up a long strip of rubber from an old car or bicycle tire inner tube.Link, with some awesome video. [IMG ] http://www.afrigadget.com/ [IMG * * *]
all their knives as he goes. The grinding stone he uses has lasted an astounding 2 years and he has had to replace his drive belt a couple of times but that is as simple as cutting up a long strip of rubber from an old car or bicycle tire inner tube.Link, with some awesome video. [IMG ] http://www.afrigadget.com/ [IMG * * *]
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about this, but it’s still good to read: this columnist thinks that in the UK the hassle of cars is so much greater than the benefit that it’s hit a tipping point and people are making changes. Okay, and another link from the Xtracycle forum: Knife-sharpening bicycle. Not for novelty… for real.
about this, but it’s still good to read: this columnist thinks that in the UK the hassle of cars is so much greater than the benefit that it’s hit a tipping point and people are making changes. Okay, and another link from the Xtracycle forum: Knife-sharpening bicycle. Not for novelty… for real.
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Bike Generators Bikes For All Campaign For Real Events Centre for Alternative Technology Cycling Touring Club David Butcher! Green Choices Groovy Movie Solar Cinema Hamster Power Human Powered Vehicles Knife-sharpening Bike OtherPower.com Pedal Power Links Re~Cycle Rinky Dink Screen East The Big Chill The Bike Show The Bike Station The Projector Tank Times Up! World Naked Bike Ride
Bike Generators Bikes For All Campaign For Real Events Centre for Alternative Technology Cycling Touring Club David Butcher! Green Choices Groovy Movie Solar Cinema Hamster Power Human Powered Vehicles Knife-sharpening Bike OtherPower.com Pedal Power Links Re~Cycle Rinky Dink Screen East The Big Chill The Bike Show The Bike Station The Projector Tank Times Up! World Naked Bike Ride
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It is a very common device in Basil’s small cities. Tho be honest, I grew up in Rio de Janeiro. When I was just a little child this kind of device was very common. This photo bring me very good memories.
This is great, I grew up with this gadget back in the fifties in India, and the last I saw of it was in the ’70s when I moved to the USA. I remember being amazed at the ingenuity involved and also huge sparks would fly during the sharpening process, which looked like fireworks to us 8 year-old boys. Thanks for the story !
Amazing, now that is entrepreneurial enginuity for you. Don’t wait for it to come to you go get it. I wonder how much more can be accomplished with his kind of thinking.
This method was still fairly popular in the old districts of my hometown (Poznan, Poland) when I was growing up, however on my recent visit I learned that the last old fashioned knife sharpening biker passed away last year.
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[...] Now this is sharpening (youtube video)! It was on the boingboing site, along with this bicycle sharpening. Maybe this would fly in the burbs of [...]
[...] Now this is sharpening (youtube video)! It was on the boingboing site, along with this bicycle sharpening. Maybe this would fly in the burbs of [...]
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[...] heat, by recycling a beautiful dead harddisk into a heat dispenser. This isn’t as inventive as the-knife-sharpening-bicycle but the spirit is the same, I think. PSst We are presently neighbours, as in impacting on same [...]
[...] heat, by recycling a beautiful dead harddisk into a heat dispenser. This isn’t as inventive as the-knife-sharpening-bicycle but the spirit is the same, I think. PSst We are presently neighbours, as in impacting on same [...]
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[...] who would sing as he wheeled his cart around the town. In Banana Hill, Kenya, a man makes a living using his bicycle to sharpen knives.Labels: [...]
[...] who would sing as he wheeled his cart around the town. In Banana Hill, Kenya, a man makes a living using his bicycle to sharpen knives.Labels: [...]
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This contraption has been used in India for decades now. I remember seeing this on the roads as a small kid. When I ask my Grand dad he tells me he has seen it as a small kid too… probably for a long time indeed
Interesting to note that the bicycle actually comes from China and that the Chinese have presumably indepently developed their own sharpening procedure for their knives (n.b.: almost all knifes sold in Kenya are also Made in China, no matter if they come with a Made in Germany Logo). I wonder if they use the same system?
The knife-sharpening bicycle is a perfect example of “added-value”
[...] Slitting. Selecting a Blade Material … http://www.cknife.com/ [Found on Yahoo! Search] 68. The knife-sharpening bicycle AfriGadget Archive … of tensioning pulleys and a grinding stone to make it a knife-sharpening machine. … Boing [...]
[...] Slitting. Selecting a Blade Material … http://www.cknife.com/ [Found on Yahoo! Search] 68. The knife-sharpening bicycle AfriGadget Archive … of tensioning pulleys and a grinding stone to make it a knife-sharpening machine. … Boing [...]
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[...] remember seeing such knife-sharpening bicycles in India - viaNow that we have entered the world of CDs and miniature zip drives that can carry [...]
[...] remember seeing such knife-sharpening bicycles in India - viaNow that we have entered the world of CDs and miniature zip drives that can carry [...]
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[...] fight. And while you are in the market for a new shank, you might want to stop by and visit this guy, he seems to know how to sharpen knives and ride a bike. His business sure has a small carbon [...]
[...] fight. And while you are in the market for a new shank, you might want to stop by and visit this guy, he seems to know how to sharpen knives and ride a bike. His business sure has a small carbon [...]
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Al-Qaeda Targets Saudi Cell Phones 2) Washington Post Blogger Amar Bakshi 3) AfriGadget Links:  — Wire toys, a pictorial  — Solar Cell Phone Charger — Human/Animal powered vehicle —Knife-sharpening bicycle— Ethan Zuckerman’s blog — Simpsons figurines from Kenya 4) Global Beer Shortage? Also — you can now give a donation to the World’s Technology Podcast via PayPal — http://www.theworld.org/technology
Al-Qaeda Targets Saudi Cell Phones 2) Washington Post Blogger Amar Bakshi 3) AfriGadget Links:  — Wire toys, a pictorial  — Solar Cell Phone Charger — Human/Animal powered vehicle —Knife-sharpening bicycle— Ethan Zuckerman’s blog — Simpsons figurines from Kenya 4) Global Beer Shortage? Also — you can now give a donation to the World’s Technology Podcast via PayPal — http://www.theworld.org/technology
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Comment from Mr B robinson 29 March 2008 - 4:29 pm - :
Was having a discussion about this apperatus with my friends, wh would not believe
[...] The site contains such amazing examples of innovation fostered in most cases by extremely severe constraints. Imagine building a flying helicopter from old scrap machinery, how about developing a dual cellphone SIM card in order to access multiple carriers, or maybe generating self sustaining renewable energy in places where the power grid will not reach? There are so many mind boggling projects on afrigadget. The one that I found most inspiring was a very simple business idea, The knife sharpening bicycle. Such a simple genius idea that produces approximately $300 a month in revenues. What constraints do you face right now in building your information business or product? Embrace the constraints, find solutions that will address those constraints. By doing so you might find that yourself generating some really good revenue. The knife sharpening bicycle. [...]
[...] get really interesting when you let them change function. In my single favorite video on Afrigadget, Peter Kahugu shows off his knife-sharpening bicycle in Na…. I love the video because I owned the same damned bicycle when I lived in Ghana in 1993. It’s [...]
[...] get really interesting when you let them change function. In my single favorite video on Afrigadget, Peter Kahugu shows off his knife-sharpening bicycle in Na…. I love the video because I owned the same damned bicycle when I lived in Ghana in 1993. It’s [...]
31 December 1969 - 4:00 pm - :
visiting Afrigadget!