Schaumburg man has passion for knife sharpening

Tony Durante likes to say he can sharpen blades with his eyes closed.

You don't want to put the 70-year-old to the test, but given his decades of experience, you are tempted to believe him.

"Wherever I go, she goes," the Schaumburg resident said, pointing to the pedal-powered sharpening machine he inherited from his grandfather. "Nobody touch my machine."

During the summer, Durante sets up shop with his van at outdoor farmers markets throughout the suburbs, including Elgin, Schaumburg and Naperville.

Sharpening a knife takes only three to four minutes, but more time-consuming jobs - like electric hedge trimmers that need to be taken apart - must be worked on overnight, he said.

Many of his answers are preceded by big, belly laughs.

Does he like his job? "If I didn't like it, I wouldn't do it!"

Is it ever tiring to work the machine's pedals? "It's exercise!"

Did he ever hope one of his kids followed in his footsteps? "Please! They have to do what they want to."

Durante, who used to work at the former Klein Tools in Roselle, still carries blades long forgotten by customers.

"Some of them are from seven, eight years ago, up to 10 years ago," he said. "But if someone suddenly remembers and says, 'Hey, Tony, you remember?' What can I do, I have to have them."

Durante hasn't been back to his native Italy since he left at a young age in search of a better life.

He was the youngest of 12 siblings and there just wasn't enough for everyone, he said. "We were hungry. I was tired of a small piece of cheese and a small piece of bread."

He immigrated to Belgium, where he worked in a coal mine for 10 years, and then to Australia, where he was a welder for a decade, he said. He finally moved to the United States in 1973 to join his uncle and grandfather in Berwyn.

It was his grandfather who taught him all about blade sharpening, he said.

"He did it the Italian way," he said. "When he'd tell you to do something a certain way, and you said, 'No,' it was trouble."

Durante said his machine is more than 100 years old. It has never broken down, although his grandfather reinforced one end with metal bolts, he said.

People will spend hundreds of dollars on fancy knives, but that's really not necessary, he said.

"Today's knives, they are all the same. Nobody makes knives like they used to."

The key to sharpening a blade is having a light touch and keeping an even motion, he said.

"It's not complicated, but you have to learn to keep the edge of the blade always the same."

People can do it at home, but it's easier said than done, he added. "They think they know how to do it, then they ruin it."

As for how long he'll continue his work, that gets another hearty laugh.

"Until I die!" he said. "I told my wife, 'I will not die in bed, I will not die in an armchair. I will die on the machine.'"