The Repair Shop’s woodworking expert Will Kirk was faced with a tough challenge to restore a family heirloom to working order.
Guest Emilo Nella wheeled his Italian great-grandfather’s huge “knife sharpening barrow” into the iconic barn to see it brought back to its former glory
Kirk described the “amazing” device as “like a spinning wheel, mixed with a knife sharpener, mixed with a kind of wheelbarrow”.
The knife sharpener was used by Nella’s Italian great-grandfather Emilio, for whom he is named after.
Nella’s ancestor decided to travel with the knife sharpener, pushing it from the Dolomite mountains in Northern Italy across Europe.
He made his way through Austria and France before eventually settling in London. “For me to stand here and having pushed it literally 150 yards, to imagine he pushed this for a year across Europe on foot is just unbelievable,” he said.
Nella is proud of his great-grandfather
BBC
Hearing this, Kirk concluded: “You’d have to be really determined to make a good life for yourself.”
Nella, imploring Kirk to restore the device to working order, said: “It means a lot to me with the history of the machine itself and knowing he (Nella’s great-grandfather) was the last person to use it.
”The sharpener, which Nella first found in his grandfather garage, was dirty and missing many parts which prompted Kirk to add: “Pressure’s on, but I can see how much it means to you.”
Investigating the contraption, Kirk determined its foot pedal, side panelling and drive belt would need to be completely replaced.
Nella uses his great-grandfather’s sharpener for the first time
BBC
The woodworking expert was faced with a “tricky decision” as he discovered some of the original wood panelling was decayed beyond repair.
Kirk wanted to keep as much of the original knife sharpener as possible “because Emilio’s great-grandfather’s hands have touched this” but made the call replace the damaged areas.
The device’s drive belt and foot pedal were also replaced with new components that allowed it to function once again.
Upon seeing the refurbished knife sharpener, Nella was left speechless. Eventually, he exclaimed Kirk was a “master” for his “unbelievable” work.
Looking at the expertly replaced parts, Nella became emotional, saying: “That looks like it’s 100 and something years old and I know it’s not because it wasn’t there before. My great-grandfather, this is him.”
To test the “reincarnated” contraption, Nella used it to sharpen a knife in the barn workshop and gasped with joy as it began to work on the blade.
The fully refurbished knife sharpener
BBC
Kirk asked: “How does it feel to use the sharpener your great-grandfather used?”
Nella replied: “It’s touching. I’m speechless”
He was then able to use the sharpened knife to effortlessly cut through a sheet of paper, to the amazement of Kirk.
The overjoyed Repair Shop guest agreed to sharpen Kirk’s workshop chisels with his revived contraption as the pair shared a warm handshake.
Talking about his experience, Nella said: “To stand there and use that machine, most likely the last person to use it was my great-grandfather, that was quite emotional. I was holding in a lot there to be honest.”
“Would I have wanted to do this in London, in 1901, in the cold and the rain? Wow, that also made me think about the old boy and the life that he had.”
