Local gun shop owner creates perfect machine for cutting okra

by: Nick Gremillion

Posted: Jul 21, 2017 / 05:52 PM CDT

Updated: Jul 21, 2017 / 05:52 PM CDT

SUNSET, La. (KLFY) – He's a jack-of-all-trades. First a gun repairman, vegetable farmer, marine and now inventor.

Harry Smith was inspired by another local, to design the most efficient okra cutter possible.

And now, he's meeting deadlines to satisfy a high demand for his product.

Smith's gun shop is located at 345 LA 182 in Sunset, Louisiana.

Most people call it the best in the southwest.

But Harry Smith's talents lie far beyond his firearms repair expertise.

"We’ve always grown and owned a farm and we just kept raising our own vegetables," Harry Smith said.

He's also a vegetable farmer. His specialty is okra.

After a nearly 30-year career in the petroleum industry, at 80-years-old Smith literally returned to his roots in farming and achieved overnight success.

Combining his skills of metal working and farming, Smith designed an okra cutter that reduced cutting time significantly.

With Smith's machine, it takes only about 10 minutes to cut 10 lbs. of okra!

"To make just one machine it takes all these machines," Smith said.

His grandson Brent, spends his extra time learning from Smith and helping out when needed.

For Smith, a native of Bristol, Louisiana, farming and "tinkering" have always been his passions.

"Him and my dad if they didn't have the tool to do something, they would just make it," Brent Anthony said.

And make it they did.

Smith tells us, just four weeks ago a representative from the LSU Agriculture Center posted his cutter on Facebook and orders have been pouring in ever since.

Despite all his success, Smith remains humble.

"I had no idea we would be bombarded with so many calls and orders so now people have to put their names on a list," Smith told KLFY.

The okra cutters are sold in two sizes: a small with 14 blades costs $250 and the large has double the blades at a price of $325.

Smith also sells okra that is pre-cut and pre-packaged at $18 for a 10 lb. bag.

The order list is long, so get yours in!

It takes five hours to make one machine- once all parts are made and ordered parts are in

Call Smith's gun shop (337) 277-3866.