The Story Behind the Stick by Sharpow | Invented at Vivront
The Story Behind The Stick by Sharpow
Invented at Vivront. Built by Sharpow™.
Shop the Stick at Vivront.com →
When we opened our first sharpening shop, we did not stock honing rods. I didn't understand them. Like most home cooks, I had owned pull-through gadgets and never liked them. They promised sharpness but rarely delivered.
So we started learning in depth. We studied with professional sharpeners, apprenticed under one of the country’s original volume sharpeners, traveled to Japan and Europe to watch makers and masters at work, and have now sharpened tens of thousands of knives.
Along the way, a pattern appeared. Customers, those who cook in pro kitchens or home kitchens, could not reliably keep them that way with the tools on the market.
The Problem: Why Most Maintenance Tools Do Not Work
Professional chefs can use honing rods with skill because they practice daily. Home cooks do not. They shouldn't need to.
The cutting-edge-first motion seen on television is hard to do correctly. Instead of realigning the edge, it often tears the delicate bent/curved apex and leaves a rounded, dull result.
We wanted a simple way to keep knives performing. No fear of ruining the edge. No special training. No stone equipment, slurry, lapping plate or stands to figure and store.
The Breakthrough: A Familiar Motion
That is how The Stick was born. Instead of cutting-edge-first, you use a spine-forward, edge-trailing motion. It feels like buttering bread.
Lay The Stick flat on the counter or hold it with an edge on the counter, or totally in air (if you're really skilled). Glide the blade smoothly across, spine first. This resets the micro-bend in the edge and adds a subtle scratch pattern for bite. It does not remove lots of metal. It does touch up the apex.
The Stick is not a hone. It won't bend metal well like a hone does. The Stick does not replace sharpening as it's not so much a material remover or apex creator. Rather, it's an inbetween tool. It stretches the time between sharpenings and keeps your knife cutting better for longer.
The Design: Simple, Strong, Predictable
- Aluminum body: light and durable. Flat so it will not roll on a station.
- Easy to store: slides into a pocket, knife roll, drawer, backpack, textbook, cookbook or a knife-block slot.
- High-performance abrasive: aerospace-grade with consistent particle size and scratch pattern for uniform results.
- Predictable performance: repeatable texture and bite across the length of it's use.
- Accessible price: less expensive than pro tools and easier to use.
Tested in the Wild
The Stick by Sharpow has been used in pro kitchens and butcher shops. It also been at work in loads of customer home kitchens. Hunters carry it for field work. Chefs use it for quick touch ups. Home cooks restore that “just sharpened” feel before dinner prep.
It is not a sharpener. It is not a traditional hone. It is the missing step in between them.
Invented at Vivront. Built for Sharpow.
We designed the Stick in our Minnesota knife shops to solve a daily problem we encountered with our customers. This is by far the best solution to-date of all the options and approaches we've tested. Sharpow now brings The Stick and it's results to more cooks in more places.