The 20-something keeping eastern Melbourne’s home cooks and professional chefs’ knives sharp

A young small business owner in Ringwood has found a niche in his love of sharpening knives.

Ari Chesterman’s business – Steel To Stone – sharpens knives and equipment for cafes, restaurants and home cooks in Melbourne’s east. The young small business owner, based in Ringwood, said he first started sharpening knives as a hobby and has since turned it into a complete business over seven years of hard work.

😮‍💨 A cathartic job choice: The 20-something’s fascination for food and cooking started young while growing up in Mount Evelyn.

• “There was something very cathartic about the process of sharpening a knife, going through different grits, refining it and getting it to a point that I was happy with,” Chesterman told the Eastern Melburnian. “My mum was often the one cooking at home and we just found this connection where I'd love coming into the kitchen with her.”

👨‍🍳 Sharp tools, satisfied chefs: Chesterman’s clientele is a smorgasbord of chefs at restaurants and cafes, butchers, home cooks; occasionally medical clinics and upholstery businesses that need equipment sharpened across the eastern suburbs.

📲 Getting customers through the door: Ari cold-calls businesses for clientele, but the digital space is the priority for his business in 2025.

• “If it wasn't for Google, Instagram, and Facebook I wouldn't have clientele,” he said.

🔪 How to care for your knives: Chesterman said he has a few tips for home cooks: 

• Do not put your knives in the dishwasher

• Use wooden chopping boards instead of plastic

• Invest in a leather strop for sharpening

• Focus on buying a medium-quality knife rather than spending too much on an ultra-high-quality one