Sharpened by Time

EDY & YANTO

From High-Pressure Kitchens to the Craft of Caring for Tools

Some stories are not born out of grand ambitions. They grow slowly—in between work hours, from accidental hobbies, and from long friendships forged by time. For Yanto and Edy, the journey began not with a business plan, but in the kitchen, with a dull knife and a whetstone given as a birthday gift.

Today, they are known as the founders of Sydney Knife Sharpening, a business born from a community of chefs and evolved into a space where precision, calmness, and respect for tools converge. They’ve been friends since middle school. Hanging out in the same cafeteria, part of the same crew, sharing the same stories. That friendship continued until it brought them to Sydney at the age of 18—with little to their name, limited English skills, but the same dream. Nearly 20 years later, life brought them back to the same workbench.

The Origin Story: How It All Began

It all started during the pandemic, when time seemed to slow down. In 2020, on his birthday, Edy received a simple gift from Yanto: a decent set of whetstones. Previously, sharpening knives was just a matter of function—cheap tools, quick results. But when he first used the wet stone, he immediately felt something different. Driven by curiosity, they shared their work with the Sydney Chef Exchange community. And from there, everything began to take off. The business really took off. But before that, of course, there were many trial-and-error processes and mistakes.

In professional kitchens, knives are often the most important and most neglected Item. It's not that chefs don't care, but because there's almost never any time. Line cooks and chefs de partie live under the pressure of service, not in front of a whetstone. As a result, many knives end up in the hands of sharpeners: fast, cheap, but risky. We've experienced it ourselves—good Japanese knives get worn down, losing their shape and character. In the kitchen, sharpening them yourself isn't an option either. During work, it's impossible. During breaks, you're too tired. The problem isn't about skill. It's about time.

Life in the Kitchen, Before the Grind

For Yanto, it all started in the kitchen. As a chef, he fell in love with the process of cutting—and from there, with knives. One knife became two, two became a collection. But knives never sharpen themselves. He learned from scratch, buying various whetstones and spending hours on them. Meanwhile, Edy took the professional kitchen route: from Darling Harbour, Buena Vista, Ginza, to the five-star Primus hotel. That's where the two worlds met—cooking and sharpening—and slowly, sharpening transformed from just a skill into a new direction.

The Turning Point: When a Gift Became a Business Goal

There was never a grand business plan at the start. Knife sharpening was just a hobby—a natural skill every chef possesses. It wasn’t until COVID-19 hit that we found the space to pause and reflect. From simple conversations about the needs of fellow chefs, an idea began to take shape. It all started with a birthday gift: a set of wet stones. It was never intended to be the seed of a business. But with that gift, everything clicked. From a deep friendship, a business was born.

Humble Beginnings: From Apartment Balconies to Broadway

It all began in a cramped apartment that could no longer contain our growing dreams. Every day, dozens of people would drop off their knives—not just for sharpening, but to share their life stories. We found ourselves sharpening on the balcony and even in the bathroom, doing our best to muffle the sound of the machines to avoid disturbing the neighbors. Exhausted by the constant back-and-forth of the apartment stairs and realizing that home was no longer the right place, we decided to search for a space in the heart of the city. We needed a spot that was strategic and affordable, yet remained close to the community. What started as a simple desire to ease the pressure of running a business from home became the leap of faith that led us to Broadway.

Preparing Before Going Full-Time

Starting a business in a city with a high cost of living like Australia requires careful preparation. Don't quit your job right away; start small as a side hustle to build customer trust and service standards. Use your personal savings as a safety net until the business starts to stabilize. Let your passion be your compass so you can persevere even when there’s no income at first. The key is discipline: keep working on weekdays, but pursue your dreams on weekends. When motivation wanes, discipline is what keeps you moving forward. Remember, the main ingredients are momentum, consistency, and patience.

A steady job is much easier because of the regular pay and low risk, while a business requires harder work with pay that is often not commensurate in the beginning. However, the key to success is simple: consistency and quality. Deliver results that make you proud, and the financial rewards will follow. For us, the best strategy is to combine both: keep working for financial security while building your passion. One important message: whatever your job is now, do it as if it were your own business. Learning to build systems in someone else's business is the best risk-free practice, because as you help that business grow, you are actually building your own quality.

Building Beyond the 18-Hour Day

Our biggest challenge is time management; working up to 18 hours a day and serving customers 24/7. We built everything from scratch—from operational systems to service standards—through trial and error in order to maintain one thing: customer trust. The limited space in our apartment eventually became a strong signal that we needed our own place to grow.

Focusing on Quality, Education, and the Right Tools

Our focus going forward is not to be the biggest, but to be the most precise in terms of quality and function. We want to provide comfortable and affordable knives, because as chefs, we know that the comfort of tools is a primary need. In addition to products, education through sharpening classes (as well as online courses) is our mission so that everyone understands how to care for their own tools.

From customers' concerns about how to choose and care for knives, NOSETO was born—a name that means “knife sharpening” in our native language. Sydney Knife Sharpening is its foundation, but through NOSETO, we bring our ideal standards to life in the form of tangible products. Our principle is simple: there is no such thing as a perfect knife; there is only the right knife for its user.

Interestingly, amidst the intense kitchen pressure, sharpening knives became a quiet and therapeutic “escape” for us. Our advice: use your dissatisfaction with your current job as fuel to build your future. Work on your business wholeheartedly until it gradually replaces the life you want to leave behind.

Building Resilience in a Changing World

He believes money should never be the main goal. Instead, start by finding something you’re willing to commit to for the long term—even before it makes money. Focus on honing the craft, building discipline, and staying consistent. When quality isn’t consistent, people don’t return. Work at it long enough to truly understand your ability, then keep improving and growing from there.

Pressure shaped us—sometimes too harshly, but it taught us our limits and resilience. Now, the challenge is different: how to push people to be better without yelling and stress. Today's generation needs clear direction, healthy communication, and concrete goals. Push them in a humane way, but remain firm on standards.

“It's not the place, but the knife. The process of sharpening knives for the community gives me a moment of zen—like meditation. Seeing the expressions of relief and happiness when the knives are returned to their owners is the “click” moment. From a stressful kitchen, I find meaning in that simple happiness. For now, this is what I want to do—even without compensation.” -Edy

“One important skill: self-control—thoughts, emotions, and reactions. Meditation teaches me that it's not the situation that hurts us, but how we respond to it. In the kitchen, there is always pressure. When we learn to be calm and mindful, everything feels lighter—and we become stronger.” -Yanto