“Our need will be the real creator.”
Plato’s Republic, c. 375 BC
“The true creator is necessity, who is the mother of our invention.”
Jowett’s loose translation, 1894
“I love knives and almost always carry one with me,” he says. He has spent countless hours sharpening his knives but could never achieve the “perfect” edge or replicate the factory edge. But necessity is the mother of invention, they say. “I came up with the idea of The Sharpener’s Edge when one day a picture popped into my head and I drew it on a piece of paper. Then I fabricated it out of metal in my garage. It worked and it was so simple to use!” It has taken years, but Jim and Colleen have received both utility and design patents for The Sharpener’s Edge, and the first one was manufactured, in the United States, in 2018.
The magic of this sharpener is that it holds just about any sharpening rod or stone at just the right angle for each blade, and it takes just minutes to get a razor sharp edge. The Sharpener’s Edge works on all straight-blade knives, scissors (including surgical scissors), PVC pipe cutters, goat hoof trimmers (useful for the afore-mentioned goats), some hand pruners, and wire cutters. If you are able to cut a tomato or slice a cucumber, you can sharpen a knife with this tool.
Jim and Colleen are a loving team. Colleen is obviously proud of Jim’s invention and convinced it is the answer to keeping Jim from having to commute to Savannah. Jim credits his Colleen with giving him the motivation to keep going through years of obstacles.
Now Colleen and Jim, and the children when Jim is not available, faithfully attend hunting and fishing shows to demonstrate and sell the sharpener; they offer to sharpen visitor’s knives while they wait. There is always a crowd, but a sceptical one, because we all have sharpeners that don’t work. Between shows, the family offers sharpening services. And gradually, from groomers to chefs, hunters to goat breeders, surgeons to cooks, pipe fitters to hair dressers and barbers, the product is catching on.
To learn more about The Sharpener’s Edge, and see how and why it works, visit ProductsByJCS.com.
