The five-step process behind every pair of StickFire sticks — and the reason a single pair takes three hours of human attention.
All of our hickory comes from a single family-run mill in eastern Tennessee, and our maple from a small operation in Brattleboro, Vermont. Both have been cutting drumstick-grade dowels for decades. We pay above market for the straightest, densest blanks they cut.
Every blank is hand-rejected at the bench before it ever touches a lathe. Roughly one in seven gets thrown back into the firewood pile.
The bones of our turning operation is a single 1953 South Bend lathe that Intranig restored over a winter. Every stick passes across that bed.
After the rough turn, the taper is finished by hand with a card scraper — a slower way that leaves a slightly faceted feel under the fingers.
Our signature process. Each hickory pair is passed through a controlled propane flame for roughly four seconds. The surface fibers tighten, the grip improves, and the stick gains a slightly darker patina without losing tone.
It's the closest thing we have to a trade secret — and the step that gave the company its name.
Pairs are weighed on a 0.1g jeweller's scale and matched within a single gram. Then they're pitch-paired by ear — held together at the butt and tapped against a marble slab to check for resonance.
If a pair doesn't sing, it gets re-paired. If a stick doesn't pair with anything, it becomes a single — sold cheap to teachers and students.
No varnish. No lacquer. Three thin coats of pure tung oil, hand-rubbed in and left to cure for forty-eight hours between coats.
The finish wears in instead of wearing out — and it can be re-oiled at home with a single drop and a soft cloth.
See the finished sticks →