A dull knife that doesn’t cut is no good. Maintaining a knife’s edge is easy. It means that the blade cuts cleanly and smoothly, without sliding, skipping or sliding. Sharpening knives is easy to do by hand. Even though they use their knives every day, the majority of knife owners don’t sharpen them. Do not be the guy who has dull knives that puts him at risk of a trip to the ER. Keep your knives in top shape and you will be able to cut beautifully without causing injury.
How to Sharpen a Knife
Sharpening Vs. Honing
It is important to distinguish between sharpening and honing your knife. You may see people making mistakes when sharpening a knife with a honing iron. But don’t make the same mistake. To keep a knife’s edge straight, you need to hone it. The process of sharpening a knife involves sanding the blade to make it thinner and more precise.
These two steps are essential to ensure your knives cut cleanly and safely. However, each term has its own meaning and purpose. If you wish, you can sharpen your knife after each use. You should at the very minimum, sharpen your knives once a week. You should sharpen your knives only once a month, or less depending on how frequently you use them.
There Are Pros And Cons To Sharpening Your Knives
Sharpening knives will ensure that your knife can cut through the most difficult cuts. Sharpening your knives helps to keep them looking sharp. A dull knife can cause nicks, jagged edges, and warped forms without proper care.
A dull knife can also pose a safety risk. Blades of any type should always be treated with care, regardless of whether you are cutting food, cloth, wood, or both. A smooth blade allows you to use it on any surface. Even with careful guidance, a dull knife won’t follow the path you are trying to make with your fingers. The knife’s jagged edges can catch and skim, making it move in unexpected ways, or even jump. If your knife begins to slip around in places you don’t want it to, you can expect to spend a few weeks in stitches.
Material For Sharpening Knives
A good sharpening stones is all you need to sharpen knives effectively. There are many tools that can be used as knife sharpeners. The choice of the knife sharpener you choose is largely up to your personal preference. Whetstones are one of the oldest ways to sharpen knives. However, there is still something to be said about them.
Different Types Of Knife Sharpeners
If you are looking for a knife sharpener tool to sharpen your kitchen knives, there are many options. They are quite affordable, with the exception of high-end electric sharpeners. Although many of the most sought-after tools can be purchased for as low as €1, that does not mean they aren’t worth their value.
How do you know which knife sharpening tool works best for you? Let’s discuss the differences in knife sharpeners, and how to choose the right one for you.
Whetstones
Whetstones or sharpening stones are the most commonly used tools for sharpening knives blades. They are a basic block of stone or metal. They are exactly what you need to slow and carefully sharpen your blade, and then mold it back to its original form.
Sharpening stones can be used to sharpen even the most dull knives. They are also great for razor blades and scissors. You can achieve sharper edges by rubbing the blade perpendicularly on the whetstone. This allows you to control the pressure and angle of each stroke.
Sharpeners With Pull-Through
The pull-through knife sharpeners, which are small mechanical devices that you use to sharpen your knife by guiding it through its opening, are small and manual. Pull-through knife sharpeners have the advantage of requiring less effort to attain the desired result.
To sharpen your knife’s edge, it takes less effort to pull the knife through the sharpener then it does to rub it against a stone. But pull-through knife sharpeners can be controversial. Many of these sharpeners use gimmick technology such as water features, claiming they can do things other sharpeners cannot.
Cheap pull-through sharpeners are often made of cheap plastic, which can cause them to break or fall apart quickly. It is even worse if the sharpening material in the cutter isn’t of the right grade. This will not sharpen your knives but can have one or both of the following negative effects.
Your blade will become duller if the sharpener you use is too soft. If the sharpener is too harsh, it can cause your knife to lose too much metal. It will not only make your knife sharper, but it will also reduce the life expectancy of your knife by reducing its lifespan. If you are sharpening inexpensive cutting tools, then pull-through knives are not the best choice.
Electric Sharpeners
We now have electric sharpeners capable of doing most of the heavy lifting thanks to 20th century technology. Electric sharpeners are not made of low-quality parts or cheap components, unlike pull-through models. An electric sharpener is a good tool for all types of knives.
The main problem with electric sharpeners, is the lack of control over the process. You can’t adjust the settings of sharpeners or use multiple cutters to make the blade work exactly how you want it. Some users of electric sharpeners say that they use their electric knife-sharpener for the majority of the work, but they still use the knife to sharpen the blade with a whetstone to finish the job.
We will be discussing how to sharpen your knife with a whetstone, considering the various advantages of each type of knife sharpener. It is the most popular knife sharpening method. You can use it in all situations, no matter how dull.
Whetstones can be found in most stores that sell high-quality kitchenware and outdoorman’s utility items. Whetstones are like most products. You get what you pay, so it is worth spending more on a better product.
Safety First
Keep the knife as far away as possible when sharpening it with a whetstone. Never move the knife towards your body. Thin gloves can protect your fingers from any injuries, but you should still hold the knife securely with your fingers away from the cutting edge.
Use A Whetstone
It is a matter of debate whether you should wet or dry the whetstone for sharpening. The stone should be soaked in water before sharpening your knife. This prevents the pores of the stone from becoming clogged with small flecks or dust from grinding the blade.
If handled incorrectly, a dry whetstone can also be more susceptible to cutting or skipping the stone’s blade. An oiled whetstone will allow the blade to glide along the surface more easily, making it easier for you to control.
Find the Right Angle
For best results, most western knives should be sharpened at 22.5 degrees. For Asian knives, the angle is closer to 15 degrees. Kitchen knives are generally between 17 and 20 degrees. Most jobs will require 22.5 degrees.
You can get to the right angle by holding the blade at 90 degrees from the whetstone and then bending it half way down to 45 degrees. To find 22.5 degrees, you can go halfway between 45 degrees and 0 degrees.
Refine the Edge
A whetstone should be made with a coarse and fine grit. The coarse grit will be your first grit, then the fine grit.
One hand should be used to hold the knife’s handle. Then, use the other hand to place the knife’s cutting edge against the whetstone at the right angle. Use medium pressure to smoothen the blade across the whetstone. You should keep the blade at the same angle all the time. Use your other hand to stabilize the blade (while keeping your fingers clear of the sharp edge).
Then, repeat the sharpening process on the first knife edge 10-15 times. Next, flip the blade and repeat. Turn the whetstone upside down and continue to sharpen each edge with the fine grit side. The fine grit stone side will polish your knife to razor-sharp.
For Maintenance, You Need To Sharpen Your Knives
You should still sharpen your knives regularly even if they are already razor-sharp. The honing iron is a simple tool that can be used to straighten the edges of sharp knives to prolong their life between sharpenings.
Your honing knife should be held in one hand. Start with your sharp knife near the handle of the honing iron. Move it outwards until your knife touches the steel’s tip. You should use a steady motion. If you do, your work will become inconsistent.
Check each side by honing one side and the other. Continue to work on the blade until it appears smooth and even. As an after-sharpening snack, try cutting up your favorite vegetables!
