The best way to sharpen knives. How to sharpen a knife correctly and quickly at home

The knife is one of the oldest tools created by mankind, indispensable in household. Knives come in different types, are designed for different things and are made from different types of steel. But most products have in common that they need sharpening. If you do not sharpen the blade for a long time, it becomes dull and ceases to perform its functions well. In order to sharpen a knife in a timely manner and not spoil it in the process, you need to know the rules of how this is done.

kitchen tools

most used and irreplaceable look a knife at home is a kitchen knife. Used at home various knives, depending on the passion and desires of the owner. Professional kitchen tools are used in professional kitchens of restaurants and cafes. This is a whole range of blades, different in shape and function. They also differ in the material from which they are made.

The most common of the materials:

To correctly sharpen a knife, you need to know what material it is made of. The harder the alloy, the less angle sharpening. And also the method of sharpening the blade is selected from the hardness of the alloy.

Blade shapes

A knife is always a combination of blade and handle. But blades can vary greatly and have component parts. The part of the blade that needs to be constantly looked after and sharpened regularly consists of the following parts:

  1. Cutting edge height cutting edge
  2. Butt and its thickness
  3. Rectangular section and its height
  4. Descents, their height
  5. Cutting edges, their height and thickness

Also found the following forms blade blades:

  1. wedge-shaped
  2. Shaving
  3. Chisel, "Japanese"
  4. "Chopping Chinese"
  5. Bullet

Blade sharpening and blunting

Blade blunting occurs due to the following factors:

  1. The blade rubs against the product during cutting
  2. The blade has rough contact with inhomogeneous particles in products or when dropped and hit with the surface
  3. Chemical oxidation in contact with acidic foods and herbs
  4. Unsymmetrical side loads

A dull blade is easy to determine, it can be seen even by eye, and it feels very easy to touch.

The task of sharpening is to restore the correct shape cutting edges blade and grind them to the desired smoothness. The main difficulty of sharpening for people inexperienced in this matter is that you need to maintain the desired angle of inclination of the knife all the time during sharpening. To make it easier to deal with this, special mechanisms or devices are often used.

Often, in addition to kitchen appliances you need to sharpen at home and tools such as a straight razor, hairdressing or household scissors, and other tools. If a person shaves at home with a straight razor, or frequently uses scissors as a household tool, or metal shears, they also become blunt. The rules and sharpening tools for them are the same as for knives.

Most often, stones are used for sharpening at home. They meet different forms and stones are made different materials: mineral natural stones, polymer alloys, abrasive mixtures, ceramics. When sharpening on stones, you can set the required sharpening angle and sharpen the knife correctly, but a special skill is required.

Sharpeners, which are made according to the principle of dragging the blade, do not allow you to set the sharpening angle, and therefore are suitable only for short-term edits. And in some cases it is generally undesirable to use them - you can damage the edge of the blade.

Cooks use musat - this is a handle with a rod made of longitudinal ribs. But sharpening on a musat requires some skill, and this method may not work the first time.

There are also electric sharpeners, but they are not suitable for sharpening kitchen knives.

How to determine the angle of sharpening a knife

The value of the sharpening angle depends on the purpose of the blade. There is a table by which it can be determined. It was developed by the global company CATRA, which controls the quality and advises on sharpening any type of knives.

According to it, depending on the purpose of the blade, the following sharpening angles are recommended:

In the table you can find the corners and share more rare tools that can be used at home.

Also do not wash knives, razors, scissors and other metal blades. hot water, put in dishwashers to avoid blunting too quickly.

It should be borne in mind that stones and whetstones for sharpening are also designed for different types blades - these properties are indicated on them, and the stone must be chosen so that it fits the existing blades for sharpening. Often the stone comes with a set of knives and should fit a particular set or blades with similar characteristics.

Sharpen knives correctly is a very valuable ability. Any hostess will confirm that a poorly sharpened knife can significantly complicate any cooking process. In fact, sharpening knives is not difficult, the main thing is to choose The right way, with which you can sharpen them. Our article will help you choose this method, as well as tell you how to properly sharpen kitchen, Japanese, ceramic, hunting and any other knives at home.

Block or whetstone

In order to properly sharpen knives with a bar or grindstone, you need to stock up on two copies at once, one of which must be coarse-grained structure, and second - fine-grained. Immediately before sharpening, thoroughly moisten the blade of the knife clean water, tilt it 20 degrees, after which it is necessary to fix a bar or whetstone of coarse structure on a table or any other flat surface. A bar or whetstone should also be moistened with water, and only after that you can start sharpening the knife. This should be done until burrs form on the blade, which can then be easily smoothed out with a bar of fine-grained structure. It is necessary to sharpen knives with a bar or whetstone on both sides, after which they should be washed in clean water.

On the machine

To properly sharpen a knife on a special grinder or, as it is also called, on an electric grinder, you should have some knowledge and skills. Sharpening knives on an electric grinder is not at all an easy task, because if you do it wrong, you can completely ruin the knife, after which no sharpening will help. It should also be remembered that when the disks are rubbed against the blade, they tend to heat up. Not every material is able to withstand high sharpening temperatures.

To properly sharpen the knife on the machine, you should do it on the side surface of the grinding wheel. The blade of the knife should be rotated 25-30 degrees, and it should be sharpened until burrs appear on the blade. They will need to be carefully removed and slightly straighten the knife blade with a fine-grained whetstone.

Electric knife sharpener

The electric knife sharpener is the most convenient way How to sharpen a knife at home. Most often, she has two modes: directly sharpening, as well as polishing. All you have to do to sharpen a knife is insert it into a special hole and wait a while while the electric knife sharpener does everything for you.

Musatom

Sharpening knives with musat is quite difficult. Often musat is used to grind a knife sharpened in some other way. To properly sharpen a knife, it is necessary to choose ceramic musat or with the addition of diamond chips. Next, you just need to run the blade over the musat several times, achieving the desired result, then wash both devices and put them on the table.

sandpaper

To properly sharpen a knife with sandpaper, it is necessary to put it on a flat surface, and holding one free hand edge of the sandpaper, take the knife in the second hand and start sharpening it with sliding movements. Do not wet the sandpaper or blade with water. But you will need double sided tape if you want to fix the sandpaper on a flat surface.

How to sharpen different types of knives

    Any sharpening method will work for kitchen knives, as long as the knives are not ceramic. The main thing at the same time is to sharpen correctly, following all the recommendations from our article.

    Knives ice drill should only be sharpened with a whetstone. It can be of any shape, however, it should be understood that its surfaces must be flat. You need to sharpen ice drill knives as follows:: Place the whetstone on a level surface so that it does not wobble or slip into different sides. After that, pick up a drill knife, attach it to the grindstone and make a few circular motions. So you remove the burrs and prepare the knife for sharpening. Next, grab the blunt part of the drill knife and start sharpening it, rotating it in different directions. You only need to sharpen the outer part of the ice drill knife, otherwise there is a possibility to completely ruin the device.

    Knives for meat grinders can be sharpened with a whetstone. To do this, it must be installed on a flat surface, moisten a little upper part, then put a knife on it, which should be sharpened. Now begin to gently rotate the meat grinder knife in different directions, sharpening only outside knife. During sharpening, the bar should be moistened regularly, which will ensure more efficient sharpening.

    Hunting the knife is usually sharpened by hand using a whetstone. In this case, it is desirable to immediately determine the degree of inclination of the blade during sharpening, as this will affect the final result. The optimal slope for sharpening a hunting knife is about 15-20 degrees. In this case, the grindstone must be installed on a flat surface and pre-moistened with any oil. Then you need to take in both hands hunting knife and attach it to the surface of the emery stone, then forcefully draw the blade cross-to-cross. For each side, you need to make about ten movements to perfectly sharpen a hunting knife at home.

    Japanese knives are of special quality and durability, so they need to be sharpened in a suitable way. In order to sharpen a Japanese knife by hand, a Japanese knife designed for this purpose is ideal. water stone. It looks like a grindstone and has a double coloring: on the one hand, the water stone has White color, and on the other - dark brown or orange. Before sharpening a Japanese knife with water stone, it (the stone) should be lowered into the water for a few minutes. When the stone does not emit bubbles, you can start sharpening. First you need to sharpen a Japanese knife on a coarse brown surface, and then polish it with a white one.

    Ceramic knives can only be sharpened with a sharpening machine, and then provided that there is diamond-coated nozzle. At the same time, it is desirable to have minimal skills in working with this tool, otherwise there is a possibility of damage ceramic knife finally. To properly sharpen a ceramic knife with a sharpening machine, you need to lean the blade against abrasive wheel with diamond coating, tilt the blade 25 degrees and turn on the machine. Be careful: the smaller the angle of inclination, the sharper the sharpening will be.

    Grafting The knife should only be sharpened on one side. This is done as follows: turn the knife so that its blade is directed in your direction, and then begin to sharpen the upper section of the knife, gradually going down. Adjust the blade angle so that the blade is about most at the end. It is necessary to sharpen the grafting knife with a bar and a whetstone, the surface of which should be regularly moistened with water.

    Disk skinning knives, like knives hand planer can only be sharpened with a grinder. It is best to give such knives to professionals who will sharpen circular knives or hand planer knives as they should. It is better not to sharpen such knives on your own, especially if you do not have any skills when working with a grinding machine.

If our tips did not help you sharpen your knife correctly and efficiently at home, then we advise you to watch a video guide for sharpening knives, as well as read a book or any other educational literature on this topic. Sharpening knives is not an easy task, therefore it requires at least minimal knowledge.

The eternal problem associated with blunt knives is actually quite easy to solve. And far from the fact that self-sharpening products are purchased, but directly manual sharpening knives at home.

If earlier all men knew how to sharpen kitchen knives, then in modern world most of them do not have enough idea how to do it.

Existing types of knives that do not require sharpening

Surely you know the saying - "what kind of owner, such in his house and knives." That is why many women are often outraged, speaking out about the lack of a “real man” in the house.

In order not to get into this situation, not to become this “fake”, you should familiarize yourself with the information below. You will learn not only how to properly sharpen a kitchen knife, but also what types of knives are, and also consider sharpening tools.

magnetic layer

  • This type of knives cannot be sharpened for one simple reason - the blade is covered with a special metal layer, which includes a magnetic alloy. The surface of such a product remains sharp for a long time, the owners will not experience a problem with sharpening for a very long time.
  • Sharpening a kitchen knife with a magnetic alloy is terrible because the entire surface layer will be deformed, more worn out. This will lead to rapid wear and loss of original sharpness.

Note! The price of such knives is much higher than for ordinary metal ones, but their service life allows them to remain popular. Anyway, the magnetic alloy knife does a good job of slicing food.

Ceramic knives

  • Another type of knives that do not require sharpening. They are made of ceramic and honed to special machines. You can see the first-class products in the photo below.
  • On the positive side, they are hard, the blade is a little worse than a diamond-coated product, which is able to cut even the toughest objects.
  • But on the other hand, ceramics do not have increased strength and flexibility, so such a knife is easy to break if the blade is slightly bent. Falling from height working surface on the floor from ceramic tiles, for such a knife is equivalent to hitting the blade with a hammer.

Note! When buying such a product, be sure to check the presence of zirconium oxide in it, which allows for a slight increase in flexibility.

Serrated surface

  • Hard wear-resistant steel is an excellent material for making kitchen knives from it. It has increased strength and protection against deformation, which makes this product popular in today's market.
  • The jagged edge in some cases significantly exceeds smooth edge, so, for example, serrated knives cut cheese and sausages better. However, remember that not all products are best cut with a jagged edge.

  • Unfortunately, it is impossible to sharpen such a knife with your own hands, otherwise the teeth will be damaged, and their uniformity will also be disturbed.

Important! To sharpen a knife with a serrated edge, you will need a kitchen knife sharpening machine, which costs a lot and is rather bulky. Therefore, sharpening such a product will significantly affect the budget, it will be easier to buy a new one.

All kinds of tools

Don't know how to sharpen kitchen knives?

It doesn't matter, there are several various ways and tools:

  • Steel or ceramic rod called mussat. Actually it is made from the above-mentioned materials, on top of which a diamond coating is applied. Outwardly, it resembles a round file, only such a tool is used to a greater extent for straightening knives, and not for sharpening.

  • The whetstone is the most common tool that appeared in the kitchen several decades ago.. Stones differ in grain size, coarse (large grains) are designed to align the angle, correct the shape of the cutting part. Medium grains are used for recovery original form at the edge, and fine-grained stones for the final finishing of the knife to working condition.
  • Sandpaper can replace the whetstone. Unfortunately, it does not sharpen so well, so it is best to use only fine-grained blades. They will not damage the product and will not disturb the edge angle. But this is the cheapest sharpener for kitchen knives.
  • A special device that has become very popular in modern times– a plastic case in which metal disks are built. If you insert a knife between them, and make several movements back and forth, you can not only correct the edge, but also eliminate defects. The main advantage of such a device is that it can withstand the correct sharpening angle of kitchen knives, which is 10-20 degrees.

The most common device that can easily be edited with a dull knife

As you can see, you can restore the former sharpness of the knife on your own at no cost. And if you do not know how to properly sharpen a kitchen knife, then the entire process of sharpening and editing will be described in detail below.

Proper dressing and sharpening

If you recently bought a knife, and it has become a little dull, then for this case you can use a muscat or a device that is sold in every hardware store (see also the article about). However, it should be remembered that this is only editing, soon the knife will still lose its sharpness, and then it will be necessary to sharpen the product.

To return the product to its original appearance, you must follow what the instructions say on how to sharpen a kitchen knife at home:

  • First of all, take a knife in your hands and clean it of dirt. Rinse the product thoroughly to remove all excess elements from the surface. Water should be cold, cooled steel is better sharpened.
  • Then take out a whetstone with a middle tooth. It must be clean and dry.
  • Depending on how you are going to sharpen the knife, you should maintain a certain angle. All knives for fine work are sharpened at the most acute angles, minimum value 10 degrees, maximum 20. For household products, the angle can be increased up to 30 degrees.

  • Lead should be with a sharp edge forward, gradually from the handle to the tip. Movements should not be abrupt, although you should not drive slowly.

  • Each side should be sharpened evenly. Therefore, watch how much you make movements on the grindstone on one side, and how much on the other.

Note! In some cases, sharpening can be done asymmetrically, for example, it will take 30 movements on one side and 60 on the other. This is due to the characteristics of the knife, the easiest way is to stick to symmetry.

  • You should also maintain the sharpening angle of the kitchen knife, if you make 10 degrees on one side and 30 on the other, then the product can be considered damaged.
  • After you have achieved the desired result, you should set aside a stone with a middle tooth and pick up a fine-grained canvas.

  • This process is more accurate, the movements should not be sharp, no jerks.
  • The effect of sharpening on a fine-grained canvas is visually difficult to notice, but know that this way you will make the product as even as possible. Plus, the knife will last longer.

Now you know how to sharpen kitchen knives at home. There is nothing complicated in this, the main thing is to follow the above recommendations.

Important! It should be remembered that the quality of the knife and its durability depend on the sharpness of the edge. If the blade is sharpened improperly, it will quickly become unusable.

Also, do not forget that all knives have a certain lifespan. Some can last 3-4 full-fledged sharpenings, after which they can no longer be restored at home. And other products, such as self-sharpening kitchen knives, are designed to last in years rather than cycles of sharpening and dressing.

If there is nothing at hand

There are also situations when there are no whetstones, no devices, no sandpaper at home, what to do in this case? Is it really left to turn only to specialists and pay for services to workers of workshops where no one guarantees quality?

However, there is one option that can be used in hopeless situation. To do this, you need a ceramic mug.

Note! This method is only suitable for dressing knives, that is, for a short-term restoration of the sharpness of the blades. It will not be possible to completely restore the original sharpness of the blade in this way.

  • Take a knife and soak it in ice water so that the blade is cold.
  • The mug should be washed and the bottom should be wiped dry.
  • Turn over and place the mug on the table.
  • The knife should be driven alternately, first with one side, then with the other. It is not advisable to press hard so that the blade does not bend.

The disadvantage of this method is that the bottom of the mug will be damaged, any paint will quickly be erased. But the method is very effective, and besides, it is also simple.

Conclusion

Sharpening knives is a male occupation, but if a man is not around, and sharp object simply necessary in the kitchen, then reading this article, any woman can handle the sharpening process (Learn also about). If you have any doubts and questions, you can watch the video: how to sharpen kitchen knives, which is attached to the article. Visual lessons allow you to more accurately learn the sharpening technique.

A knife is an indispensable tool in the kitchen. Over time, the blade loses its sharpness, dulls and using it becomes a torment. There are many ways to properly sharpen a knife. The sharpness of the blade depends on the material, a well-chosen tool and the angle of sharpening. The stores offer a range of hand and automatic devices, allowing you to sharpen the blade yourself.

How to sharpen knives

A sharp knife is the main condition for effective and safe work professional chef and housewife. While cutting food small particles steel breaks away from the edge surface. The blade becomes blunt, forcing you to put more effort into cooking. The sharpening process is the restoration of the geometric shape of the cutting edge. The choice of device for this purpose depends on the material of the knife and the skill of the grinder.

In the arsenal of tools for restoring edge sharpness, there is a set of devices from a file to a universal automatic sharpener. Devices have different efficiency, at misuse they will lead to damage to the blade. If you don't have anything but a file handy, use it sparingly. On hard steel, the tool leaves scratches, and on a soft surface it cleans off a significant layer of metal.

What angle to sharpen a knife

There is no universal value for the angle of sharpening. Its value varies depending on the material and purpose of the knife. Special and home-made devices will help determine the angle of the blade:

  • The edge is clamped with scissors, and the angle between the halves is measured with a protractor. The measurement error is 1 .
  • Professionals use a special laser device with a scale.
  • In the factory and repair shops, the indicator is measured with a mechanical goniometer.

The optimal angle of sharpening knives differs depending on their purpose:

  • household kitchen knife - 30-35;
  • for processing fish - 25;
  • cutting - 25-30;
  • fruit - 15;
  • for processing vegetables - 35;
  • for cutting - 40-45;
  • table - 55-60.

A knife is an indispensable thing in many areas. human life. This is the universal item that is constantly in demand. Knives are used in the household, fishing and outdoor activities, in construction, martial arts, etc. Without this item, it is impossible to imagine a kitchen and a tourist set. Due to the fact that this tool is used so widely, there are many different types of knives: kitchen, tourist, universal, combat and others. There are also souvenir knives that attract buyers with their aesthetic appearance.

In the process of constant use of a kitchen knife, its blade may become dull, sharpening the knife will return the blade to an excellent cutting quality.

What is a knife and what are its functions?

The knife itself is a cutting tool. various items, consisting of two main parts: a handle for which the cutting hand holds, and a blade with a blade on one or two sides. The quality of the knife depends on the sharpness of the blade. Therefore, it is extremely important to know how to sharpen a knife correctly. It is usually made from solid metals (of stainless steel) that undergo sharpening industrial way. In combat models of knives, the end of the blade can also be sharpened. The handle is made of materials such as iron, wood, plastic.

The blade angle should be 20 degrees.

The main property that any knife should have is the sharpness of the blade. Over time, any tool loses its former sharpness, so it needs to be sharpened from time to time. It is from correct sharpening depends on the convenience of working with the tool and the quality of the cut. After all, a poorly sharpened knife will not be able to cut wood, fish, or bread. So do not underestimate the importance of sharpening a cutting tool.

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The hardness of steel is an important parameter when sharpening a knife

One of the main indicators that determine the process and its quality is the hardness of the steel. After all, a tool that is made of steel soft type can be easily deformed or crumpled, and too solid material may crumble. Therefore, it is worth choosing a knife with optimal steel hardness. Ideally, it should be 45-60 HRC. Such a parameter as hardness is extremely important for the sharpening process, because it determines the angle of sharpening the knife. The harder the blade, the larger the angle should be.

The scheme of the elements of the blade cut: 1 - cutting edge (RK), 2 - supply, 3 - sharpening angle, 4 - descent, 5 - butt.

In the event that the owner of the tool is not aware of the hardness of the material, it can be easily checked at home. You need to take a file with a small notch (needle file) and run it along the knife blade. First, this must be done with a little pressure - with good steel hardness, the needle file should slide freely enough along the sharpened part of the blade. If you press on the needle file with a noticeable effort, then it should cling to the blade a little. In this case, the hardness of the knife is good and you can safely proceed to sharpening.

Be sure to be patient before sharpening your knife. After all, the process of returning sharpness to the blade can take from 5 minutes to several hours, depending on the type of knife. Therefore, you should not wait for visible results after a couple of minutes of sharpening.

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What are sharpening tools?

The first thing you need when sharpening a knife is a sharpening tool. The choice of a tool for sharpening is a very important matter, the quality of work directly depends on the correct implementation of it. Choosing a sharpening tool is even more difficult than the knife itself. For sharpening, grinding and leveling blades, devices such as mechanical and electronic sharpeners, whetstones, musats, grinding belts, etc. are used. If the knife that requires sharpening is expensive, then it is advisable not to save on funds for turning it. Since sharpening tools cost a lot of money, it is important to immediately correctly determine the best way so as not to waste money.

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Bar for sharpening the cutting part of the blade

The higher the number on the bar, the larger the grain size of the ambrasive.

A knife sharpening block is a rather expensive tool. However, it can be used to really High Quality sharpening. The main active substance, due to which the blade is sharpened, is abrasive crystals. They are practically invisible to the naked eye, but the result of their work is quite noticeable - sharp blade knife. The more such crystals on each cubic millimeter of the bar, the faster and better the turning process will be. Usually the number of these abrasive grains is indicated on the tool packaging. It should be borne in mind that for the high-quality performance of grinding work, at least 2 bars are required. One of them is used for sharpening, and the other for grinding. It is not recommended to purchase whetstones that do not indicate the number of abrasive crystals on the packaging, since in this case it is impossible to determine what quality this tool has. I must say that domestic manufacturers often sin in the absence of such important information.

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Using musat for straightening and grinding

Musat is able to maintain the sharpness of the blade without resorting to sharpening.

Another tool widely used for sharpening knives is musat. It is a steel tube, similar to a file, a strip or a circle, which is used to grind and sharpen a knife. AT professional activity this tool is used to a greater extent not for turning knives, but for maintaining correct form and sharpness of the blade. Musat is great for working with kitchen knives, the blades of which, as a rule, are not too hard. This tool must be used before the knife has lost its sharpness, because you can’t sharpen a dull blade with musat, it’s only convenient for them to edit.

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Mechanical sharpener for sharpening the blade

In everyday life, such a sharpening tool as a mechanical sharpener is often used. With it, you can easily work with kitchen knives and various types scissors. The rather high popularity of such a tool is explained by the relatively low cost and ease of operation. The sharpening angle is easily changed depending on the type of blade. The cutting part of the blade sharpens quickly. But, it is worth saying that you should not expect from a mechanical sharpener high quality work. In addition, after using a mechanical sharpener, the knife can become dull faster than before. Therefore, it is better to use it only for working with household knives, but not for hunting, tourist or combat knives, which require really high-quality sharpening.

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Electric blade sharpener

The electric knife sharpener is able to sharpen and grind the knife, automatically detecting optimal angle sharpening.

Electric sharpeners are becoming more and more popular. They provide much better sharpening than their mechanical counterparts. Their undoubted advantages include not only versatility by the type of knife (kitchen, hunting, tourist, combat), but also by the type of blade (wavy, straight). Working with this tool is easy. He himself chooses the optimal angle of sharpening the blade. In addition to knives, you can also sharpen screwdrivers and scissors. An electric sharpener can handle new dull blades just as well as old ones. The degree of sharpness of the cutting part of the blade is also not important. The result of the work of the electric sharpener is stored on long time, the blade remains very sharp. Nowadays, such devices not only sharpen the blade, but also grind, straighten and process it, bringing it to optimal conditions. These devices are very versatile! The only disadvantage of an electric knife sharpener can be considered its rather high cost. But the quality of the work definitely justifies its high price.

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Grinding belts, abrasive and felt wheels for sharpening

The abrasive wheel should not be used at home, as there is a high probability of damage to the blade during the sharpening process.

Another way to sharpen the cutting part of a knife blade is to work with grinding belts, as well as abrasive and felt wheels. This method of sharpening knives is used on industrial production cutting tools and points of their sharpening. However, it is better not to take this method for a beginner, since knowledgeable professional people work with it in factories, who know how to choose the right sharpening angle and disk rotation speed. Without this knowledge, it will not be possible to sharpen a knife with high quality. In inept hands, the blade can simply deform. The point is that under the influence grinding wheel the blade heats up high temperature, as a result of which the steel must be hardened. But if you overexpose the blade, then it can simply deteriorate under the influence of temperature and friction. Another disadvantage of this method of sharpening the blade is its relatively short-lived effect. This is not surprising, because it is beneficial for manufacturers and sharpening specialists if the client contacts them again after some time. Therefore, for a long-term effect, it is advisable to choose an electric sharpener.

So, summing up, it should be noted that any of the above, which will be used in everyday life, however, for high-quality and long-term sharpening of sports and other blades special types knives, it is necessary to use electric knife sharpeners and professional whetstones for turning.

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How to sharpen a knife correctly?

After the tool for sharpening has been selected, you need to familiarize yourself with the process of turning and grinding the cutting part of the blade itself. After all, the result directly depends on the correctness of turning. When sharpening, it is necessary to start the process with a rough bar. It must be placed on a table or any other fixed surface. In order for a hard bar not to damage the surface coating, it is advisable to place a cloth or paper under it. With this bar, you need to process the blade until barbs appear on it - thin metal strips that run along the entire cutting part of the knife. After the burrs have appeared, it is advisable to change the whetstone to a tool with a large number abrasive crystals.

The blade of the knife should be perpendicular to the line of the cutting edge of the blade.

It is desirable that the bar be long enough (1.5-2 times larger than the blade size of the knife being sharpened). The sharpening scheme, at first glance, is quite simple: you need to run along the whetstone, pointing the sharp edge of the knife forward. It is necessary to ensure that the edge is as perpendicular as possible to the direction of movement that occurs when sharpening the knife.

The perpendicular sharpening angle allows you to evenly sharpen the blade along its entire cutting part. A knife that is sharpened along the entire cutting surface is much more convenient and faster to work with. Another important geometric detail The sharpening of a knife is the angle between the blade and the whetstone. It is advisable to keep it in the region of 20-25 degrees. Making the angle constant is hard enough. To ensure a constant inclination of the cutting part of the blade relative to the working surface of the whetstone, you need to point the knife handle up. It is worth noting that for various types knives may need a special sharpening angle. For example, chopping knives should be sharpened at a greater angle than normal knives. The only rule that must be followed throughout the work is to maintain the same sharpening angle.

It is necessary to sharpen the knife with a whetstone so that the tip of the point at the end of the movement is in the place where the grinding surface ends. It is important that the blade does not come off the bar under pressure, because in this case it can be deformed or scratched. Some make a big mistake in the pursuit of the speedy end of the sharpening process - they press hard on the blade so that it rubs against the grinding surface to a greater extent. This should not be done! Such actions lead to the loss of the sharpening angle, but do not speed up the process. The movement of the cutting part of the bar along the grinding surface must be smooth and careful so as not to disturb the angle of sharpening the knife and not to spoil your own work with inaccurate movement. This whole process must be repeated a large number of times until the blade on each side is as sharp as possible. Over time, sharpening the blade will not cause any particular difficulties, because experience is extremely important in this matter.