How to sharpen a knife with sharpening stone

On
coltellimania.com
we know that having a knife with a blade that does not cut is like having cutlery and not having food!

You don’t do anything about it!

Today’s knives made with high-end stainless steels and are typically sharp for general use and many will remain sharp for years but this depends on how and how much you use the knife.

But regardless of this at some point each knife will need to be sharpened if you want it to remain effective.

In this article I try to explain how to sharpen your knife.

I tell you that for me at first being able to sharpen the knife was not easy, I could never get a sharpening as I wanted to the point that my fiancée teased me but it was just a matter of exercise and practice that I did sharpening the buttat knives the drawers of friends and neighbors.

Today, sharpening of knives can take many different forms and methodologies and can be done with different tools.

There are many guides and videos that explain the different ways of sharpening and many products on the market, from cheap gadgets from 5 euros that spoil knives to cutting-edge machines that will make you avoid throwing the knife.

I personally use the tape sanders I use to build knives with proper tape or stones but I assure you that I have tried them all, I alsouse the Lansky sharpening system.

Of course, there is no right or wrong approach to sharpening the knife and in the end it comes down to what allows you to get the sharp knife according to tests that verify its cutting ability.

Also consider that some particular types of knife require specific sharpening methods and therefore some sharpening methods do not always fit each different type of knife.

Knives are unique tools that in many cases require a unique approach to care and maintenance.

This manual method with stone does not require any particular form of experience in advanced knife management, but you need patience and a little practice.

What you need to sharpen your knife

Essentially you need a stone to sharpen and lubricant.

The sharpening stone is one of the methods used to give your blade a good sharpening.

On the market there is an incredible choice of stones for sharpening different both as dimensions, as grain, as quality, but most of them have two sides: a rough grain and a thin one.

There are different price ranges for the 20 euro stone to go up.

The lubricant

The lubricant you can find of different brands, but the basic concept here is that it will help limit the amount of heat produced by the sharpening process.

This heat that is generated can damage the knife, so it is important to keep it low and this is where lubricant is important or at least use water stones.

Now you can still sharpen without lubricant, but as a guideline it is to be used unless you are in a remote forest and you only have the stone.

A clarification, some stones are sold with the feature that do not require any lubricant so be sure to read the instructions before using them.

The 5 Steps to Sharpen the Knife

The following steps describe how to sharpen the knife with the stone step by step.

1 – Lubricate the sharpening stone with oil or water.

Apply a thin layer of lubricant on both sides of the stone to sharpen or dip the stone in water, depending on the type of stone.

This is simple, observe how the stone absorbs the lubricant.

2 – Sharpen one side of the blade using the rough grain of the stone.

Tilt the knife blade of your knife against the rough side of the grain.

Check the angle that is correct before you start

Note that the recommended angle varies depending on the type of knife you are sharpening and how much you want it, but in general for example some kitchen knives such as many pocket pockets, etc. are often around 15 degrees,

The smaller the sharpest angle will be the blade, but at the expense of the poorer retention of the wire.

To simplify the speech, a larger angle will be less sharp but will last longer.

It is essential that you keep the same angle while you are sharpening and this is not easy, the practice will make this gesture simple so do not claim to be good right away.

If you have no patience instead of learning or need help, then buy yourself a guide for sharpening, which is a cheap and manageable tool to keep the sharpening angle constant.

Once you’re comfortable with your angle, start stroking the blade against the stone.

You can carry the knife that you tie towards you or away from you, it depends on your taste and how you are most comfortable.

It is not necessary to exert much pressure, a moderate-light weight is enough and try to keep the pressure constant as you pass it on the stone.

Move the blade as if you were trying to shave a thin layer of stone from the sharpening block.

Repeat this process for about 10 strokes.

3 – Repeat on the other side of the knife.

Now simply repeat step 2 on the opposite side.

Technically you should continue to sharpen until you have raised a dross, which occurs when one “bevel” is severed until it meets another.

The smear is like a frayed material that hangs from the end of the earth.

It’s a very thin and weak thread, so you don’t want it that way, because it breaks right away and needs to be removed, that sharpening dross should never be left.

If you insist on sharpening the edge until you see a bright light, you’ll see a highlighted line along the edge that isn’t on the other side until you affix it.

4 – Sharpen alternating sides

After focusing on each side, perform another 10 strokes or so, but this time first on one side and then on the other, alternating.

5 – Repeat steps 2-4 using the fine grain of the stone.

Once you’re done with the rough grain you simply need to repeat the process using the thinnest side of the sharpening stone.

This will remove your dross created during the sharpening phase with the coarse grain of the stone.

Conclusions

Enjoy the feeling of using your newly sharp knife.

Each time you affix the same knife, use the same angle you used the first time or sharpened the first time.

Generally it is not advisable to change the angle of sharpening except by redoing the wire from scratch, which can be useful if you have different needs.

Use the same angle repeatedly

This is much more important than the specific angle itself, example if it is 32 degrees and the great is 30 degrees do not try to bring it to 30 degrees leave it where it is.

To test the sharpening of the blade, try some of the
5 ways to check if
a blade is sharp, try for example to carefully cut some sheets of paper and check how easily the knife cut, then very carefully, you can try to shave your arm hair (be careful not to cut yourself!).

Important!!

Always clean the sharpening stone after you have finished because any steel residue left on the sharpening stone can eventually lead to rust if they are not properly cleaned by ruining the stone.

You just learned how to sharpen your knife!

Are You Experience?!

Andrea

If you liked what you read and it was useful before you leave the page share the article through the social keys that you see at the top and comments. Thank you very much!

That’s important! I still ask you for a little effort but for me it is useful for the project, click like on the Facebook Page and Instagram Channel.

 

---