Knife Sharpening
We don't recommend sharpening your own high end knife. And, if you have
low end knives we recommend replacement when they become dull. If, however,
you want to sharpen your knife here is how to do it.
Using A Steel
Haphazardly using a steel will cause damage. A steel has aligning grooves
designed to straighten an edge. Lightly pull the defects into proper alignment
by using a pulling stroke. Try to keep an angle of 30 degrees. Use light
gentle strokes. You wish to consider using a ceramic rod instead of a
steel because the ceramic rod will sharpen (not just straighten) the edge.
Using A Stone
Select a high grade diamond stone. Keep knife angle between 20 to 22 degrees.
Peform a circular motion 4-5 times per side of knife. You can lubricate
the stone with water or oil. Since it is impossible to keep the right
angle by hand, get a knife guide that holds the knife at the proper angle.
There are two types of guides. Some guides clip to the back of the knife.
If you keep the clip even with the stone, you are at the right angle.
A better option is to get a rod guide. With a rod guide you clamp the
knive in place and move the rod guide to sharpen the knife.
Gimmicks
We used to have an old can opener with a sharpening feature on the back
of it. You stick the knife blade in a slot on the back and press down.
You hear the can opener turn on and now your knife is suppossed to be
sharp. Needless to say, this didn't work. Many companies offer quick easy
ways to keep your blade sharp. Any reasonable way to sharpen a blade takes
both skill and work. You don't see professional knife sharpeners using
an old can opener to sharpen knives.
First Edge
Have you ever noticed that after you sharpen for the first time that the
knife needs resharpening soon later. It doesn't seem right because the
manufacturers edge lasted so much longer than your edge. The first edge
is a forged or molded metal edge (not a sharpened edge). It is impossible
to get the original edge back. The factory edge should be prolonged as
long as possible. Attempting to sharpen the factory edge is a mistake
unless the knife is completely dull. For this reason, a lot of people
buy inexpensive knives and throw them away once they dull.
|
