How to Sharpen Knives

An easy to follow guide on knife sharpening using a whetstone.

Some of us have wondered should I buy a sharpening steel or buy an electric knife sharpener, whatever you choose should depend on your Kitchen usage patterns, if you do sharpen your knives regularly go for one of those top quality electric knife sharpeners, if you sharpen your knives once in a blue moon, then go for the manual sharpening options.  

In this section we’re going to show you how to sharpen knives using manual methods in general using a Whetstone. The key to a good sharpening system is the angle. Your knife will be the sharpest if the angle is sharp. You have to be familiar with the angle of your knife blade prior to sharpening it. Typically the angles range from 35 to 40 degrees. 

STEP 1 

Stones come in either coarse or fine grit, if you knife is dull, use a coarse grit. Start with the finer grit if your knife is slightly dull, before you start sharpening drop a bit of oil on to the stone. This will ensure a smooth sharpening surface.  

STEP 2 

Glide your knife from end to end through the oil to distribute it consistently. 

STEP 3 

Holding your knife at the suitable angle, slide it across the stone away from you. Do this a few times on one side 

STEP 4 

Then rotate it to the other side, and slide it across the stone towards you. Keep the knife at a consistent angle as the first side. Slide it similar to the number of times as you did on the first side of the knife. 

STEP 5 

Then test the sharpness of it by slicing it with a piece of paper. If it is not sharp enough as you would like it to be, repeat the sharpening process. The key to achieve a sharp knife is the angle, when using a whetstone try to maintain the angle constant, on both sides. Also make sure you do the equal number of passes on each side. 

If all this is too much work for you consider investing in a good quality, professional electrical knife sharpener.