During the general cleaning of the house, you can pay attention to the cases that you have been postponing all the time, referring to the fact that they are not of paramount importance. To such a process can be attributed to the analysis of cabinets with things, preventive work with sewage, washing batteries or sharpening knives.
Today we want to talk about how to sharpen a knife at home, how to do it correctly, what tools to use, work with a bar, stone, or grind on sandpaper. We will try to tell you how to sharpen knives correctly with the help of a bar, musat, grindstone, machine tool and a special sharpener.
Sharpening a long knife on a bar
And a trifle, that knives are not ground
Probably there was a case in the life of each of us when it was necessary to cut food at a fast pace, but this is not possible because all the knives are dull and no kitchen cleaver can help us. It is at this moment that the realization comes that it is necessary to sharpen them from time to time.
The easiest and most accessible method of sharpening is to demolish the knives to the master, who quickly and skillfully on a special machine, sandals you all the knives. But, firstly, we will have to go somewhere from home, and secondly, the specialist will have to pay for the work, and this is not part of our plans. It is very good that this is not the most difficult task that can be solved at home with the help of necessary items.
Cutting vegetables with a normal tool is easy.
By the way, when sharpening knives on the machine there is another unpleasant moment that is worth mentioning. Most good knives are hardened during production, this is done in a simple and reliable way, the metal is heated and then cooled sharply. After this procedure, the metal becomes stronger at times.
At the time of sharpening on a grinding machine, the reverse procedure occurs, the metal heats up strongly, and then cools down in quiet conditions, losing some of its strength properties.
Thus, such a sharpening is not suitable for every knife, it is much better to sharpen such objects with the help of an ordinary bar or musat. With such a manual sharpening in quiet mode, the metal will not heat up, its characteristics will remain the same, and you can hardly ruin the blade. In addition, at home, you can also sharpen the blade sharply, no worse than the machine.
Types of grinding devices
During operation, the knives in any case become blunt, because when cutting any products microscopic particles of material are separated from them. The well-known force of friction is to blame for everything, despite the fact that the products are much softer than the knife itself, they still contribute to the abrasion of its blade. This process takes place constantly, with each use of the knife, no matter how sharply and well you do not sharpen it, it will blunt anyway.
In this way, we have nothing left to do but sharpen our knives from time to time. For this we can use a variety of devices:
- Grinding bars, an old-time proven tool, easy to use and reliable. It is easy and convenient to work with a bar, it is inexpensive, and it serves for a long time. The bar, or as it is called the grindstone, can be used by anyone.
- Mousats are used mostly for straightening the blade than for sharpening it. These simple fixtures come complete with sets of knives, you can look at home. It is very easy to use such a tool, because in circulation it is very similar to a file.
- Knife sharpeners mechanical and electric, the best option for housewives today. Sharpeners can not cope with only the thickest blades, and they sharpen others. However, even if they are properly used, the knives will still quickly become blunt.
- Grinding machines are used mainly by professionals in the workshops and require certain skills in the work.
The easiest household knife sharpener
Consider the use of all these devices in turn, let's start with the grinding bars.
Bars
Grinding bars are sold in hardware stores, they have a different rectangular shape. In order to sharply sharpen the knife blade with their help, it is necessary to carry out the following manipulations:
- Before sharpening, the blade of the knife should be moistened with water, or mineral oil, specially produced for this purpose, should be used for it.
- It is necessary to firmly take in hand a bar by its lower edge, we plan to sharpen a knife in one direction, away from ourselves. It is very important that the knife moves along the bar, and not vice versa.
- Then we lean our knife against the beginning of the grinding stone with a sharp edge at a certain angle, and smoothly move it to the end, evenly pressing it. Depending on the type of knife, the sharpening angle can vary from 15 to 45 degrees. For optimal sharpening of ordinary kitchen knives, it is best to use 20-25 degrees. If you take a smaller angle, then in the near future you will again have to sharpen a knife.
- Next, repeat the movement repeatedly, gradually increasing the speed of movement of the knife and constantly wetting the bar with water.
- From time to time we change the side of the knife and repeat the above steps. A guideline for the completion of sharpening will be the burrs, which will be sent exclusively in one direction, their size will depend on the grain size on the bar. It is desirable to have at its disposal not one grinding bar, but several. Grinding stones with a coarse grain should be used for direct sharpening the blade, and with fine, for grinding.
Note that the bar must be at least 5 centimeters wide, and at least twice as long as the blade to be sharpened.
Method of working with the bar
To determine the level of sharpening the blade, you can take a regular sheet of paper and try to cut it in weight. If the knife goes tight on paper, tears it, bends, then it is worth continuing to sharpen, if it runs smoothly, it means it is sharp and sharp and ready for use for its intended purpose.
It is not necessary to check how sharp the blade is with your finger, in this case it is a trifling matter. It is better to take an ordinary tomato, put a knife blade on top of it, and pull it towards yourself without effort and pressure. If the sharpness of the blade is enough for the knife to enter the tomato, then you have sharpened it perfectly, if not, you should return to the repeated procedures.
Skilled craftsmen appreciate the sharpness of knives visually, bringing them to the light. If there are glare on the blade, then there are badly sharpened areas.
Musat
The original name musat has an item used for sharpening and straightening the blades of knives. It looks like a metal cylinder on a handle or a strip with two faces. Musat is very similar to a file, it is even used in the same way. In most cases, such a tool is present in each set of knives.
There are a lot of varieties of musat, among them there are round and faceted, diamond and ceramic, metal. However, the way they are used is always the same.
Technology of working with musat
To sharpen a knife with a musat, it is necessary to install it vertically, holding the handle. The blade of the knife should be leaned against the surface of the musat near the handle at an angle of 20-25 degrees, and then in a circular motion to hold the knife, gently going down. Thus it is necessary to sharpen the blade from both sides to the desired state.
Pencil sharpener
To facilitate sharpening knives at home, for example, ordinary housewives, have long come up with simple sharpeners. They consist of metal circles with notches, fixed in a plastic case. To sharpen the blade of the knife, it must be placed in a special hole, and with some force to pull. Rotating metal discs will remove some of the steel and sharpen the blade.
Recently, electric knife sharpeners began to appear in stores. They work according to a similar principle, only you do not need to pull the knife out of the hole until it is sharpened. The quality of work of such devices is quite acceptable, but the knives later quickly get blunt again.
Electric Knife Sharpener
Ceramics
Just ten years ago, no one heard about ceramic knives, but now they are in almost every home. It is believed that ceramics is not at all stupid, and always remains in great shape, at least manufacturers oathly say.
However, in practice, we see that the ceramic knife also grows dull, its cutting characteristics deteriorate as they are used, even if you use it correctly, exclusively for the intended purpose. Therefore, many people are interested in the question whether it is possible to grind ceramic knives at home.
Sharpening a ceramic knife on a grinding machine
Different experts say that you will not sharpen a ceramic knife at home, but our masters have figured out how to do it. It has long been known that it is impossible to sharpen a ceramic knife on a machine with an ordinary disc, but otherwise it is not corny sharpened, but you can use a circle with corundum or diamond plating and then everything will turn out.
The mode for sharpening should be taken as low as possible to minimize the beating of the device around the blade, while pressing down the ceramic knife with no need, just a small touch. Yes, it will take a lot of time to work with a knife, but the result will be good and will remain so for a long time. After all the sharpening work, the knife can be washed in water, and he is again ready to cut our favorite vegetables.
As you can see, there is no great difficulty in sharpening a knife, be it a kitchen or a hunting one, there is not much difference. This is a simple and systematic work that needs to be carried out from time to time so that the cooking process does not take away a lot of strength and nerves. It is best to use an ordinary grindstone, a stone made of abrasive material or special sharpeners at home.
Passionate chefs know: knives in the kitchen play a primary role. The exception is blunt knives. However, as practice shows, each housewife has a favorite all-purpose knife, which is not always appropriate to bring to razor sharpness in order to avoid injuries. So how to sharpen a knife, so that the result pleased and preserved for a long time? Much depends on the type of edge and the material of the blade.
The shape of the blade from edge to butt is also called descent. Most blades have composite blade shapes - they have a main run, which is responsible for appearance, as well as a secondary run, which is the cutting edge.
From the variety of forms can be divided into four main types of blades:
- Straight or V-shaped descent - knives of this type will be found in every house;
- Lenticular or clumsy descent - more common on thick blades used for cutting meat;
- Back-lenticular or razor descent - the material is retracted on the sides of the blade, so that the blades are thinner and ideal for cutting slices;
- Chisel down is most common on Japanese kitchen knives and is probably the easiest to sharpen.
Important: the angle at which the knife is sharpened depends on the shape of the blade.
Tools for sharpening steel knives
It depends on how often the blade is made of steel, how often it will have to be eroded. Household kitchen knives are made of stainless or high carbon steel. There are also tool and super-steel, but these options are definitely not for cutting vegetables.
For quick sharpening knives at home, a regular ceramic bar will do.
How to sharpen knives bar
When sharpening a knife, the main task is to bring out the correct angle, so as not to remove too much steel, but at the same time to achieve sharp edges. Here the following formula will be fair: if the blade is lowered at 45 degrees, then the blade should be positioned at an angle of two times smaller than the bar - approximately 22.5 degrees.
It is better to moisten the ceramic bar with water or to hold a wet sponge with a small amount of detergent over it. This will provide a better blade slip and simplify the rinsing of the slurry formed during the process. Too hard to press the blade is not worth it, although it is more important to control that both sides of the blade are processed with the same effort. And alternately - movement in a wide arc from itself, movement by the second side of the blade towards itself. This method minimizes the formation of burrs and provides an optimal cutting edge.
The direction of movement of the knife on the bar
This is a universal way to achieve the necessary, but not outstanding sharpness of a knife.
How to sharpen a knife with Japanese stones
For those who want to experiment with straightening, sharpening and polishing steel knives, water stones with different grain sizes are provided. Depending on the size of the "grains" stones are numbered:
- from 120 to 200 the number of stones is used to create the edge or fix it;
- from 600 to 800, stones are rarely used to prepare for honing on a thousandth stone;
- 1000 stone is the most popular for home sharpening - it is on it that the cutting edge of sufficient sharpness is displayed;
- from 1500 to 3000 the stones are already polishing, with their help the razor sharpness of the blade is achieved;
- 5000-8000 grit will be in demand only among connoisseurs of sashimi;
- there are also stones 15000-30000, the particle size of which is less than 0.5 micrometer.
Water stones are called because of the method of their application - before sharpening a knife, the bars are lowered into the water for 15-30 minutes. After that, the blade is pressed by the edge at such an angle that the plane of descent is in contact with the stone, and the blade is sharpened on one side, until the edge is formed on the opposite side. Then turn the blade and sweeping movements straighten this edge.
Important: when changing the stone grain, the blade must be thoroughly rinsed.
Nuances of sharpening ceramic knives
The basis for the production of ceramic blades is zirconium dioxide - a material that is many times superior in density to stainless steel. This ensures a long service life without sharpening - the standard factory edge is sharp for about six months. The high density of ceramics is compensated by its relative fragility - with careless use, the edge is painted out, and it can be straightened only with the help of a diamond wheel. In other words, sharpening ceramic knives at home will be productive with a grinding machine.
There are diamond bars, but they are usually very expensive. And in order to manually sharpen a ceramic knife on such a bar, it will take about two hours of hard work.
Use musat rod
Musat is an excellent device for straightening knives and preserving their sharpness. Sharpening a knife with a musat will not succeed, but to increase the intervals between sharpening is easy. When the blade is dull, the edge is crushed, flattened out and loses its geometry, bending to the left or right. Musat clings and hem straightens the edge, restoring it.
Initially, musat is a glass or metal rod with notches and a convenient handle. However, now ceramic musatas and diamond-coated rods are becoming more common.
If the blade is made of not too hard steel, then with the help of musat it is possible to cut off the metal excessively strongly, while the task is to bend and straighten the flattened edge.
Important: the higher the strength of the knife, the more fragile it is and is subject to chipping. Therefore, musat is best used for straightening blades of medium hard steel.
The use of a musatine rod only makes sense with regular use. Ruling the blade every time before and after cooking, you can significantly extend the life of your favorite knife.
To straighten the blade, the rod must rest on a non-slip surface, the best solution would be to put a towel. Light movements, alternating sides of the blade, you need to hold them from base to tip along the core of the musat. To brush off the metal crumb that appeared when cutting products, it is enough to repeat the movements 3-4 times.
Sharpening hunting knife
Hunting knives are mainly used in field conditions, but such blades are used quite often for cutting game in the kitchen. Of course, from time to time there is a need to sharpen a hunting knife. It happens that manufacturers complete a set of knives with a compact sharpening machine, in which carbide or ceramic knives can be placed. It is recommended to use such machines, as the main thing when sharpening a hunting knife is to accurately determine the angle of contact with the grindstone. The sharpening device that comes in the kit is already adapted to the desired angle of a particular blade.
Sharpened for hunting knives
If such a device is not available, then the sharpening of a hunting knife is made with the help of water stones or on a grinding wheel. The bar is also suitable if you first apply vegetable oil to it. The result will directly depend on the skill of the grinder, since you can ruin the descent of the blade with a few careless movements.
Video: master class from the chef
Start experimenting with different methods of sharpening should be with inexpensive knives. In the case of expensive hunting or collection knives, it is better not to risk it and contact the experts.
A normal man must be able to cook meat, and yet, he must keep the knives perfectly sharpened in the house. And the knives themselves should not be from any other trash metal :)
Do you know how to sharpen knives? Sharpen so that they can cut hair or shave without pressure? If in your home from “grinding accessories” there is only one hundred-minute musat or a rough cheap abrasive “stick” from a hypermarket, then the words “correct sharpening” are definitely not about you. Did you know that good grinding stones are more expensive than other expensive Japanese knife, and for proper sharpening you need to change a few of these, using stones of different abrasiveness?
On many sites, and especially on the pages of online stores or catalogs of knives, you can find a description of the sharpening process. But, as usual, there is a lot of PR because of what is not always clear, advertising is an article or really valuable advice. That's why I collected several interesting links and an impressive video series.
Heating the paste (shown in the video), the author begins to polish the cutting edge, making 100 movements each. Since the burr does not appear when polishing, the author polishes the blade "with a margin", noting that "the main thing at this stage is not to round the cutting edge." He further writes:
This is what everybody actually does at this stage, hence all the talk about a “soapy” cut of polished blades. In fact, almost all RKs round out and this makes it dumber, hence the "soap" cut. It is necessary, firstly, not to crush, and secondly, to hold the blade so that the very edge of the RK barely touches the surface of the skin. It is better to be patient and not to rush, it will still be polished with time and you do not need to use strength - it will be done and everything will be fine.
Only be careful, there are so many PR articles on this site that the brain can not stand it :)
Another interesting article on the Ukrainian site kombat.com.ua. It tells about steel, bars, methods, etc. Did you know that:
... there are no universal knives. Therefore, the angle of sharpening of each knife depends on the purpose of the latter. If they are going to cut cheese, bread, and sausage with a kitchen knife, and the workers have enough soft materials (leather, paper, linden wood), the angles of sharpening of such knives are minimal. If a knife is supposed to cut up meat, frozen fish, or the knife is intended for carving on oak, then the angles of sharpening here will be greater (30 - 45 °). To provide one or another angle of sharpening the blade of a knife or other tool without the appropriate skill is difficult ...
Guess one of the signs of a man-made man? That's right, in his house the knives are always sharp and sharp and in excellent condition. Today we will answer the main questions concerning manual sharpening and show you how to keep cutting edges in constant alert.
How sharp should the knives be sharpened
Most of the lessons and reviews on the web are more confusing than they really help. The user is offered techniques to bring the knife to the state of a razor, perfect polishing of the edges ... But is it really necessary to compete in perfect sharpening if the knife is used for domestic purposes?
The only thing that is important for a kitchen knife is that it just copes with its task. Too sharp tool will be traumatic, besides, you will constantly worry about the safety of the blade and in every possible way to protect it. It will be sufficient to bring the edge to the correct geometry: the center is strictly in the middle of the thickness, the same length of descents and the minimum of large notches that can fill the edge. With a loss of sharpness, the knife is eaten away by a couple of simple movements and is used further.
If you are not a professional cook, you do not need to keep several knives, sharpened at different angles for cutting and cutting meat, fish, and cutting vegetables. The standard angle to the honey with one bevel edge and the axial line of the blade is about 25º, for chopping hacks - 30-35º. If you want to have one knife, which, although it does not stand out with incredible sharpness, but it will easily cope, for example, with a bone or another hard fragment, remove the combined edge. It has a total descent angle of about 20º, but the very tip of the blade is reduced at a more obtuse angle - about 35-40º.
What knife is there a reason to sharpen
The ability to qualitatively sharpen knives, repeatedly reducing the roughness of the stone and bringing the blade to perfection is a real art. But in reality this is only required when sharpening the “Chef's knives”; it is enough to make simple products simply sharp. How long the grinding will last does not depend on its perfection, but on the quality of the steel.
For example: when a sharp edge is met with a hard obstacle in its path, it either bends or breaks. The first is characteristic of low-carbon steels and stainless steel, from which most household knives are made. The edge hem in one place will gradually develop across the entire width as the knife is used.
The hard edge, characteristic of professional cook knives, after breaking, forms only a local blunt section, which subsequently works as a kind of “nail file”. Naturally, there is no point in removing the blade of an inexpensive knife for hours, it will still quickly get blunt. It will be much more useful to learn to quickly and accurately hold a knife on a stone several times to restore sharpness.
Please also note that the smaller the blade thickness, the less there is a real sense to follow the rules of sharpening. If the blade of the knife is bent, on the edge of a set of microscopic gaps, which almost immediately turn into debris along the entire length of the blade. The optimal thickness of a quality stainless steel knife in the butt area is about 3 mm, for carbon steels this figure is 20-30% less.
Selection of abrasive bars
The emery stones were and will remain the main tool of the sharpener. All sorts of stanochki and fixtures are good for removing the correct angle of the blade and reducing the edge to the axial center of the knife. However, the work directly on the cutting part by all professionals is performed on the grinding bars.
Mainly bars differ in grain and abrasive material. Everything is simple with grit: as it is sharpened, it will be necessary to reduce it 3 or 4 times to eliminate chips and thin steel foil formed at the tip of the tip.
A stone with a grain size of up to 600 grit is only suitable for removing slopes, but it should be in the arsenal of any sharpener. After this treatment, the knife seems quite sharp, but this is a consequence of the formation of numerous chips on the edge of the blade. Use in this state will quickly make the edge unusable.
Stones from 1,000 to 3,000 grit are used to level the edges and grind, eliminate scratches and give the edge of the blade a constant profile. These are the basic working tools of the sharpening masters.
Bars with a roughness of 5000-6000 grit are used to polish the blade and eliminate even the slightest chipping. It makes sense to use such bars only when sharpening high-quality solid steel blades; the remaining knives, after such fine processing, do not add much to the sharpness and durability of the sharpening.
Abrasive material must have a hardness corresponding to the material of the knife. For most common steel grades, silicon carbide, quartz or corundum will be sufficient. High carbon steels should be treated with more solid substances, such as boron carbide or boron-silicon-silicon.
All you need to edit and refine
Even if the blade does not have perfect smoothness, the knife still needs to be corrected to remove microscopic burrs, which are passed even by very thin grinding bars. It is necessary that the blade is right about the material into which it can be pressed a little. At the same time, thin metal chips are removed with abrasive pastes.
The most useful for home sharpening will be the paste of the State Optical Institute (GOI) of medium and small grain. Choose a specific number on your own. The paste should be applied to a small board covered with chamois, and using it to pull the blade almost effortlessly until the hard particles do their job.
Video: knife editing technique on GOI paste
Also finishing can be carried out on a hard stone. Bars for dressing consist of rare natural materials, for example, slate or feldspar. The hardness of such a material is low, and it is not capable of greatly disturbing the geometry of the edge, but rather easily breaks off thin metal chips. The quality control of sharpening at different stages is conveniently carried out with a magnifying glass or a pocket microscope.
Sharpening technique
Before sharpening, the bars should be soaked in soapy water for 30 minutes or more. Some grinding stones require wetting with mineral oil. After that, the bar is laid flat on a stable surface to avoid slipping, you can put a damp cloth.
The knife is applied across the bar with a slight deviation from the right angle. The sharpening technique on stones of different grit is the same: with a small clamp, we lead the knife edge forward, otherwise it is called “grind for grain”. In this case, the movement starts from the handle and as the movement moves the knife extends a little. The offset must be calculated so that as the bar approaches the end of the bar, the blade will grind in close proximity to the tip.
The speed of movement does not affect the quality of sharpening. Start sharpen slowly, move smoothly and evenly, do not be zealous with the clamp. Over time, the necessary equipment will be fixed at the level of muscle memory and the process will go much faster. From time to time you need to moisten the bars with water and rub them together, restoring roughness.
Periodically you need to check the blade under a magnifying glass or just to light. If there are longitudinal stripes on the bevels and it is clear that when grinding, the descent does not fit the stone with the whole plane, continue to grind until a completely smooth grinding edge strip is obtained. It is recommended to turn the knife on each pass so that the line of the descent of the flanges does not leave the central axis.
When hand sharpening on the bar is not talking about the exact holding angle. However, the knife must be kept in such a way as if you are trying to remove thin chips from some soft material, for example, plasticine. If you put the knife on the bar too tightly, there is a risk of scratching the side surfaces. However, it is better than raising the butt higher than the set - there is a risk to fill the edge and spoil all previous work.
Editing and care of the blade
When the edge is reduced at the correct angle and both sides of the tip have good flatness, it is necessary to eliminate the teasers. Unlike sharpening, here the movement occurs “from the grain”, that is, in the opposite direction.
Apply a little abrasive paste to the skin or felt and rub it well. For a more even distribution, you can add a couple of drops of mineral oil, glycerin, or multi-purpose grease.
Almost no clamping is required when straightening the blade, but it is necessary to alternate the sides of the edge. As it is processed, a thin sharpening strip will acquire an ever more uniform gloss. Here it is very important not to raise the knife at a more obtuse angle, otherwise there is a high risk to fill up the remnants of a thin edge.
The lower the quality of steel, the more often the knife needs to be corrected, removing the resulting bends and microscopic chips. It is advisable to keep the bar for editing in the kitchen and go through it every 2-3 days with a dozen light movements. Do not forget to wash the knife after sharpening and editing, so that particles of abrasive and metal shavings do not get into the food. When working with a knife is over, it should be well washed and wiped dry, this is especially important for high-carbon steel knives.
The protagonist, chef Karl Casper, teaches his son: the knife is the property of the chef, not the kitchen. Those who cook a lot and often know what he is talking about: a good knife makes the life of a cook easy and enjoyable, a bad one can easily ruin any dish, and it’s much easier to cut yourself with a blunt knife than sharp.
For me, “good knife” means “Japanese knife”: the Santoku knife serves me faithfully for many years. Of course, if you want your knife to serve you for a long time, you need to take care of it, including sharpening it often. And the best tool for sharpening any knife - water stone.
Water stone
Actually, such a stone is called water because it is immersed in water before sharpening. Water, filling the pores of the stone (depending on the grain, stones are used for various purposes - repairing damage, straightening the cutting edge, sharpening, polishing), serves as a lubricant in the sharpening process.
The granularity of water stone is indicated by a numerical scale. Following the Japanese school of sharpening, stones with grit from # 120 - # 200 are used to form a cutting edge from scratch, or to repair damage. After these stones and immediately before starting sharpening, you can use stone # 600 - # 800, but this is not necessary.
Now sell twin stones with different grain sizes. Combination # 1000 plus # 3000 - the most versatile set for home sharpening.
For the initial processing of the cutting edge, the stone is used with a grain of # 1000, to complete the working sharpening - the stone # 3000.
For further polishing of the cutting edge, use stones # 5000 - # 8000, however, this stage of sharpening cannot be called necessary in preparing the kitchen knife. There are stones with a grain size of # 15000 - # 30000 (the size of a single particle is less than 0.5 micrometer), but let's leave them to the Japanese masters.
How to sharpen?
Immerse the water stones in the water and leave it there for 15 minutes or until they cease to release bubbles. Place the stone on the stand, fix it on the table (if the table surface slides - put a damp cloth on it).
Before starting sharpening water stone must be kept in water.
Start sharpening with a coarser stone and, holding the knife with two hands at a fixed angle, run along the surface of the stone with the plane that forms the cutting edge. Periodically moisten the stone with water (do not be afraid of the “dirt” appearing on its surface - it is an emulsion of abrasive and water that plays the role of lubricant when grinding) and watch the cutting edge: if the burr ceased to form, and the risks from the previous, rougher stone were removed it means it's time to move to a smaller stone, or finish sharpening.
It is better to see once than hear a hundred times (or, in our case, read), so I prepared this short video from which you will learn how to sharpen a knife with the help of water stone.
This is my first experience in video production, so do not judge strictly.
Questions and answers
What stones need to have for sharpening a kitchen knife?
At home, it is enough to have stones # 1000 and # 3000 for everyday grinding. It may also require a rougher stone in case you damage the cutting edge.
I have a # 280 grit stone to repair the blade damage, it is not used for ordinary sharpening
How often should I sharpen a knife?
The only right answer is not here, it all depends on how often and intensively you use it. As soon as you feel that that wonderful knife cut, which inspired you immediately after its purchase, disappeared somewhere, it means that you need to sharpen.
What, besides water stones, is necessary for sharpening?
If your knife has a polishing or Damascus plates, you will like the idea of sealing the blade with masking tape, leaving only the cutting edge open so as not to scratch them. In addition, the angle holder can be useful to maintain the desired angle as it is sharpened.
How to determine the angle of sharpening?
There is a universal way: put the knife with the cutting edge on a flat surface and tilt it until the plane forming the cutting edge lies flat on the supporting plane. It is enough to try several times, and you will feel this moment, then you just have to stand the resulting angle. To do this, you need experience, so at first you may need a sharpening angle holder (see above).
But what about musat and other methods of sharpening?
Musat is usually used for easy editing in the process of work, and its use is justified only for European knives, whose hardness is lower than that of Japanese ones. Disk and electric sharpeners can be used, but the quality of sharpening with water stones can not be compared. Thus, sharpening on water stones is preferable to any other type of sharpening, regardless of the type of knife and its manufacturer.
It’s better to use wood or plastic boards with a sharp knife.
In the process of use, the knife will inevitably become dull, but how quickly this happens depends on how you use it. If you want the knife sharpness to last as long as possible - do not chop bones with a knife and try not to cut too hard foods (for example, frozen meat). Use a wooden or plastic board - glass boards are very blunt knife blades.
I thank the specialists of Samura for helpful advice in the process of writing this article.
