If there are knives in the house, then sooner or later they become dull, and they have to be sharpened. Despite the seeming simplicity of this procedure, sharpening knives, however, is a fairly difficult task. Proper sharpening of knives is not available to everyone. This applies equally to sharpening kitchen knives, and sharpening collectible knives made of expensive steel grades, and knives for any type of professional activity. Consider the question of how to sharpen knives correctly.
What materials are sharpening stones made of?
AT this case It's about stones manual sharpening knives. Such stones (they are also bars for sharpening knives) are of four types, depending on what materials they are made of:
- from ceramics;
- from diamond stones;
- from natural stones found in nature;
- from Japanese water stones.
Each of the listed bars has individual properties and characteristics.
Detailed characteristics of stones for manual sharpening of knives
Bars made from ceramic materials, are considered the most common and affordable. For the most part, it is these bars that are sold in all economic trading establishments. Such bars are divided into several subspecies. The most common bar type "boat". This is a very poor-quality bar: with its help, only rough sharpening or editing the sharpening angles of the knife blade is possible. Somewhat better are the bars, on one side of which there is a smooth surface, and on the other - a rough one.
As for diamond bars, professional sharpening knives with their help is quite rare. Firstly, it is difficult to sharpen knives with diamond stones. Secondly, a blade sharpened with diamond bars becomes dull again very quickly. Thirdly, diamonds deeply scratch the cutting edge of the knife, and, in addition, destroy the blade itself, “eating” it.
It is best to sharpen knives with natural knife sharpening stones, as well as Japanese water stones. Most of them are brought from abroad, and they have high price.
How to choose the right knife sharpener
When choosing a whetstone for sharpening a knife, there are several tricks. These tricks have been tested over the years and therefore should be taken into account. First of all, you need to pay attention to the size of the bar. Its length should be twice as long as the knife blade. If you plan to sharpen the knife with your own hands, you should also pay attention to what the surface of the bar is. It should be smooth and not have cracks or scratches.
To sharpen kitchen knives, a double-sided ceramic bar is enough. You can also purchase two or three bars with different grain sizes for this purpose. It is better if such bars were produced back in the era of the USSR. Soviet whetstones are considered the highest quality. Of course, they cannot be found in stores now, but they are still found in markets and flea markets.
All these tips are quite acceptable for sharpening kitchen knives. If we are talking about sharpening more serious knives (for example, hunting knives), then in this case, in addition to grindstones, the well-known GOI paste is also needed. After sharpening, it polishes the cutting edge of a sharpened knife.
Compliance with the rules for sharpening knives
To properly sharpen a knife, you need to know and strictly follow the rules for sharpening it:
- It is necessary to clearly maintain the angle of sharpening knives. A knife for some special application should have a sharpening angle of approximately twenty degrees. If this is a utility knife, then the sharpening angle can be greater (from 30 to 40 degrees). The sharpening angle largely depends on the quality of the steel of the knife blade. If the steel is of high quality, then sharpening can last a long time. Usually kitchen knives do not sharpen at a small angle, for them they try to withstand a larger angle;
- It is not necessary to press the knife with force during the sharpening process. Strength when sharpening does not matter, but the grindstone fails very quickly;
- Before you start sharpening the knife, you need to wash the bar with water diluted with any detergent;
- In the process of sharpening, the blade should slide along the bar, and not vice versa. Moreover, strictly from oneself, and not in the reverse order, and also not in the “back and forth” sequence. One side of the knife is sharpened until a so-called burr appears on the cutting edge. After he appeared, the second side of the blade is sharpened in exactly the same sequence;
- After sharpening the knife on a rough stone, it is recommended to complete the turning process on a fine-grained stone. The sharpening process in this case is the same.
If this is a kitchen knife, then after sharpening on a fine-grained stone, the process can be considered complete. If this is a more “serious” knife, then after a fine-grained stone, the blade will have to be polished on the skin, while using GOI paste.
Learn more about sharpening Japanese knives
Japanese knives are sharpened in a slightly different way. The fact is that the blade of Japanese knives has a slightly different design than most other knives. Japanese knives are sharpened on one side only. Thanks to this geometry, products cut with a Japanese knife cannot stick to the knife blade.
Otherwise, Japanese knives are sharpened like all others. First, there is a preliminary sharpening on a stone with a rough surface, after which the sharpening is completed with a fine-grained whetstone. Finally, the sharpened edge is polished.
What is a knife sharpening machine?
Many under the machine for sharpening knives mean all sorts of home-made grinding units. In fact, it is highly undesirable to sharpen knives with such sharpeners. In just a few sharpenings homemade device for sharpening knives can ruin any knife to such an extent that it can only be thrown away.
It is better to purchase a factory-made knife sharpener. With it, knives are sharpened quickly and reliably, to a razor-like state. In addition, with the help of such a device, you can easily make the desired sharpening angle. True, the factory tool for sharpening knives costs a lot, more than 7 thousand rubles.
Device for sharpening knives at home
However, a high-quality device with which knives are sharpened at home can also be made with your own hands. It's not that difficult. A drawing for such a device can be easily found on the Internet.
On the Internet, you can find instructions for making two homemade knife sharpeners. One device in its design resembles a branded Lanski sharpener. The other fixture bears a strong resemblance to the Edge Pro Apex. The first sharpener is easier to make than the second, but on the second model you can sharpen the knife faster and better.
Set for sharpening knives in the field
If someone needs to go hunting, or hiking, or geological exploration, or for some other need, then, of course, a complete set for sharpening knives in a backpack may not fit. However, a truncated knife sharpening kit is highly recommended to put in a backpack. A double-sided bar, a piece of leather for straightening a blade - this is a camping kit for sharpening knives.
Such a set in field conditions can be very useful. It is clear that you cannot sharpen a damask blade with such a set, but for a simpler blade, a camping set for sharpening knives will fit perfectly.
What mistakes can be made when sharpening knives
When sharpening knives, you can make a number of typical mistakes:
- It is impossible to fully sharpen a knife with just one stone. For correct sharpening you need to use several stones with varying degrees graininess;
- The knife can not be sharpened without noticing small burrs on the cutting edge;
- It is impossible to fully sharpen a knife without first cleaning it from the remnants of dirt or grease;
- Another mistake is choosing the wrong sharpening angle. With a large sharpening angle with such a knife, it is very difficult to cut products in thin layers. With a large sharpening angle, the knife will soon become dull in the process of cutting hard products.
A fully-fledged knife can be sharpened only if all of the above simple rules are observed.
Now there is an increased interest in knives, and industry and trade are experiencing a real "knife boom". As a result, they are of no less interest. Moreover, they have several types: they are manufactured and used in different ways. This article aims to answer the most FAQ about what are and how sharpening bars differ.
Types of bars
Along with time-tested grinding stones, all kinds of artificial whetstones are now common. In general, they can be divided into four types: natural, diamond, ceramic and artificial. Let's consider each of them separately.
Natural stones for sharpening knives
The most famous natural stones are the "Arkansas stone" (novaculite) and the Japanese water stone. Both that and the other modern industry has learned to do artificially, so they can be called natural only with a certain stretch. However, even industrially made, these bars are very expensive, and working with them requires special patience and skills. So, for example, a water stone should be soaked for a long time before work, and in the process of sharpening it should be constantly lubricated and washed off metal dust from the surface. In addition, these bars grind quickly and unevenly, and it is difficult to restore them. Meanwhile, they give the highest quality of sharpening and therefore are popular among professionals. A beginner is hardly worth acquiring or using such stones.
Diamond stones for sharpening knives
This is very popular type bars. They possess large quantity advantages and virtually no disadvantages. The most various sizes and grit, they are easy to find on sale. Diamond blades for sharpening knives are inexpensive, wear-resistant, and highly efficient. Indeed, it should be taken into account that high efficiency metal processing requires a certain amount of caution, since it is easy to spoil the edge of the blade with a diamond whetstone. This stone is probably the most the best choice for the beginner. Particularly good results can be achieved using a diamond stone together with a ceramic one (for finishing).
Ceramic whetstones for sharpening knives
Ceramic stones are the most modern type of grinding stones currently in use. They are made from a special ceramic powder and combine the advantages of natural and diamond stones. Their use makes it possible to achieve the same High Quality sharpening, as with natural stones, but at the same time, "ceramics" practically do not wear out and do not change shape.
However, ceramic bars also have a serious drawback. Sharpening with their help is extremely slow and time consuming, and therefore they are used mainly for finishing after sharpening with other stones, such as diamond.
Abrasive artificial stones
This is usually electrocorundum or various carbides in soft binders. These bars for sharpening knives have been known to everyone since Soviet times and need no introduction. They choose metal well, but wear out quickly and are not suitable for filigree sharpening, but they are extremely cheap and affordable.
It is simply impossible to describe all the nuances of how to sharpen knives correctly in one article, but this is not always necessary. Especially if an ordinary kitchen knife needs sharpening or you are just a beginner who needs to start somewhere.
- In fact, at home, sharpening a kitchen knife to sharpness can be done quickly and easily. But the difficulty lies in the fact that this must be done in such a way that the sharpness of the blade is preserved for a long time, and at the same time too much steel has not been removed from the blade.
In this material, we will try to simply and clearly talk about how to properly sharpen a knife with a bar. After all, this method is not only basic and accessible to everyone, but also the most effective. Except step by step instructions on sharpening and finishing, here you will find a selection of training videos and an overview alternative methods– starting from sharpening systems and ending with the bottom of a ceramic plate.
A little about the choice of stones
whetstones are of the following types:
- Ceramic;
- Diamond;
- natural;
- Japanese water stones.
If you wish, once you gain experience, you can buy some solid and expensive diamond stones or Japanese water ones. However, it is better to start with ordinary ceramic bars (such as "Boats"), which are sold in every hardware store. They are durable, durable and affordable. Of the shortcomings, only their uneven abrasion can be called.
Here are some tips to help you find the right partner:
- What size should the bar be? Ideally, it is 1.5-2 times longer, or at least not shorter than the knife blade. The width and shape of the bar is not critical.
- When buying a bar, make sure it is flat and not chipped.
- To get started, you can buy one general-purpose medium-hard whetstone. But if you want, buy one bar with two sides of different grain sizes or two stones with a large and a half grain size. In the future, a couple more stones may replenish your collection.
- It is best to try to get a couple of Soviet-made whetstones, say, at flea markets or from your grandfather. Bars marked "Made in the USSR" have one-size grains and high-quality binding material.
To bring the knife to razor sharpness, in addition to grindstones, you can also buy GOI abrasive paste, which we will also talk about working with.
7-step guide to sharpening and finishing a kitchen knife
So, in sharpening a knife, one goal is to grind enough metal from the blade so that the cutting edge becomes sharp again. You need to start work with a coarse-grained abrasive and finish with a fine-grained one.
It is important to remember the following principles for sharpening knives:
- The most important thing is to choose optimal angle sharpening and hold it on the entire cutting edge while sliding along the bar.
- Movements should be smooth, without pressure.
- All bars should be moistened with water, and preferably with soapy water: before sharpening (so that the blade slides better and metal dust does not clog pores), in the process (to remove the emerging suspension) and at the end to clean the bar.
And one more important advice- the first time it is better to practice on a knife that you do not mind spoiling. Especially if your main knife is too solid and expensive. Well, let's get down to practice.
Step 1. Rinse the stone with water, and then run it over it, say, with a sponge with a drop of dishwashing liquid.
Step 2. Next, sit down at the table and set the stone on wooden board, for example, cutting. You can put under a stone and a towel. It is more convenient for someone to put the bar perpendicular to themselves, and for someone at an angle of about 45 degrees. Over time, you will understand how it is more convenient for you to work.
Step 3. Now you need to decide on the angle of sharpening and fix the position of the knife. What should be the angle? General principle- the smaller it is, the sharper the blade is, and the larger it is, the longer the blade retains its sharpness.
- Ordinary kitchen knives are sharpened at an angle of 40-45 degrees. If you are sharpening a fillet knife (designed for cutting thin pieces of fish, poultry and meat), then it should be sharpened sharper - at an angle of 30-40 degrees. The selected value must be divided by 2, and then we will get the angle that should be between the blade and the surface of the bar. That is, to sharpen the blade at 45 degrees, you need to sharpen each side of it at 22.5 degrees to the grinding surface.
A simple technique shown in the photo below will help you fix the knife at an angle of 22.5 degrees.
- Remember, you should try to stick to the chosen angle during the whole work.
Step 4. We put the knife across the bar so that the upper edge of the handle is above the lower edge of the stone. Holding the handle with one hand and the blade with the other, we begin to slide along the bar away from us along the trajectory shown in the picture below.
Watch this short and descriptive video:
- The bottom line is that the cutting edge sliding on the stone should always be perpendicular to the direction of movement.
- At the bend of the blade, the handle of the knife needs to be slightly raised to maintain the selected angle.
- Remember also that you can not put pressure on the blade, but you should not give slack either.
Thus, it is necessary to pass the blade along the stone about 40-50 times, namely, until a “burr” (burr, microsaws) appears along the entire length of the RK (cutting edge). Its appearance will tell you that the excess metal has worn out and there is no point in grinding further. Then you need to turn the blade over and repeat the same steps. Visually in the video:
- A burr is a small roughness that is difficult to see, but can be felt by gently running your finger along the edge of the blade (but not along the edge, so as not to cut yourself).
During operation, a suspension will appear on the blade - metal dust, which must be periodically washed off with water.
Step 5. So, the burrs have appeared, now we proceed to fine-tuning. To do this, we repeat the same manipulations on a stone with half the grain size. Alternative way fine-tuning - with the help of musat.
- Musat is a steel rod of oval or round section with longitudinal notches. It is suitable only for editing and maintaining sharpness, but not for sharpening a knife. Musat is recommended to edit the knife every time before and after work.
How to edit a kitchen knife with a musat can be seen in the following video master class from the respected cutler Gennady Prokopenkov, who, by the way, specializes in the manufacture of kitchen knives.
Step 6. If desired, you can bring your knife to razor sharpness. To do this, take any leather or leather belt, treat it with GOI, Dialux or any other abrasive paste, and then do all the same steps, but only in the direction from the cutting edge.
Step 7. And finally, we check the quality of sharpening. This is done very simply. It is enough to cut a tomato or cut paper. If you wanted to achieve razor sharpness, then you need to try to shave off the hair on your arm. Most sharp knives they can even cut hair, as shown in the photo below, however, in the kitchen, such sharpness is not required for the most ordinary knife.
Alternative sharpening methods
If your kitchen knife is a simple and inexpensive “hard worker” and / or you just don’t want to delve into the “knife culture”, then we recommend using an electric sharpener, roller knife sharpener or sharpening system for sharpening at home. What are their pros and cons?
- An electric sharpener sharpens knives perfectly and quickly, but even the highest quality models remove too much material from the blades, thereby reducing its life. Another disadvantage of an electric sharpener is good device costs over $200.
- The roller cutter is inexpensive and easy to use. With it, you can quickly sharpen a kitchen knife, but, unfortunately, the sharpness of the blade will not last long and the knife will deteriorate over time. The tool from Fiskaris (pictured) is the most trusted among roller cutlers. Do not confuse a roller cutter with a V-shaped cutter. The latter is an option for the most careless.
- Grinding systems are good because they allow you to more accurately set and maintain the angle. Such sharpeners are different - with blade fixation (manufacturers DMT and Lanski) and with fixation of the stones themselves at a certain angle (Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker). Separately, you can highlight the sharpening system in which you can choose the desired angle and control the position of the knife - this is the Edge Pro Apex Knife Sharpening System. Each system has its pros and cons. So, for example, on sharpeners with blade fixation, it is inconvenient to sharpen wide chef's knives, and on Spyderco's triangle, knives are more likely to be corrected than sharpened, and the angle can only be chosen 30 or 40 degrees. However, for kitchen knives, just these angles are needed, and using the triangle is very simple. Detailed overview and instruction manual sharpener from Spyderco can be seen in the following video.
What are the disadvantages of Apex Edge Pro? Perhaps this is only a high price - $ 245. However, for sharpening kitchen knives, you can buy a Chinese copy of this sharpener (for example, on Aliexpress).
There is another tricky way to sharpen a knife at home - using a rough risk at the bottom of a ceramic mug or plate. The principle of operation is still the same - maintaining the angle, smooth movements, maintaining the RK (cutting edge) perpendicular to the direction.
A bar manually (with a video without SMS and registration) and understand why do it at all. Professionals, of course, are aware of this topic, but for them, there may be helpful information. Or it will be an occasion to update your knowledge in order to "keep in good shape."
If you have to put in more and more effort to cut, then this is an occasion to think about sharpening your knife. Because using a blunt weapon is dangerous. It can slip off at any moment, and believe that the sharpness of the blade will be enough to inflict a serious wound on you or a person standing next to you.
Preparing for sharpening. What needs to be done before then?
The blade of a knife, upon closer inspection, looks like a saw, and the more often the teeth are located in it and the smoother the transition between them, the easier it is to use the tool. A dull knife loses these teeth, they wear out, bend and crumble.
There are many ways to sharpen a knife using mechanical and electric sharpeners, as well as special machines with grinding wheels. But sharpeners do not give an ideal result, and easel sharpening requires considerable knowledge and skills. Therefore, we will consider how to properly sharpen knives with a bar, in step by step guide for independent work in at home. This method will give you two main advantages: considerable money savings and excellent results.
The first thing to do is to determine the degree of damage to the blade. It is very easy to do this. Place it at an angle to a beam of bright light. This method instantly reveals all the chips and bumps that you need to eliminate. They will look like dots or lines on the blade. If the boundary between the planes is uniform, sharply defined, without transitions, then the instrument is in excellent condition.
After that, the knife should be washed in water with the addition of soap. This is done to facilitate subsequent work. The knife will become easier to slide on the whetstone, and it will be easier for you to maintain the required angle between the planes of the blade and the blade.
Choosing the right bar
The main tool in the subsequent work will be a whetstone. To obtain perfect result, you will need several stones of different grain sizes. The minimum number is two, but if needed razor sharpness blade, brought to perfection, then you can use up to five whetstones.
There are two types of bars. The first ones are artificial, used for primary metal processing, made of the following materials.
Synthetic gems(diamond, sapphire, etc.):
- borazone;
- silicon carbide;
- elbor;
- and others.
The second is natural. They are used for finishing knife sharpening:
- diamond;
- Garnet;
- corundum;
- Japanese water stones
It is clear that natural whetstones cost decent money, but if you want to get a really good result, you will have to fork out a little.
An important parameter is the choice of the size suitable for the work of the bar. At a minimum, it should be the same length as the knife with which you will have to work. And ideally - one and a half to two times more. At the same time, the width of the stone does not matter and is selected based on personal preferences. Although if you take a wider donkey, then even an inexperienced beginner will find it easier to work on it.
Before starting, it is necessary to soak the bar in water (artificial) or oil (natural). The liquid will nourish, close the pores in it, reduce subsequent pollution and make your work easier.
Correct sharpening angle
How to sharpen a kitchen knife with a bar? Holding it under right angle. It is this parameter that will subsequently determine the length of the blade's service life and the frequency of its sharpening. The larger the angle you get, the higher the resistance of the metal to external influences, which means that you need to update its sharpness less often. Sharp corner gives ease of cutting, but due to the thinness of the metal obtained in this place, it is erased faster.
The determining factor will be the purpose of the knife:
- japanese cooking blades sharpened at an angle of 10-20 degrees;
- fillet knives and professional chefs require an angle of 25 degrees;
- household knives - 30 degrees;
- hunting blades are processed at an inclination of 35-40 degrees.
You will need not only to determine the angle of inclination, but also to maintain it during the entire work.
Advice! To find and endure required amount degrees it is good to use a sheet of paper folded several times. It is a fast, cheap and accurate meter.
If, after reading the article, you still have questions about how to properly sharpen knives with a bar, the video attached to it will completely clarify them. It clearly shows the entire sequence of actions, which means that it will be easier for you to repeat them, gaining your own experience.
The knife accompanies the man with early childhood and to old age. Each of us knows that it is a blunt blade that cuts the hand most often. To do this, it is enough for the blade to slide off the surface.
In order to avoid this, as well as to make the cutting process quick and comfortable, the knives are sharpened. But for sharpening knives, there are many different devices and methods, it is worth considering them in more detail.
Sharpening: principle and options
Blade sharpening is the process of removing the edge along the entire length of the blade at a certain angle with an abrasive. The sharpening angle depends on the hardness of the steel and the tasks facing the blade. So for household kitchen and hunting knives, the sharpening angle is 30 ... 35 degrees, hunting knife with resistance to blunting, sharpened under 40 ... 45.
Somewhat apart are the blades, which require a special sharpness of the blade, usually these are chef's knives or knives for professional processing of products, in this case the sharpening angle is from 25 degrees.
Separately, it is worth considering the sharpening angles of the razor and surgical instruments, since they require the sharpness of the blade. For a dangerous razor, the sharpening angle is 14 ... 15, for surgical instrument from 12 to 25 degrees.
Sharpening of knives is carried out in two ways, manually using abrasive stones or special tools and mechanically using grinding machine with a rotating abrasive wheel.
The first option requires skill, but at the same time it is easier to learn and accessible to everyone. Abrasive stones are used for sharpening various types, common:
- Arkansas, known as novaculitis;
- Japanese water stones;
- diamond bars;
- ceramics.
Each type of stone has its own advantages and disadvantages. These stones will be discussed separately below. For quick sharpening of kitchen knives, knives with a fixed or variable attachment of abrasive planes are often used, sharpening in which is carried out by moving the blade between sharpening surfaces.
Mechanical sharpening on the machine is much simpler, less time consuming, but requires constant temperature control and compliance with safety regulations.
Important! When sharpening on a machine with electrocorundum abrasive, it is necessary to control the temperature of the blade metal; when overheated, the steel of the blade can change its physical properties.
The main types of grindstone
In the course of the evolution of mankind, materials of natural origin suitable for sharpening knives were determined, although at the beginning of civilization, even ordinary sandstone was trusted to sharpen blades.
Now the information on metal processing has been structured and stones with the best abrasive properties have been selected.
Invented and worked out methods of working with them. In addition, widespread synthetic materials often the best properties than natural counterparts.
Arkansas stones
Novacula is a sharpening stone for a razor. This is a dense siliceous rock of homogeneous quartz crystals. Mining is carried out in quarries, bars from Arkansas stone have several degrees of graininess, are distinguished by excellent abrasive ability, but at the same time, due to their dense structure, they require the use of oil when sharpening.
Sharpening "dry" will clog the pores of the stone with dust and metal, causing the stone to fail. The main disadvantage of these bars is the price and uneven production with improper sharpening of the blade.
Japanese water stones
A natural stone originally from Japan, it has a high sharpening ability, but at the same time it is quite difficult to use. Sharpening knives on it is almost a ritual. Unlike novaculite, this abrasive is softer.
Sharpening is done with water. The process itself is quite complicated and time consuming. Stones are produced with a grain size from 600 to 30,000 grit in the Japanese JIS classification, while 10,000 grit is enough for superfinishing the blade.
Therefore, 30,000 is already excessive grit for blades. domestic use. Before work, the bar itself must be soaked in a container of water, after it has been impregnated, remove and create a mud mass on its surface using Naguro, the second abrasive bar included with water stone.
With the help of this suspension, sharpening is performed. The surface of the abrasive is quickly and unevenly developed, for this reason, it is required to periodically restore it with the help of special bars.
Synthetic stones
Diamond sharpening stones, synthetic materials - electrocorundum, chromium oxide or diamond grit on a silicate or ceramic binder. These stones have a uniform structure, different (depending on the bar) grain size and good operational characteristics.
The cost of such stones is usually low, the bars themselves are available. Sharpening can be done both “dry”, which is not recommended, or with the use of water or oil.
Ceramics
These materials are used for blade finishing, finishing or superfinishing. The grain size of these materials is small, but at the same time they are quite cheap and will allow you to smooth out scratches from a peeling abrasive or straighten a knife with a serrated sharpening.
The use of a liquid is essential, since the pores in fired ceramics clog very quickly, the surface becomes smooth.
Whetstones are widely used various shapes, from standard bars, which are best worked on a stable plane, to core sharpening stones, with which the blade is corrected on the go.
One thing remains unchanged, no matter what kind of bar, and what kind of metal, but for high-quality sharpening, lubricants are always used: water or oil.
Sharpening rules
First you need to prepare everything necessary materials. A sharpening block, a container of water and a paper towel or a plain sheet of paper. A piece of rag will also come in handy.
Immediately you need to determine the angle of sharpening. For example, 35 degrees is the most optimal angle for a kitchen knife or 40 for a sharp hunting knife.
Inspect the stone, if it has a trough or a significant development, then it should be leveled, otherwise the sharpening will be uneven.
The leveling of the stone is done with another stone, some types of stones, such as Japanese stones, have special comb stones included to restore the surface.
The bar is installed on a flat, stable surface, a table is perfect. To minimize slip, a cloth or rubber is placed under it. You can fix it on the table and in another improvised way. The surface of the bar is wetted with water or machine oil.
The position of the blade is adjusted by improvised means, for example, by putting a paper clip on the back of the blade or placing a coin. If the owner of the knife has strong nerves and a sharp eye, then simply holding the knife in the desired position is enough.
The knife is placed at an angle of 40-45 degrees to the center line of the blade, sharpening is carried out by forward movements of the blade away from you. For high quality sharpening, it is worth doing it in two steps.
First time on a coarse-grained peeling stone. Then, on finishing, fine-grained. During sharpening, it is necessary to periodically wet the surface of the stone. The check after sharpening is carried out both visually, by examining the edges of the blade to the light, the sharp part of the blade is uniform along the entire length, should not give glare.
You can also plan a sheet of paper on weight. A sharpened knife cuts smoothly, without hooks and paper tears. The cut of the sheet is even, without shaggyness and tears. If the edge of the paper is torn, the sharpening of the knife must be repeated.
Conclusion
There are many stones, but each of them has its own characteristics, and, like a knife, it is selected under the arm. Synthetic stones are budgetary in operation. They are inexpensive and widely distributed.
But at the same time, to achieve softness of sharpening, you can only use natural stone, which has its own characteristics. Japanese water stones are good in terms of quality. But their price is very high.
In addition, sharpening with such bars is long and inconvenient. In addition, it requires mood and skill. The same should be expected from Arkansas.
Hence the conclusion, each stone is suitable only for its owner, if in nature or to correct the kitchen in between the series and reading the newspaper, then it is better to take synthetics.
She will forgive small mistakes, and the quality of sharpening does not play a role here. But for the sharpness of a hunting or combat knife, before a long trip to nature, you should use natural stones.
After sharpening, the knife is sharp, with edges and shape close to ideal. If you give the knife a lot of time and warmth, it will definitely not let you down, at the right time.
Video
