5 Best Way to Sharpen a Knife

All knives require regular maintenance as they become dull the more you use them. Sharpen them routinely either at home or through a sharpening service to keep the blades in acute working condition. The frequency of sharpening a knife depends on its quality and how often you use it.

Do a paper or tomato test to check its sharpness. New paper knives will hack through papers smoothly. But when it becomes dull, it won't cut cleanly. That's the time for using your paper-knife sharpening tools. There is no patent formula for knife sharpening, but you can follow some of the best ways to do it accurately.

Five Best Ways to Sharpen A Knife+

#1 Knife Sharpener

Knife sharpeners are the quickest way to sharpen knives at home. You pass the blade through the knife sharpener slot, and the abrasives at a defined angle grind it, removing excess metal. For perfect sharpening service, always follow optimal angle (10 degrees for knives up to 6 inches long and 15 to 20 degrees for longer ones.)

#2 Bench Stone

It is one of the best methods for giving high-quality knives accurate polish. Start with the coarse grit and then switch gradually to sharpening the cutting edge with finer grits while sharpening manually on bench stones, water stones, or diamond plates. However, it requires some practice to develop your knife sharpening skills. If you have doubts, do not risk sharpening high-quality knives yourself. Hire a professional knife sharpening service for the task.

#3 Abrasive Guided Knife Sharpening System

It follows the similar process of paper knife sharpening as sharpening on bench stones. In it, you fix the knife in a holder and move the abrasive over the cutting edge. It produces a geometrically correct cutting edge, and you can learn knife sharpening without much practice.

#4 Water Cooled Sharpening Machine

In it, you sharpen a knife against a rotating grindstone. These machines use water to cool the grindstone to avoid overheating. You get cutting-edge angles on them but avoid using them on high-quality Japanese knives.

#5 Honing Steel

After sharpening your knives, use honing steel every time you take out your knife to maintain them sharp. It is a flat round thing that looks like a metal lightsaber. Hold the knife in your dominant hand and pass the blade at an angle of 15° to 20° alternately, drawing it across the steel ten times on each side. Cooks and butchers mostly use the technique to keep their knives sharp.

Conclusion

All knife including paper-knife requires sharpening. The most crucial skill in knife sharpening is holding it at the correct angle while sharpening it. Even a minor mistake can damage your knife structurally. Do not forget to follow honing process routinely to maintain your knives sharp. For high-quality knives, always depend on a professional sharpening service.