Knife importance is indescribable when you are in the kitchen busy making food. And doing all the performance cut and chop it lost its edges and need to learn how to sharpen a knife to make it active and sharp. Dull knives let you down in your cutting the herbs and vegetables sharply, moreover, they need more pressure to cut and become risky to your finger.
Sometimes your dull knife becomes the reason for food damage as it smashes rather than slices which cannot preserve them accurately. There are several methods to sharpen your knife at home. Among them sharpening with a stone, rod, file, and whetstone are popular and common to sharpen a knife.
You can sharpen your knife according to your use, but it would be great if you make a kitchen routine and follow them while honing is the reliable step after every use. We will also provide a few tips on this blog on how to sharpen a knife the right way for your needs.
What is the Difference Between Sharping and Honing?
Though these two words seem similar meaning, it has a distinctive difference, you can go deeper. Honing comes after when you sharpen your knife and keep it right for long termed use. Honing steel are well known to do this task. If you make a good habit to use this steel after every time use of knife saves your knife edge is proper and well maintained.
It takes only two minutes while you need to hold the knife in half at a 45-degree angle and drag it ten times for each side. So these are the difference between sharping and deep action when you feel your knife is getting dull on the contrary honing is an easy and precise process to keep this best state to strengthen the curled edge.
Note: With honing rod to do this keep a 20-degree angle between the sharping rod and knife and move the knife heel to tip continuously.
Methods of How to Properly Sharpen a Knife
More or less we are used to sharpening the knife at home rather than sending it to a professional. Now in this section, we will learn how to sharpen a knife safely without extra cost.
- How to sharpen a knife with a whetstone
- How to sharpen a knife with a knife sharpener
- How to sharpen a knife with a coffee mug
To get the easy and faster instruction start reading the rest of the writing which deliberates in easy words and simple steps to make you successful in this task.
How to Sharpen a Knife with a Whetstone
This is a precise option to sharpen your knife. Though it is a classic method that excellently works in this process. Let’s follow the steps to get the best possible solution.
Find the Angle for Sharp
It sounds silly but is sometimes very common. In this case, if you really don’t know the correct angle take help from manufacturer guidelines or a knowledgeable knife shop. But in most cases, you know what angle your knife needs to sharpen as you think to do this.
This knowledge will save you time from sharpening different angles of your while your right angle gets less time to restore the bad condition. We recommended finding a 10 to 30-degree angle for each side while the practically steeper angle of 17-20 degrees is reliable for shallower angles that don’t last long.
Lubricate Whetstone (If Necessary)
This step is not necessary for all types of whetstone or diamond stones. To find this you need to check the manufacturer guide as this requires mineral oil to make it easy to pass the blade of the knife over the stone as some of these are designed with pre-oil which has an oil stone label. While your stone is carborundum stone this is good to use in wet and dry conditions.
Place a Sharping Guide
Moving at the right angle is the most difficult step when you wanted to do this. If you place a shaping guide underneath the knife it works wonderfully to maintain the angle consistently even better than controlling the hand at the time of scraping the knife across the surface of the stone. This advanced step makes it easy throughout the sharping period for a well-formed perception of angles.
Start Grinding
Usually, this type of stone comes with two grits on its side one rough for grinding and fine grit for honing. So at first find the rough side to start grinding while this side is specially designed with steel downside for better results on their purpose.
To get the utmost result drag your knife in the opposite direction of the stone which makes burr. To get a symmetric edge of the knife with prolonging of stone life this step plays a viral role, keep continuing this process until the metal line goes it is halfway.
Flip the Knife
To go to the next level of how to sharpen the knife flip your knife over and start to sharpen the other side of the blade for making a new edge. Whether your stone has inequality it was also originating of burrs is common even if a small amount, remove them which will be moved effectively. There is no hard and fast time to continue this process but notice the find sharping in this step.
Shift on the Smooth Grit
Now, flip your stone to provide your knife honing while you begin sharping orderly provide smooth touch after the coarse shaping, and eliminate all the burrs to give the final sharp appearance. When you successfully complete one side by swiping in fine grit.
Next, flip the knife and sharpen the other side. Repeat the same thing several times until you did not get your desired sharpness. If you sharpen your knife in a routine this step is usually enough for your knife care.
Note: If your countertop is slippery don’t forget to place a rubber mat or towel under the stone.
How to Sharpen a Knife with a Knife Sharpener
The manual sharpener is the easiest way to sharpen the knife which has both gilt like stone, one course for sharpening and another for polish. Pull the knife with gentle pressure over the course top depending on your knife’s condition.
If your knife has less dull require 3 to 5 time pulling. You can do the same thing more even if your knife has more dull layers. Finally, use a fine slot to provide a smooth finish no more than 2-3 times while you have less dullness in the knife. There is another option sharper which have motorized wheels that spin
against the blade which is stricter to sharpen the knife is called an electrical knife sharpener. Also, this works with a coarse and fine slot to do all the tasks properly and effortlessly.
While you’re using this machine do the same procedure but this time let the motorized abrasive to the rest of the works to sharpen your knife. Until you get your satisfying sharpness repeat this. Like before you can use a soft slot in the finishing terms.
How to Sharpen a Knife with a Coffee Mug
Before we conclude our discussion as smart and fast tips we include this. In this method, you need an old ceramic mug that creates a space to sharpen your knife on its bottom upside down. You may have found that several sharpens rod is also made from ceramic to sharpen your knives.
Now we are moving towards how to shape a knife with an old coffee mug and finally nail the task. Maintain a 20-degree angle when you are sweeping the blade you will repeat this process several times until you get your required sharpness then flip the blade and sharpen this side also in the same process. Again swipe your knife 2 to 3 times on both sides to get the best result.
In this method, you will need also a honing rod to remove and smoothen the burr and kinks which will create at the time of swiping.
Final Thought on Sharpen a Knife
Once you learn the methods of how to sharpen a knife you can easily do this at your home when needed. It is not necessary to send your knife every time to the professional it takes only 5 to 10 mins to get a new knife which ready to go with paper, onion even tomato taste.
Sharpening a knife makes a difference in your kitchen task. Your attempt should be standing on 15-20 angles whichever method you choose, as these angles are well proven to be easy to any kinds of knives such as medium, Japanese, western and narrow edges.
To keep your finger and veggies and herb in good condition is essential while our listed methods are not time-consuming or even effective.
