It is dangerous to cut with a dull knife.You are more likely to cut yourself if you have to work harder to slice through what you are cutting.It is easy tosharpen a knife with a whetstone, rod honing, or coffee mug.
Step 1: You can sharpen your knife by picking an angle.
If you already know what angle your knife is sharpened at, you'll probably want to do it again.It will take more time and may take a few tries before the angles are smoothed out.If you don't know the angle of your knife, you can ask the manufacturer or ask a knife shop to figure it out for you.If you have to make a decision, choose an angle of 10 - 30 per side.17 - 20 is a good compromise because sharper angles don't last as long and steeper angles are more durable.
Step 2: You can Lubricate your diamond stone with a small amount of mineral oil.
A light kind of mineral oil is called honing oil.Honing oil lubricates the stone and makes it easier for the blade of the knife to pass over it.Check the manufacturer's guidelines for lubrication.The majority of the sharpening stones are designed to be wet or dry.Many are destroyed when oiled, but some are pre-oiled or designed for oil, and will be labeled as "oil stones."
Step 3: An angle guide can be used to control your edge's angle.
A sharpening guide is a small tool that's placed underneath the knife in order to maintain a constant angle.If you don't, you will have to control the angle by hand, which is hard and requires a well-formed perception of angles.Getting the angle right is one of the hardest parts of knife sharpening.If you want to make this process easier, try painting the tip of your blade with a sharpie pen.Check to see if the marker is being removed during the sharpening process.
Step 4: On the rough side of the stone is where you should start.
The packaging that came with the stone should be checked to see which one it is.There are different grits on both sides of diamond stones.The rough and fine sides of the knife are used.The grinding process starts on the rough side.
Step 5: If you want a symmetrical edge, drag the knife across the stone in the opposite direction and slice it off.
This allows a burr to form.
Step 6: Continue grinding at this angle until you get halfway through the steel.
This doesn't need to be precise.For a one-sided edge.This article tells you not to flip the knife.
Step 7: If you want to create a new edge, sharpen the other side of the knife.
Sharpening until you have raised a, a feature that steel will naturally form when one bevel is ground until it meets another, is the easiest way to determine if you've removed enough metal.If you stroke away from the edge, you can feel the burrs on your thumb.Bigger stones produce smaller burrs.
Step 8: The stone should be flipped over and used to sharpen one side of the blade.
The goal is to smooth over the burrs created by sharpening the knife.The blade edge is transformed from a ground edge to a hone edge.
Step 9: Start sharpening the one side of the knife on the stone's fine grit side.
Again, make sure you hit both sides of the knife.
Step 10: The fine grit will be swiped on alternating times.
Sharpen one side of the knife with a single stroke and then flip it.For the best result, do this many times.
Step 11: If you want, you can even strop the edge to make it sharper.
This makes the edge better suited for "push cutting" (cutting directly into materials, pushing straight down without sliding the blade across the object) but generally impairs slicing ability: without the "microscopic serrations" left by grinding with a stone, theblade tends to not bite into
Step 12: You can use a honing rod between sharpenings.
The honing rod isn't usually used to resuscitate a dull blade from the graveyard.They are often used to keep knives sharp.The need to use a diamond or whetstone is delayed when using a honing rod.It's a good idea to use whetstones and diamonds to shave metal from the edge of your knife.The longer your knives thrive, the less you use your whetstone.What does a honing rod do?A honing rod is used to realign the metal in a blade.It doesn't remove any metal from the blade of the knife compared to a whetstone.
Step 13: The honing rod can be held in your nondominant hand.
The rod should be held away from your body.The rod handle should be above the rod tip.
Step 14: Put the knife in your hand.
Your thumb can be placed on the spine of the knife far away from the blade edge if you hold the handle with your four fingers.
Step 15: The honing rod is in relation to your knife.
You don't need to be exact with your angle.Make sure to maintain the same angle throughout the honing process, no matter what angle you choose.Changing the angle used during the honing process will not smooth out the metal in the blade as much as using a consistent angle will.
Step 16: Keeping a 20 angle, move the knife across the top half of the honing rod.
Try to start the motion with the tip of the knife touching the rod and end it with it.You need to move your arm, hand, and wrist in order to master this process.It's important to move the wrist to get the right action.Without moving the wrist, you won't be able to sweep the entire blade across the honing rod.
Step 17: The knife must be moved across the bottom half of the honing rod.
The knife should be moved across the lower half of the rod using the same sweep of your arm, hand, and wrist.The weight of the knife is more important than the amount of pressure used.You've done one revolution after completing a top- and bottom sweep.
Step 18: Each use of the knife requires a total of 6 - 8 revolutions with your honing rod.
Step 19: The bottom of the mug should be exposed to the air so that the upside down mug can be seen.
If you don't have fancy equipment, a coffee mug can be an effective sharpening tool.The ceramic material of a mug is coarse.Ceramic material is used to keep a blade in between sharpenings.
Step 20: Keeping a 20 angle, sweep one side of the blade across the coffee mug several times.
Step 21: You can repeat the process using the other side of the knife.
Step 22: The last two or three sweeps should be done on the alternate sides of the blade.
Take one side of the blade and run it across the mug, then turn it around and hit the other side.This pattern can be repeated many times.
Step 23: You can finish the process by using 6 - 8 strokes of your blade across a honing rod.
If you have burrs in the metal, use a honing rod to smooth it out.