Knives are very essential gear for everyday life. You can’t imagine your kitchen without a knife. As time passes by, your knives become dull because of multiple uses. So you need a tool by which you can restore the sharpness. A sharpening stone is a handy tool in this regard. Today we’ll talk about how to sharpen a knife with a stone. If you’re a chef or knife lover, then this guideline is for you. So, get prepared to sharpen your knife after reading this article!
Table of Contents
Kitchen Knives
A kitchen knife is a knife, used for food preparation and similar tasks. It has some basic differences from other types of knives. It can be made from several materials i.e. cold steels, stainless steel, high carbon stainless steel, ceramic, titanium, plastic, etc. Various types of kitchen knives are available in the market. Some of the most common types are chef’s knife or cook’s knife or French knife, paring knife, utility knife, bread knife, butter knife, fillet knife, steak knife, cleaver, boning knife, etc.
Sharpening Stone
A sharpening stone is a rectangular block widely used to sharpen steel tools edge i.e. knives, axes, scissors, machetes, razors or any other cutting tools. Sharpening stones, whetstone or water stones are actually easiest, fastest and most effective ways to sharpen blades. Stones can be classified as natural stones and synthetic or artificial stones. Natural stones include Arkansas stone and Japanese whetstone whereas Diamond whetstones and Ceramic stones are the most common synthetic sharpening stones.
Usually, natural stones are made of microcrystalline quartz such as novaculite. On the other hand, most synthetic stones are composed of aluminum oxide or silicon carbide. Natural stones do better after soaking whereas synthetic stone can reduce its lifespan if you soak it for long times. Synthetic stones are better than natural stone but expensive.
Sharpening stones are available in various grades according to the abrasive quality of the stones, which is referred to as grit size. When the grit value is smaller it means a coarse grit, whereas larger grit size is finer grit stone and other is the medium grit stone. Lower number i.e. 220 grit will remove a lot of particles from the blade whereas finer grit is a higher number i.e. 5000 grit size remove small particles, used for finishing an edge smoothly.
Sharpening Kitchen Knives with a Sharpening Stone
Sharpening knives with a sharpening stone is a traditional process. Nowadays, electric sharpener and other sharpening processes are also available, by which you can easily sharpen your knives. But, I believe every knifeman must know the traditional sharpening process.
It seems to be easy to sharpen knives using a sharpening stone. It’s true, but you need to know the right way of sharpening first. The whole process is discussed below.
Check Knife Dullness
First is that you need to check the dullness of the blade. Is it really dull or not? Try to cut thin paper and determine its dullness. If your blade cuts the paper nicely consider it as sharp otherwise it is dull. Now you are sure, the knife needs to be sharpened or not.
Pick the Sharpening Stone and Soak It
After confirming the dullness of the blade, you need to pick a perfect sharpening stone. You can’t sharpen your knife with a dry sharpening stone rightly. So, you need to sock it in water for five to fifteen minutes.
Determine Blades Angle
Different cutting blades have different angles. Maintaining the angles, you can easily sharpen your blades. Kitchen knife’s sharpening angles vary between 17 to 25 degrees. If you’re a beginner, then you can place two or three coins on the stone and lay the spine of the knife on top of them.
Sharpening Stone Placement
To avoid unnecessary movement of stones during knife sharpening, you need to place the stone to a base or vice. An extra towel or cloth is also used sometimes.
Grip The Knife Handle
Hold the knife handle with your first hand and the other hand is used to apply pressure. If necessary, use a cloth to hold the knife to avoid frictional heat and slippage.
Start Sharpening
Start to sharpen your knife by applying suitable pressure and draw the blade along the stone from tip to handle. The coarse side of the stone is firstly chosen to sharpen both of the blade sides. Repeat the actions until the blade is sharpened nicely.
Finish Sharpening
After finishing with the coarse side, medium and finer side is chosen. When you flip the stone make sure the stone is still wet. Otherwise, soak it again for a few minutes or splash water on it. Then sharpen both sides of your blade until the edge becomes razor sharp.
Check Knife Sharpness
The blade’s sharpness needs to be checked now. Is it sharp enough or not? If you are not happy with the sharpness, then sharp it more and make it sharp as you can. To check its sharpness cut some fruits or paper or check it with your thumb carefully.
Clean the Knife and the Sharpening Stone
When you are sure the knife is sharpened nicely and you can use it for your kitchen purposes, then clean it with boiled water, wipe it with a towel and keep it in a safe and dry place. Clean the stone also and keep it to the stone box.
Knife Sharpening Tips
Don’t put your finger at blade’s edge while sharpening
Don’t soak the stones for long times
Hold the knife with a cloth to avoid frictional heat
Don’t draw your finger until you clean the knife otherwise the chips may hurt you
Apply same pressure for the whole sharpening process
FAQ
Oil should always be used with a whetstone in which oil had been previously been sued on.
Mineral oil can be used but it alone can be a little bit heavy on some stones. As a rough guide the finer the stone the lighter the oil you want to use.
Conclusion
A knife is a multipurpose tool that can be used in home or outing. You can carry a knife and a sharpening stone to your hiking, camping or hunting situations also. A sharp knife will save you time and energy. So, you should sharpen your kitchen knife with a sharpening stone to cut your kitchen items within short times. Hope you enjoyed the knife sharpening guidelines. Now it’s your time!
Author Bio:
Danny is an outdoor lover who loves hunting and prepping with his favourite tool machete! Hunting, cleaning, and cooking with his family and friends are the things that keep him alive!
I enjoyed this article! I have a stone sharpener, but never really knew how to use it properly. Thanks for sharing this!
What a descriptive article ! I was recently having problem with sharpening my 2-year old machete and this is exactly what I’ve been looking for ! Thanks a lot !