Knife Sharpening

A lot of chefs get their knives professionally sharpened but you won’t find any artists getting their pencils professionally sharpened. Admittedly, most of those workshy, soap-dodgers don’t do enough doodling to blunt their pencils, but you get the point — no pun intended — sharpening a knife requires a little bit of knowledge and skill.

There are lots of different ways to sharpen a knife: I learned two of them at school during woodwork and metalwork classes. Unfortunately, a lot of lads don’t do useful subjects like that they do home-economics (aka cooking and shopping), sowing, and pottery, which ain’t going to be much help when he gets married and his old lady wan’t him to sharpen her kitchen knives. She’s not going to know how to sharpen them because you know she didn’t do metalwork or woodwork at school — she’s a bird — she took cooking and shopping. And it doesn’t just end there: a mate of mine gets a call from his sister because her boyfriend’s got a puncture and he don’t know how to change a tire! Jesus, Marry and Joseph: I could change a tire, hotwire a motor and drive by the time I was twelve.

Anyhow, you sharpen a knife by grinding it against something harder than the blade, which removes metal from the edge, like a grinding wheel, whetstone, Japanese water stone, diamond coated steel, belt sander, sand paper, V sharpener or draw through sharpener. You can even grind it against the bottom of a coffee mug, and if you’re that much of a cheap bastard, you probably wipe your arse with a free newspaper and buy your Mrs lingerie from a second hand shop.

Whatever you sharpen your knife with you need to grind a consistent bevel angle along the entire length of the edge. The bevel angle depends on the grind and type of knife: it’s 10° on a razor, 20° on a kitchen knife and 30° on a meat cleaver. That’s why a V grind sharpener is better than sharpening freehand on a whetstones or waterstones, but personally, I prefer using a bench grinder or the scary sharp method.

Mechanical grinders are the most effective way to put an edge on a blade but they’re also the most dangerous, especially if you’re female. In fact, if you’re female you shouldn’t be touching any power tools. Here’s Willy from Carson’s Saw Shop in Eugene, Oregon, who has been abusing the gimp chained up in the back room, and professionally sharpening tools for 25 or 30 years — he can’t remember — demonstrating how not to use a pedestal grinder. The idiot grinds against the side of  the wheel instead of the edge. How he hasn’t lost his fingers or killed himself is a mystery to me.

Willy doesn’t bother using a grinding jig to get an accurate and consistent angle, he just guesses and when screws up, he says it doesn’t matter, and he’s supposed to be a professional sharpener. How that shop stays in business is beyond me. If you’re going to use a bench grinder — you can get one for well under $50  –  follow the safety instructions, they’re there for a reason. Also don’t guess the angles use a grinding jig. You can get a decent one for $30 but if you’re too cheap you can make one out of wood with a G-clamp. You can also use an angle grinder but don’t turn it upside down on a working surface or hold the blade with one hand and the angle grinder in the other. Secure the knife in a grinding jig or vice and use the angle grinder with two hands.

After grinding, a blade has a wire edge, which needs to be honed to get rid of all those burs. Otherwise it won’t retain an edge and you’ll be sharpening the knife all the time. The difference between grinding and honing is that you don’t remove any metal when you’re honing. So technically, honing isn’t sharpening. You’re just straightening the edge, which makes it cut better. That’s why you can’t sharpen a blunt blade on a steel. Then you have the final stage of the process: polishing, which finishes and smooths the blade, and reduces oxidation. You can use a polishing stone, leather strop or sand paper to polish a blade, or you can just buff it against a buffing wheel on a bench grinder, which is what I normally do.

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58 thoughts on “Knife Sharpening

  1. Because you know she didn’t do metalwork or woodwork at school — she’s a bird — she took cooking and shopping.

    LMBO

    Every girl likes shopping, huh? I don’t think our school even did metalwork or woodwork class.

  2. if you’re that much of a cheap bastard, you probably wipe arse with a free newspaper and buy your Mrs lingerie from a second hand shop.

    Eeewh! LMBO

  3. You’re so sexist it’s unreal. Women can do metalwork and men can cook. Cooking a much more important life skill than metalwork.

  4. “Anyhow, you sharpen a knife by grinding against something harder than the blade” but I can sharpen using paper wheels or a felt buffing mop? Those are softer than steel right?

    I’m a guy and can cook, I like to bake breads as well. I should be shit at making edges meet in a burr free manner… but I’m not.

    I freehand on abrasive paper (“sandpaper” for use on cars and such), waterstones, oilstones, diamond plates (DMT ones not fancy dinner ones!), ceramics, Sharpmaker, Edge Pro etc. etc.

    Why have you no love for a nice convexed edge? Vee is good, I like it myself, but a sheet of paper and a mouse mat or phone book opens up sharpening to anybody. A polished convex leaves enough meat behind the edge to help with folding and rolling issues also.

    I’ve just stumbled onto your blog looking for something else knife related, nice site lad! I’ll peep in again, more pictures would be nice. Especially on the sicilian knife stuff, I’ve only seen a little of it and that caused a massive row on a large knife forum!

    Cheers bud man!

    • Musashi — you can’t sharpening a blade without removing metal from the edge, and freehanded grinding on sandpaper or a stone is okay but you’re never going to keep a consistent angle, that’s what jigs are for. I can sharpen freehand too but why bother when I can use a jig and get better results? Sharpening freehand is for the field.

  5. @ Rob “In fact, if you’re female you shouldn’t be touching any power tools.”

    I hear that. Great post, funny and true. Do you have a lot of power tools?

    • Ian –

      Just the basics, you know: cordless screwdriver, cordless drill, wet and dry cordless vacuum cleaner, cordless hammer drill, rotary hammer, bandsaw, jigsaw, cordless sander, nail gun, heat gun, angle sander/polisher, angle grinder, bench grinder, die grinder, metal cut off saw, electromagnetic drill, disc cutter, cordless pipe cutters, impact driver, arc welder, electric chainsaw. ;)

  6. All we had in junior high was woodshop, and I learned a lot there. Once in high school, you were either on an academic track or a vocational track, so folks like me planning for college couldn’t take welding or metalwork or auto mechanics. I learned auto and motor cycle mechanics at home from family and friends, but never learned welding or much about metalwork.

    Kids in school should be given a more well rounded education. Is it more wise to spend a few weeks learning to change tires and oil or having to be tortured for weeks talking about The Great Gatsby?

    I did take a home economics course, and learned a lot about sewing and cooking.

    Like how it’s best to stir your whiskey drink with a stiletto.

    • @ el Fish

      The education system in England used to be like that when my Dad was at school and it’s going back that way, but when we were at school we had a comprehensive education, part vocational and part academic. We don’t have the high school diploma in England, we take qualifications in individual subjects. Some subjects are compulsory likes maths, English, and we have science options you could do a combined science course or take biology, physics and chemistry individually. We had a variety of modern European language options, I took Italian and Spanish, and I did Latin as well. For humanities we had choices of history, geography, and religious studies. Then there were vocational subjects like drama, art, woodwork, design and technology (metals, plastics and engineering), textiles and cooking and shopping :)

    • @ el Fish

      I did academic and vocational subjects. I took woodwork and design and technology (metals, plastics and electronics) instead of art, pottery, sowing, drama, music or cooking and shopping. I was never really into woodwork. My basic carpentry skills are alright, and I passed the exam, but I was never going to be kitchen fitter or chippie. My metalwork was pretty hot though, I was on a good earner at school making and selling knives, swords and throwing stars. Me and my mate Danny did the welding and panel beating on a beaten up old Morris Minor 1000 that we picked up, and my mates Sean and Scott worked on the engine. We learned a lot working on that motor at school. It was a heap of junk but we got it running.

  7. @ Rob ” Here’s Willy from Carson’s Saw Shop in Eugene, Oregon, who has been abusing the gimp chained up in the back room, ” lol Where’s Zed?

    • @ Jen

      It’s mystery to me why women can’t use hand held electrical appliances. When we teenagers Stefi couldn’t even use an electric tooth brush. I walked in her in the bathroom and she was hold it a long way south of her mouth.

  8. @ Rob. So you were making weapons and working on a stolen car. Sounds like you learned a lot of valuable lessons in metalwork class.

    • Jen —

      They’re necessary tools that I’ve acquired over many years working on a lot of different projects from cars, guns, knives, houses and sports equipment.

    • @ Jenny

      We’ve got a Selva Marine GT.400; it’s 4M long, 7 seater, with a 50 hp Bull Shark 2 Strokes outboard motor. It’s a very comfortable dive boat. But not for sunbathing, having sex or sea camping on. We have a Selva Marine S.7.1 Cabin powerboat for that, which is 7.1M, 8 seater with a dinning table that converts into a double bed, and has a kitchen and separate toilet, with a 225 hp Fin Whale 4 strokes outboard motor.

    • @ Ian

      I have worked with metal quite a bit recently. I built Stefi and Amica a stainless steel fitted kitchen, I’ve also been working a lot with marble because we’ve got a black marble bathroom. I would much rather are done that in stainless steel, I tell ya. Marble is a bastard to work with.

    • @ Heather

      We’ve also got a Yamaha VX Sport jetski but I wouldn’t I want to go from Sicily to the Italian mainland on it. We’ve got different boats for different things. I’m getting rid of the GT.400 and replacing it with a Formenti Zar 43 RIB. Stefi sometimes uses the Selva Marine S 7.1 as an office. We got a phone and laptop, that’s all you need. You can’t go spear fishing, shoot seagulls or have fun on a jetski when you’re stuck in an office.

  9. Rob…

    I built Stefi and Amica a stainless steel fitted kitchen, I’ve also been working a lot with marble because we’ve got a black marble bathroom.

    Black marble bathroom would be to die for. Why can’t I meet a guy who can make me a new kitchen and bathroom?

    • @ el Fish

      I’ve changed the avatar theme but if you want a cool avatar you have to use gravatar, which is easy to do and you can link it to your blogspot account too.

  10. “How he hasn’t lost his fingers or killed himself is a mystery to me”

    Yep Ill bet. In fact I be a lot is mysterious to you. Pompous Stupidity in all its glory… I dont know to laugh… or cry…

  11. Im an amateur, I can sharpen my ESEE-4 to on a diamond flat or a coffee cup or even a piece of rock i find in the outback, and keep the angle at 20 +/-1 deg. I’m not particularly skilled, but it does take a bit of practice. A master like that geezer in the video can probably hold +/- 0.25 degrees, while blindfolded and drunk.

    Also: ESEE is the BEST knife I have ever owned hands down. And they are made in USA, guaranteed for life, reasonably priced, NOT toys, and I have staked my life on them. Seriously.. puulease stop wasting digital storage/bandwidth space with your amateurish euro snob infomercials.

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