Sharpening a knife

How to sharpen a knife? how to keep a good edge? here you will find information on this technical aspect of the maintenance of a knife.

Sharpening, sharpening or sharpening keeps a sharp edge of good quality to his knives.

The cutting edge of the blade is the entire length called the wire. It is the thread that cuts the material and will withstand the cutting pressure. It is for this reason that the blade wire of the knife must be maintained by sharpening it to keep a good edge.

The maintenance of the main steels can be done by means of sharpening stones or a rifle:

- Carbon steel is a soft steel and easy to sharpen but it requires regular maintenance.

- Stainless steel is a very hard steel, it is long to sharpen, it is better to use a fine and very abrasive stone.

- Steel 440 also called surgical steel is easy to sharpen using a fine and abrasive stone

- 12C27 steel or Sandwik steel is a mild steel, it is easy to sharpen and easy to maintain.

How to sharpen his knife?

Sharpening your knife is like removing material by rubbing the blade against a natural honing stone or synthetic such as ceramic stones or diamond stones.

Sharpening the blade of a knife

We must choose the sharpening angle according to the use we have of the knife. A weak angle gives a very sharp but fragile wire and an important angle gives a wire less cutting but more robust. Depending on the steel we work, the angle will be different. To sharpen Japanese knives accurately, a fine angle is required.

The cutlers give a sharpening angle during the first sharpening with their knife. This angle varies by manufacturer but most European knives sharpen well with an angle of 25 °. Japanese knives have a sharpening angle of 15 ° instead.

- Hold the handle of the knife with one hand: it will guide and give the movement

- Put the other hand on the side and the back of the blade: it will exert the pressure and maintain the angle

- Make circular movements of the blade on the stone maintaining the angle and exerting pressure

- Repeat the operation gradually decreasing the pressure and the duration of each passage

- Make the same sharpening movements on the other side

- Stop when visibly the geometry seems satisfactory and the knife starts to cut

What is the difference between sharpening and sharpening a knife?

Sharpening allows you to rework the wire of the blade daily with a rifle to keep a good edge. We advise you to use a sharpening steel razor.

Sharpening helps to reshape the blade wire when it has blunted. We advise you to use a more abrasive sharpener made of ceramic or diamond.