If your whetstone has a coarse and fine side, begin with the coarse side. If you use two stones of different grit, start with the one with the lower grit number. Hold the knife with the handle in your dominant hand.
Begin coarse side up: Before you start sharpening your knives, make sure that the coarse side of the stone is on top. This is the quickest way to form the knife blade back into the correct shape.
One is a little courser and it is used to get deep nicks out of a blade. The other is finer and will put a fine edge on your blade. Always use a few drops of oil when sharpening on a stone.
The coarse stone is the workhorse of the sharpening stones. If you have a dull edge, you start with this stone and spend the most time with the stone. The finer stones perform the important task of refining the edge and making it sharper.
If you want to be really sure, drag your fingernail, edgewise, across each side of the stone. You'll feel which one is coarse and which one is fine.
To sharpen a very dull knife, use first the coarse and then the fine side of the whetstone; to sharpen a blade in better shape, use only the fine side. Have badly chipped or serrated knives professionally sharpened.
The rough side removes material faster but leaves a more rough finish. This is good to more quickly shape the edge. Then the smooth side refines the edge, leaving it sharper.
Another term often used for sharpening stones is whetstone. Both terms mean exactly the same. After all to whet is to sharpen! It is a rather dated term but one that is still used regularly.
For example, a slot labeled "fine" is typically used for sharpening kitchen knives without removing much of the blade, while a slot labeled "coarse" is used for serrated or heavily damaged blades. Pull the knife through the sharpener, using a back and forth motion.
A question that most people ask when they first start sharpening knives is should you push or pull when sharpening a knife. Most pros would agree that pulling the blade edge across the whetstone produces the best results.
Soak the whetstone: Soak your coarse grit whetstone for 15 to 20 minutes. Soak your fine grit whetstone for 5 minutes. 3. Remove the whetstone and set on a towel: After soaking, place your whetstone in the center of a kitchen towel.
Explanation: When using a stone sharpener to sharpen your knife, it's important to begin with the coarse side of the stone. Starting with the coarse side allows you to shape the edge and remove any significant deformations or chips. This process is known as establishing the edge.
Yes, a whetstone needs to be wet in order to be used. It should be soaked for at least 45 minutes, or per manufacturer instructions, Wetting the stone helps it last longer, while stones used dry tend to wear out faster.
Your sharpener will, at a minimum, have a coarse and fine setting. Start by pulling your blade through the coarse side first. This will remove more material from the edge and get rid of any bigger burrs or imperfections in the knife.
This takes practice, and you have to be careful, as using a whetstone incorrectly could weaken or damage a blade's edge. It can be fixed, but still – practice and caution are key. Another thing to keep in mind about whetstones is grit, indicated by the numbers on the side of the stone.
Electric pull through sharpeners remove way too much metal and shorten the life of your knife by years. Ceramic wheel sharpeners tend to take chips and chunks out of thin Japanese blades. Because of the mechanics of use, it is impossible to apply the same amount of pressure throughout the blade.
Depending on the material properties of the liquid, your knife edge will feel more or less slippery along the surface of the stone as you sharpen. Mineral oil is a little more viscus (or thicker) than water, so it has a slightly different feel while sharpening and, typically, it is preferred by most serious sharpeners.
If your whetstone has a coarse and fine side, begin with the coarse side. If you use two stones of different grit, start with the one with the lower grit number. Hold the knife with the handle in your dominant hand.
As indicated above, some sharpening stones made from synthetic materials are provided with both a coarse and a finer side for maximum utility. The former can be used for dull, badly worn blades, before turning the stone for the polishing and finishing stages.
Start with a fine sharpening stone ranging from 1000 to 3000 grit, followed by an extra-fine sharpening stone ranging from 3000 to 5000 grit.
We recommend 6–8 pulls through the sharpener (tip up). If you need that extra degree of sharpness, polish the edge with a few strokes back and forth. Let the sharp edge glide across the smooth flat surfaces of the sharpener with no more downward pressure than the weight of the knife.
17 to 22 Degree Angles
Most western knives are roughly 20 degrees. In fact, a 20 degrees angle is often considered the best sharing point for most knives. It is our experience that kitchen knives sharpened to 17 to 20 degrees cut very well and are still durable.
How to Know If Your Electric or Manual Sharpener Is Good. Look for knife sharpeners that have a moderate grit, and, ideally, an electric mechanism. Mechanical sharpeners are typically way too coarse. Manual or electric sharpeners list their coarseness in microns, and the number is often disturbingly low—above 30µ.