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 for pushing down. You shouldn't be pushing down except to ensure the edge of the blade is making contact with the stone. Kitchen knives are relatively soft metal. The part you are sharpening comes down to an edge thinner then metal foil. If you press down, you will deform the edge and roll it over.
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.
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. And, always use a smooth steel afterwards to remove the burr on the edge to make it super sharp!
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.
Drag your knife towards you with a firm, even pressure at a 15 to 20-degree angle. Keep in mind that these angles may vary slightly depending on the type of blade you have. Continue repeating these strokes about ten times, then turn the blade over and sharpen the other side.
Push the point you want to sharpen with your fingers. While keeping the angle and pushing the point with your fingers, stroke the blade until it reaches the other edge of the whetstone, then pull the blade back until it reaches the edge of the whetstone. This back and forth is counted as one stroke.
While some stones – like those made of diamond or ceramic – can be used dry, they still usually benefit from a little water. Soaking the whetstone is important because it helps protect the stone from damage and wear. Sharpening your knives with a dry stone won't hurt the knife, but it will damage the stone over time.
Sharpening Your Knife
Hold the handle of your knife in your dominant hand, and place the heel of the blade on one end of the whetstone, applying pressure to the blade with the fingers of your other hand. With even pressure, and long, smooth strokes, run the entire edge of the blade along the whetstone.
Depending on what yard work you do 1k may even be a bit fine. Otherwise a 1k is enough for most things.
Most manufacturers suggest soaking the whetstone for between 15 and 20 minutes. This gives the water enough time to properly soak into the blade meaning that you won't need to keep stopping halfway through to apply more water.
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.
A whetstone can help you to keep the blade of a knife nice and sharp with just one or two strokes, which saves time in the kitchen.
Most pros would agree that pulling the blade edge across the whetstone produces the best results. Not only will it bring the knife to its sharpest but it's also a much more effective way to remove chips and imperfections from the blade.
Pressure should be firm, but gentle. The blade should glide smoothly across the stone as you pull.
Waterstones and oilstones wear at greatly different rates: The softer of the two, waterstones, dish out faster and need to be flattened more often. We recommend flattening them at the beginning of every sharpening session-it's a 15-second job in most cases. Flatten oilstones about every 10 sessions.
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.
For Regular Maintenance: Use a medium grit (800-1000) for regular sharpening to maintain a good edge. Periodically hone the blade with a fine grit (3000-5000) to keep it razor-sharp.
It comes from the Old English term “hwettan” which means “to whet or sharpen.” Coincidentally, most whetstones do need some type of moisture for top performance. In all cases, this means water or oil. However, a majority of stones you'll find in stores or online–particularly for kitchen use–will be waterstones.
This is why we do sharpening on both sides, even on single-edged knives. Doing light sharpening on the opposite side is the way to solve this burr issue and remove them. With carbon steel knives, this is quite easy to do, but stainless steel knives are much trickier due to being more difficult to sharpen in general.
As for rubbing knives together, that's purely for show. It might sharpen slightly, like using the bottom of a ceramic cup, but it's not effective.