How to sharpen knives from various steels - features, methods and recommendations

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Knives in one form or another are used by us every day and everywhere. Their main task is to cut something whole into smaller components, because one of the key indicators of the functionality of the tool is its sharpness. Using poorly sharpened knives is inefficient and dangerous. A dull blade requires more force and often deviates from the cut line, preventing the required precision from being achieved, and moreover, can cause serious injury due to slippage. Therefore, the answer to the question of how to sharpen knives correctly will provide not only comfortable work, but also personal safety.

Paper versus steel

In order to determine if a blade is sharp enough and needs sharpening, you can conduct a simple "paper" test. Take a knife in your hand and try to cut a sheet of paper hanging without tension, moving from its upper edge down and slightly to the side. In the case of an uneven cut, the blade needs to be finished on the cutting edge, and if the blade breaks and does notcuts through the paper at all, then it's time to sharpen it.

Frequent use and improper care can make any, even high-end knives unsuitable for work. Let's take a closer look at how to sharpen a dull blade using the most affordable tools.

The same age as a knife - a grindstone

This is perhaps the oldest, but not the worst way to treat a dull blade. In theory, everyone knows how to sharpen knives with a bar, but, alas, not everyone achieves a good result in practice. First, let's figure out what criteria the grindstone itself must meet.

• The block should be larger than the cutting edge it is processing.
• The work surface must be free of roughness and chips.
• For sharpening, it is better to use a stone that has different grain sizes on both sides.

A faithful hand is a friend of a sharp blade

The blade sharpening procedure is the process of removing a piece of metal to form a thin cutting edge. For preliminary (rough) removal of the edge, an abrasive with a large grain is used, and the final finishing of the blade is already done with the fine-grained side of the stone.

To understand how to properly sharpen knives with a bar, you need to understand that the main difficulty in this work is the strict observance of the angle of inclination of the blade surface to the abrasive stone along the entire length of the processed edge and on both sides. This process requires certain skills, so in order not to spoil your favorite knives, practice on those that you do notsorry.

Choice of blade sharpening angle

The blade bevel angle for knives can vary and obeys one simple rule: the sharper the blade - the smaller the sharpening angle, and most often ranges from ten to thirty degrees. At the same time, it is impossible to say unequivocally how to sharpen the knives correctly (in terms of the angle of inclination) to obtain the maximum effect, it all depends on the scope of the blade. The best blades don't have to have super-fine cutting edges that are more prone to breakage. For example, a thicker knife is able to withstand significant loads without breaking, and, thanks to the chopping moment, to separate more massive objects. At the same time, the true value of the blade is determined by the quality of the material from which it is made, and the technology of its heat treatment. The most common European sharpening angle is within twenty degrees.

Tricks to improve your grinding skills

Since it is possible to sharpen knives with a bar correctly only while maintaining a constant sharpening angle, it is justified for beginners to use a template to develop skills. Its role can be played, for example, by a metal coin.

Another way is to fold a sheet of paper diagonally in half, getting an angle of 45º, folding it again, we will form a great template with a bevel of 22.5º. Now it is enough to place it with the base on the grindstone, thereby creating an emphasis for the blade. This simple device will allow you to master the secret of how to sharpen knives on a bar with maximum efficiency.

A slow and thorough grindstone

The sharpening process itself does not like fuss. Before sharpening knives with a bar, it is lightly lubricated with mineral oil or moistened with soapy water (either one or the other, but not both), which will facilitate the passage of the blade over the stone, and also protect its pores from clogging with steel chips. Fix the bar with the coarse side up by placing a rubber mat or damp paper towels under it. Take the knife by the handle and, turning the cutting edge away from you, place it on the grindstone at the desired angle. Holding the second hand in the middle of the flat side of the blade, smoothly, without strong pressure, move the knife along the abrasive stone in straight or circular motions from the handle to its tip. To check if the first side is sharp, carefully run your thumb perpendicular to the edge of the blade. The presence of burrs throughout from the handle to the tip indicates sufficient thinning of the metal and the achievement of the required sharpness of the processed edge. (Safety tip: do not run your finger parallel to the blade.)

For quality control during sharpening, you can use a permanent marker, which will easily allow you to visually determine how to sharpen the knife, removing metal only in the places you need.

After that, the blade can be turned over and the whole process repeated for the second side. For the final finishing of the knife, turn the whetstone over with a fine-grained surfaceup and repeat the entire process on both sides of the blade until the burr is removed.

Pros of using a whetstone:

• High adaptability (the ability to sharpen the blade at any angle).
• Knives can be sharpened with full stop.
• Most stones have coarse and fine grit, which allows you to control the amount of metal removed when sharpening.
• Inexpensive sharpening stone.

Cons:

• Knife must be held at the correct (constant) angle to ensure a clean edge, which requires good practice.
• It can take a long time to repair a very dull blade.

Using musat to sharpen a knife

Alternatively, you can use musat to finish the blade. It is a long, most often metal, round or oval rod with fine notches or abrasive coating. The tool is not designed to remove a layer of metal, it only trims the edge of the blade. Its main task is to correct burrs resulting from rough sharpening, or during the operation of the knife.

How to sharpen with musat, let's take a closer look. For safe use, hold the sharpening tool vertically with the tip pressed firmly against the table. Place the heel of the blade against the knife and slightly tilt the tip of the knife up. Observing the given angle of inclination between the blade and the tool, with a wide movement towards you and down, drag the edge of the blade from the heel totip over the entire surface of the musat. Repeat this movement on the other side of the knife. Four to five passes on each side will give the cutting edge a perfect shape.

Sharpening knives with improvised materials

There is a situation when there are no necessary accessories for sharpening a dull blade nearby. Then the question arises: is it possible to sharpen knives with something else?

Any ceramic dish, for example, an ordinary coffee cup, can do a good job with this task. By putting it upside down on a table, you can sharpen the blade of a small knife quite well, using the unglazed edge as a whetstone. In this case, all actions will be similar to working with a bar, only this process will take a little longer.

Mechanical sharpeners - cheap and cheerful

Very effective as a home knife sharpener is the use of various options for mechanical sharpening devices. As a rule, this is one or more pairs of abrasive discs arranged in parallel, creating a V-shaped profile at the intersection. The blade is pulled through the slot of the sharpener, evenly removing a small layer of metal from both sides, forming an almost perfect edge with symmetrical sharpening angles.

The advantages of the mechanical method of sharpening include:

• High walls. They securely hold the knife in a stable position, allowing the blade to be driven through abrasives with even pressure.
• Strict keepinga given angle that does not require the development of professional skills.
• High speed sharpening as the surface of the edge is processed simultaneously on both sides.
• Low price fixture.

From the cons:

• No variability (you can not change the angle of sharpening).
• Even the best manual sharpener can't repair significant damage to the blade (such as removing chips).

Speed and comfort of an electric knife sharpener

The duller the blade, the more metal will need to be removed to form the cutting edge. When using a hand tool, this can take a lot of time, and in the case of a bar, it also implies the presence of certain skills. If there are a lot of blunt knives and little time, there is nothing left but to sharpen the knives on the machine. There are a great many types and models of such devices.

For household needs, the most convenient option, which guarantees excellent quality, is to use an electric sharpener. These devices are easy to use and are based on the same principle as their mechanical counterparts. The only difference is that the abrasive wheels that remove excess metal from the knife rotate by means of an electric drive. After plugging into the outlet, slowly and without jerking, pull the blade through the desired slots, repeating this action several times. In this case, the knife must be held securely, but without pressure, the machine will do all the work itself.

Advantages of using an electric sharpener:

• High speed sharpening.
• Spring-loaded guides limit blade movement so that the entire edge makes firm contact with the abrasive at a precise angle.
• Aggressive first slot can quickly restore significant damage and narrow the edge to a sharper edge.
• The presence of several grinding grooves with different grits allows you to control the degree of sharpening.

Cons:

• The blade wears off faster.
• Cannot be used for knives that have a stop as there is a limit to the blade feed.
• High price of the device.

Meat grinder and its unusual knives

Such an indispensable thing in the kitchen as a meat grinder also has knives (albeit somewhat unusual in shape), and, alas, they also have the feature of being blunt. Most of us do not ask ourselves: how to sharpen a meat grinder knife, but simply buy a new set in the store. At the same time, bringing them into working condition is not such a big problem. It is only important to understand the principle of operation of this device.

The mechanism is a kind of scissors, using two cutting edges for grinding. One of them is a group of interconnected cutters (movable knife), in the form of mill blades, and the second is a flat surface of the grid (fixed knife), through which the crushed product exits. Therefore, in the event of a decrease in the quality and speed of grinding, it is necessary to sharpen both elements. At home, this procedure can be carried out by simply grinding widesurfaces of movable and stationary meat grinder knives on any grinding device you have (bar, circle, sandpaper) with a gradual decrease in the size of the abrasive grain. The only condition is the width of the working surface. It should cover the entire processed plane of the knives, ensuring uniform metal removal. This is necessary for the subsequent precise mating of the cutting edges of the knives working in pairs.