What tools can I use to sharpen these kitchen knives?
I have never sharpened a knife before, but I have a few rather old tools I got from somewhere ages ago which I think, are intended for sharpening things:
I don't have a bench grinder, nor any fancy knife-sharpening tools (I had never needed them before); but can't I sharpen those three kitchen knivdes with these existing tools?
How do I use that cylindrical slotted thing, for example?
I learned knife sharpening from my Dad, who learned from his Dad. I'd suggest you find some boy scout troops near you, and ask to learn in person. Hard to describe over the internet. Might be some good web sites, though.
You can sharpen a knife with anything that will abrade steel. Main thing is to maintain the same angle while you are sharpening...if you wobble the sharpener around you won't have much luck.
The honing steel is used by moving the knife as if you were trying to cut the honing steel...sort of slicing toward the handle while also moving the knife from heel to toe. They are really meant to be used to freshen an edge rather than extensive sharpening. They also work best with a rather soft steel such as that in the knives used by pro butchers.
Sharpeners like this...
are easy to use: insert knife blade heel in the "V" groove between the two sets of steel wheels and pull with moderate downward pressure; repeat until sharp. They are also cheap and last forever. Most will pooh-pooh them because you can get a better edge in other ways.
As Oren said, don't mess with the serrated edge.
Oren wrote, on Fri, 18 Jul 2014 11:06:37 -0700:
OK. I'm not sure where I got that "steel" (maybe a garage sale?); but it has the following stamped on the cylinder near the handle:
"J.A. Henckels, International, Solingen, Germany"
I'll google how to use a "steel".
As someone else pointed out, they don't really put a new edge on a knife. What they do is straighten out the edge, which with use can wind up becoming kind of wavey. They are for regular use between sharpenings. I have one of these that I received as a gift. It works great, but it's not cheap:
Is the 21st century version. It has one set of carbide blades for badly worn knives and a set of ceramics for touchups, as well as the tapered diamond rod if you really must mess with serrated blades. Walmart and most sporting goods stores will have them for about the same price and there is a video on youtube showing it in use.
Harry K wrote, on Fri, 18 Jul 2014 21:54:01 -0700:
I'm surprised the steel will work on the serrated knives.
But, I watched a few videos today, and while it's easy to get used to using the hone, the stones simply dulled my knives even further.
So, I have a loooooong way to go to becoming a better knife sharpener!
The hardest part is keeping a steady angle.
My kitchen knife sharpener is the lowest cost Presto Eversharp:
I also use a steel to freshen them up.
| What tools can I use to sharpen these kitchen knives? |
For non-serrated knives: We have something that looks like a ridiculous scam. It's just a small, plastic case, a bit smaller than a pack of cigarettes, with a lengthwise groove on one side. Set in the groove at one end are two tiny honestone pieces, in a sort of X or V pattern. One pulls the knife backward through the groove, pulling through the notch formed by the honestones. It works amazingly well.
In 1975, I got a couple of stones, 2" wide and a little more than 4" long. One was coarse and medium carborundum. The other was Washita and Arkansas.
They're oil stones. Using the oil was a hassle. Pressure helps with the coarser stones, and it was hard to apply much pressure. The worst part was keeping a proper angle.
Twenty years later, I cut a 2-foot 2x4 and tacked some pieces of wooden molding near one end to make a sort of picture frame the same size as my stones. If I put a stone in the "box", it wouldn't slide. I could lay the board on the counter beside the kitchen sink with the box end toward me and the other end against the wall. Suppose I wanted a 40 degree edge. It would be 20 degrees on each side. Sin(20) * 24 inches is 8.2 inches. So if I propped the wall end of the board up 8" and kept the blade in a plane parallel to the counter, I could push as hard as I wanted and make a 40 degree edge.
Baking soda and water seem to keep my stones working as well as oil, with less mess. Wet the stone, sprinkle on some soda. When the stone isn't cutting as well, rinse and sprinkle on a little more soda.
I usually skip the Washita and Arkansas because a ceramic rod works faster. It takes a light touch, just removing the burr caused by the carborundum. I have a couple of clamps to help me stroke at a precise angle. In many cases, a ceramic rod will produce a keen edge without pre-sharpening. It works best if the angle set with the carborundum is a couple of degrees more acute than the finishing angle of the ceramic rod.
Yup. Lansky and others offer clamp on guides that help you keep the angle. It wouldn't work on knives, but I've got a similar device for chisels and plane irons.
Feel the edge to see what's happening. Not the classic redneck deal of rubbing your thumb across it, but run your finger nail down the side of the blade in the direction on the edge. What you're looking for is a slight catch at the edge opposite the side you've been honing that indicates you've turned a burr. There should be a uniform burr the length of the blade. Then turn it over and work on the other side.
Start with the coarse stone, particularly if the knife hasn't been sharpened in a long time, and work your way through the finer. Eventually you'll have an edge without the burr. Sometimes you'll even see a little wire of steel as the final burr is removed.
You don't have to buy a bunch of expensive stones. Wet and dry paper on a sheet of glass works very well. Google on 'scary sharp'.
No, they don't work on serrated knives like the one shown in your picture. Bread knives and some others have a wavy edge with wide spaced peaks - tho se hone just fine.
It becomes pretty much automatic and it does not have to be a precise angle . Pretend you are trying to shave a slice off the stone as you work should result in a good edge. As opposed to all the 'how-to-do-it' I draw the kni fe TOWARD me, both on the stone and the steel, seems easier to control the angle that way.
Harry K
rbowman wrote, on Sat, 19 Jul 2014 11:59:13 -0600:
Thanks for the advice. I think I need a bigger stone. That might help keep the edge the same angle.
Frank wrote, on Sat, 19 Jul 2014 08:20:31 -0400:
Looks like the $16 one is the cheapest.
J Burns wrote, on Sat, 19 Jul 2014 10:02:58 -0400:
That's interesting because I did have a problem with the stone sliding around, although I think the small size of my stone is another problem because the knife is much longer than the stone.
So, I get *different* angles on various portions of the knife.
J Burns wrote, on Sat, 19 Jul 2014 10:02:58 -0400:
Funny you mention that, as I had started to resort to running water. I put the stone on a cloth at the top separator of the kitchen sink and ran the water on top as I slide the knife across.
Unfortunately, the stone wobbled as the sink separator was about the same size as the stone, so I abandoned the running water idea, but, as you have, I've also given up on the messy oil.
I'm not sure what sodium bicarbonate is supposed to do though. Why not just use water?
Does the CO2 bubbling lift up the particles out of the stone's recesses?
I don't know an explanation. I read about a couple of professional sharpeners who found that oil stones work dry. Mine wouldn't - maybe because they were full of oil.
A pair of rubber gloves and baking soda make it easy to remove soap scum in the shower. Maybe that's why I tried it on oil stones.
J Burns wrote, on Mon, 21 Jul 2014 11:44:29 -0400:
OK. Baking soda just makes carbon dioxide bubbles in water, so, I think the millions of tiny bubbles might simply agitate the metal shavings out of the recesses of the stones.
Otherwise, I don't see what it would accomplish in addition to plain water.
Only if the water is acidic....
Baking soda bubbles in acid, but I don't see any bubbling on a stone.
Now I remember how I started using it. A pair of fine alumina ceramic rods, set in a wooden base like rabbit ears, makes a nice kitchen sharpener; you need only keep the blade in a vertical plane.
A black streak will appear on the rod. It's metal scraped from the blade. That will clog the rod, so you rotate the rod slightly for a fresh surface. When there were no fresh surfaces, I'd scrub the rod with scouring powder.
Then I discovered that baking soda did the job easier. I don't know why. Later I got the idea of using it on an oil stone. I understand oil floats particles so they don't clog the stone. A watery "gravy," made by sprinkling a little soda onto a wet stone seems to do the same thing. I can feel the improvement.
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