[Closed] Sharpening a Kitchen Knife

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MinoSharp-SH440-Universal-Water-Sharpener/dp/B0006A03UG

If it's a cheap knife then a "foolproof" but ugly method is to use an allsharp sharpener. If Im lazy I use it on my crap knives, but I also a steel EVERYTIME I use the knife to minimise the times I have to sharpen.

Remember a steel doesnt "sharpen" a blade, it merely "unfurls" the curled leading edge to regain the sharpeness.

Stoner has it^^^

Drac - Moderator
http://www.amazon.co.uk/MinoSharp-SH440-Universal-Water-Sharpener/dp/B0006A03UG

£33?? Jeez, I bought one on eBay for about £4 and it works perfectly.

Thanks all. I'll go with the 'ugly method' to kick off with. The knives are old and 'well loved' but are certainly nothing special. Once I have established a decent edge to them, I'll practice with the steel until I get the knack!

sorry, "Anysharp"

http://www.anysharp.com/

there are loads of fakes about, (although they still kind of work, it's not rocket science - you drag a long bit of metal between two sharp bits of metal like a die and scrape off spare metal. v v ugly!)

but the originals have a nicer weight and feel to them.

You need a very shallow angle for kitchen knives, only 10 or 15 degrees between the blade and the steel. A few heavy draws straight across the steel should get them useable again unless they are really done.

Once you get an edge again, a little and often works best, as above. Storage is also important, if they are stuffed into a container or rattling around in a drawer with other metal utensils they will get dull very quickly.

Sorry but that video is reason enough not to buy one.

Being something of a luddite I prefere a whetstone, the problem is finding a good one - most that you can find in the shop are useless. If you've got a good one, the best method(I think) is to use an action that imitates slicing a very thin slice off the top of the stone. Ie cutting edge forward, around 30 - 25 degrees ideally.

Course if your knives are totally blunt this might take a while! ( in which case a pot of elbow grease is a good addition)...

Or flatter if you're going to be doing this operation more often as Neilwheel suggests.

[i]it's not rocket science - you drag a long bit of metal between two sharp bits of metal like a die and scrape off spare metal. [/i]

Exactly. So why pay stupid money for one when you can get one for a few quid and try it out? I don't get it.
Just checked, I paid £1.26 + £1 postage, to try it out, and it works a treat. I guess its blue plastic and not pretty stainless steel, but I've had it 2 years now.

I use one of these and it does the job fine;

[url= http://www.bladetech.co.uk/ ]http://www.bladetech.co.uk/[/url]

Just under a tenner.

So nobody uses a bench grinder? Must be just me then.

I use a Minosharp and gives a sharp and long lasted edge to the knives. The edge you get from sharpening is also down to the quality of the knives so whilst you get a sharp edge it may not last long on lesser quality blades.

So nobody uses a bench grinder? Must be just me then.

I'm happy to use a handheld grinder but didn't want to recommend that option. I'm assuming if the OP had a bench grinder, they would have figured it out by now, or have no knives left.

I use a linisher, takes about 4 seconds a blade, but also takes just as long to completely screw up a blade too! 😉

Also have a couple of machines that can sharpen knives up to 12 feet long. 😉

I just use a steel, takes a few swipes on each side and they go from blunt to dangerously sharp...

[img] http://s7d9.scene7.com/is/image/BedBathandBeyond/739910158842p?$229$ [/img]

Diamond stones, easier than an old whetstone get a couple one courseish one fine they sometimes come in packs of different grades usually for just a few pounds.

As with most things these days youtube is a wash with instructional videos on knife sharpening.

I've used an ikea one for the past few years. Simple to use and gets knives ridiculously sharp in a few seconds. You will have to go into ikea to pick it up however.

I've used a couple devices similar to the Anysharp device (Stoner's link). They are OK but don't work well on blades that aren't straight. So give the knife a good session on the steel beforehand to get the blade straight and then use it on the Anysharp device. The original has a better feel than the copies but they pretty much work the same.

But I found the Mino Sharp device (Drac's link) to be much much better. It gets the blades sharper, is more tolerant of damaged blades and easier to use. I have the 3 wheel version (rough, medium and fine wheels). The rough wheel essentially does the same job as steel but its easier for the less experienced user to use and get consistent results. Its very quick to use, every now then you just have to drag the blade over each wheel 10 times, it takes seconds to do and you get a consistently sharp blade each time.

I have seen copies of the Mino sharp at cheaper prices but not used them. Again its not rocket science, so the copies probably work just as well.

Buy a decent sharpening stone and learn how to use it. There are various helpful youtube videos out there. I reckon the Japanese know a thing or two about sharpening blades so I bought a Naniwa combination stone. Now I could almost shave with my knives.

Stoner is spot on re steels- they can restore a sharp edge but can't sharpen an already blunt knife

i've always used one of these....
[img] [/img]

does the job every time...

FWIW
it depends on the quality of the knife and what its being used for as to how often you need to sharpen it
we have a range of different knives on the knife block...some get used more often than others
my wifes favourite was a big kitchen devil knife...its about 9 years old now and needs sharpening quite regularly
my favourite knife is my stellar samurai sanktoku it will cut through anything and needs sharpening once every blue moon
the wife was never that keen on using it but recently has started to use it more often after she realised how good it was and is now her favourite
we also have another stellar santoku knife that is as good as the other one.

I use an idiot proof minosharp ceramic sharpener and keep the knives separate so they don't hit metal to metal.
Quick to use and has maintained a good edge on my favourite knives for years. If I had a dull knife that needed more attention I would take it to the place in soho the chefs use for a new edge.

And don't let your other half buy glass chopping boards 😥

IME glass chopping boards, particularly those embellished with poppies, are easily addressed with the clumsy application of a 25cm steel pan.

IME glass chopping boards, particularly those embellished with poppies, are easily addressed with the clumsy application of a 25cm steel pan.

Thanks for the advice. A stealth approach is the only option as apparently 'they are much more hygienic than my wooden ones'

If you already have a set of stones but struggle to get the angle right, try one of these:

[img] https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ4u7IntKE8alL6FwM8TcuTZUvDCqCf6nlSSfQs8A8Kbgu1G6--OQ6AqQ [/img]

I use a [url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chefs-Choice-Multi-sharpener-460/dp/B00004S1BC ]Chef's Choice 460[/url] which is great for serrated blades too.

A few heavy draws

So how come our butcher just goes 'swish swish swish swish' on a steel & ends up with an edge that would take a terrorists head off with one slice?
I was always amazed as a kid watching the Co Op butcher sharpening his knife. (don't worry, I wasn't THAT amazed)

I think it's called "practice."

They use stones as well! Just finish or re-finish with the steel...

Agreed - I used to work in a chippy and was taught how to fillet and de-skin fish which meant a very sharp knife. I used to get a great edge but sometimes now I fail miserably as I am out of practice.

Noooo! Don't press hard, a moderately light action is what's needed.

There's context there, John.

[url= http://forums.egullet.org/topic/26036-knife-maintenance-and-sharpening/ ]Knife sharpening; all you ever wanted to know and more...a [b]lot[/b] more![/url]

I use some seriously expensive stones, or atleast the back of them, the front is for chisels and planes,

I have a bald patch on the back of my wrist from testing them 😀

I got a diamond-coated sharpener off ebay for all of about 2 quid. One of these little metal sticks - smaller than I expected. Works a treat. Seems quite a bit more effective than a plain steel and easier than a sharpening stone. Maybe there is a downside somewhere along the line but for sharpening kitchen knives and scissors (plus garden tools) it seems to be just the ticket.

We have one of these here at work.

[img] [/img]

Ok if you are useless at sharpening, don't mind it eating away the knife and then spending another 10 minutes making the bevel nice! Useless!

I have tried stones (very expensive stones), steels and machines, they all have their place, but not a single one does everything.

Stones: Great for getting that that razor sharp edge
Steels: Great for renewing a knife that is still ok
Machines: Great for screwed knives, chips and dents

I've just ordered the AnySharp.

Rusty: Nice link, but a bit OTT for kitchen knives!

best method i have found is to use a bit of porcelain... find a china cup, turn it upside down. now that bit where it is unglazed, drag your knife at a shallow angle across it doing both side of the blade.

bingo.

was shown to me years ago by a chinese guy... not this one:

I've used one of these for years, in fact I bought mine in LA in '92! A dead simple, easy to use tool, quick to set up and put away.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spyderco-204MF-Tri-Angle-Sharpmaker-Sharpener/dp/B000Q9C4AE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415213354&sr=8-1&keywords=spyderco+sharpener
Alternatively, if you want to make a DIY version, you can buy cheap ceramic rods, carefully drill a pair of holes in the back edge of your wooden chopping board at the appropriate angle then you can just drop the rods into the holes and run the knife down them every so often. They'd need to be somewhere around 25-30 degrees, and you just hold the blade vertically and run the edge down, 'slicing' backwards, first one side, then the other.
http://www.knifecenter.com/item/AC71/ceramic-sharpening-rod
Here's a cheap version of the Spyderco kit, cheap enough you could buy it, drill and screw it to your chopping board, and just take the sticks out when not using them:
http://www.swordsknivesanddaggers.com/Sharpeners-AC38-Sharpener-Ceramic-V-Sharpener_p_26170.html#.VFpzw4iQGK0

[drac and Dezb, be careful with that style of sharpener. The rollers are set for different type os knives. The mino sharp is for japanese blades which have adifferent bevel than british or chinese blades. The wrong one will bugger up your knife

I use a diamond stone to sharpen and a steel to hone. The common misconception is that the steel sharpens but it does not it just takes the rough edge off the blade or flattens it as stoner said. You really need to hone the blade each time you use which can just take a few passes. I usually sharpen mine every couple of months depending how much use they've had. Good blades should hold their edge longer.