Knife Sharpening Tools

The frustration of chopping tomatoes that end up as mush or spending an hour hacking away at a thin tree branch can ruin your day and your mood. Visually, a very sharp knife has an edge that is too small to see with the eye; it may even be hard to focus in a microscope. The shape near the edge can be highlighted by rotating the knife and watching changes in reflection.

Need to know how to sharpen a knife? Sharpening your chef's knife, and keeping it sharp, will make cooking easier and safer.

The angle between the blade and the stone is the edge angle – the angle from the vertical to one of the knife edges, and equals the angle at which the blade is held. Typical edge angles are about 20° (making the included angle 40° on a double-ground edge). The edge angle for very sharp knives can be as little as 10 degrees (for a 20° included angle). Different knives are sharpened differently according to grind (edge geometry) and application. For example, Western kitchen knives are usually made of softer steel and take an edge angle of 20–22°, while East Asian kitchen knives are traditionally of harder steel and take an edge angle of 15–18°.

Blade damage is avoided by:

• using an appropriate blade for the task – a thinner blade for more delicate work, and a thicker blade whenever a thinner blade is not required (e.g. a thinner blade might be used to cut fillets, butterfly steak or roast for stuffing, or perform Mukimono, while a thicker one might be used to slice or chop repeatedly, separate primal cuts of poultry or small game, or scrape and trim fat from meat or hide, as these actions would be more likely to cause unnecessary wear on a thinner blade.)
• using a soft cutting surface,
• straight cutting, with no side-to-side movement,
• immediate cleaning.

Grinding
Grinding is generally done with some type of sharpening stone. India is another traditional source for stones. Japanese water stones (both artificial and natural) come in very fine grits. The mixture of water and abraded stone and knife material is known as slurry, which can assist with the polishing of the knife edge and help sharpen the blade. Sharpening blocks made with corundum are one of the more expensive types of sharpening stones.

Diamond stones can be useful in the sharpening process. Clamp-style sharpening tools use a clamp with several holes with pre-defined angles. The disadvantage is that the sharpening angle is fixed so some specialized knives, like a Japanese style Santoku, may need additional attention to sharpen to the ideal angle.

Steeling
Steeling helps maintain sharpness. This process realigns the edge, correcting for dulling causes such as a rolled edge. A sharpening steel is a type of hardened cylindrical rod used similarly to honing stones.

Range of knife sharpeners

Electric Knife Sharpeners    
Within the sharpener, there is a motorized wheel that spins. Also, these sharpeners are much more effective with kitchen knives than tactical or survival knives. Tips About Electric Knife Sharpeners

• You may love your French-style chef's knife with its heavy metal bolster between the handle and the heel of the blade, but you'll be at a disadvantage when it's time to sharpen. Because the bolster and at least 3/4 inch of blade can't be passed through the rapidly orbiting plates, some electric--and even some manually operated--sharpeners will grind a swale into the heel portion of your blade, ruining the most-used part of a chef's knife.
• If your knives have no bolsters and you can pass their entire blade through the sharpener, you will be a lot happier with the results.
• If you aren't careful, electric knife sharpeners can grind away more steel than you may have intended, limiting the life of your knife. Don't multitask while you're sharpening.

Top Pick Electric Knife Sharpeners
Presto 08800 EverSharp Electric Knife Sharpener
This is a marvelous little gem and its the best $24 dollars I ever spent. Less than the new knife I was going to buy. I have knives of every metal imaginable and this little baby put an edge on them that is crazy sharp. I had to warn the wife about how sharp the knives were.

Sharpening Stones    
Sharpening stones, also known as whetstones, are a popular way to sharpen knife blades. Sharpening stones come in many sizes, many grits, and many materials, some natural and some futuristic. The basic idea is the same: apply one edge of the knife to stone, moving the knife across the stone's surface as though you are cutting a thin slice off the face of the stone. It's a combination of angle and pressure. The stones typically come in a rectangular block about an inch thick and can be made out of material such as diamond, ceramic and natural sharpening stones from Arkansas.

• The longer the stone, the better.
• Mount the stone in a way that lets you use both hands on the knife. You don't want to be holding the stone with one hand and slicing the knife toward that hand.
• Know your stone material. If it's a water stone, lubricate with water. Use mineral oil on oil stones. Salad oil or olive oil will get gummy and rancid.
• Learn to maintain steady pressure and an unwavering angle of blade to stone.
• Finish with a white ceramic stick to polish the edge.

Top Pick  Sharpening Stones    
Norton 24336 Japanese-Style Combination Waterstone 4000/8000 Grit, 8-Inch by 3-Inch by 1-Inch
This stone is meant to hone more than sharpen. That means you should ALREADY have a sharp knife before you use this stone. If your knife is dull, sharpen it by whatever method you would usually use, I personally use another Japanese water stone Steelex D1067 800-Grit Japanese Waterstone.