How to sharpen knives?

The kitchen of the 21st century is distinguished not only by stylish furniture, modern appliances, but also high-quality kitchen utensils. One of the main components of the hostess's set, which no one can do without, despite all the blenders, meat grinders, food processors, is chopping knives. Without a well-sharpened knife, cooking will turn into a tedious event. In this article we will tell you how to sharpen knives correctly, and what tools and tools are used for this.

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Why are knives dull?

The shape and purpose of the ancient object - the knife, has not changed over many millennia. It still consists of a sharp blade and a comfortable handle. They differ only in the material of manufacture and decoration. Therefore, the principle of how to sharpen knives is the same for any model.

Important! Even among the ancient Slavs, the knife was not only an important subject in the household, but also protected them from evil spirits, participated in various conspiracies and oaths. The knife presented to the child symbolized the transition to adulthood. Each father showed his son not only how to correct the knife, but also how to handle it, how to make a cover for him. And in today's time, knives are not dissolved in the kitchen environment, they are collected and made an important part of the kitchen, buying unusual holders and coasters. No cookers and shoulder blades deserve such attention. The correct sharpening of kitchen knives is a matter of honor for any owner, because it is not for nothing that they say: “Sharp knives in the kitchen are a good owner in the house.”

The knife loses its sharpness in the process of friction of the blade on the surface of a solid object. When cutting, microscopic particles of steel come off the blade. Simply put, the blade is simply erased, which becomes the reason for the question of how to sharpen knives correctly.

Common causes of blunting a knife:

1. If you often cut meat in which bones are present, the blade will need to be sharpened almost daily.
2. Often the tools of the owners who cut products on stone countertops are dull without using a cutting board. Therefore, in order not to edit the knife daily, use a plaque. The most optimal for the blade is a wooden board. Glass, ceramic, plastic blunt the blade.
3. If you use knives to cut hard objects at right angles, the blade will dull much faster.

Important! The angle of inclination of the knife depends on the hardness of the steel - the harder the blade, the greater should be the angle of sharpening.

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Who should sharpen knives and how?

In the modern kitchen industry, knives, as well as the safe storage of tools, are given great importance. A whole industry is working on the production of various sharpeners - from simple disk to high-tech electric.

Important! Despite all the stereotypes that only men should be engaged in tool sharpening, any woman can cope with this matter. Our century of general automation has weaned us from manual work, because many things can be ordered in special workshops or bought ready-made. But knife sharpening is one of those skills that everyone should master if only because:

• this skill will always help to keep cutting tools in perfect condition, without spending money and time on a trip to master grinders;
• You can save on the regular purchase of new tools;
• such a skill will exalt you in the eyes of others.

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Before starting work

First of all, you must distinguish between two concepts: sharpening and straightening the blade. Only after you understand what exactly you need, it will be time to start solving the question of how to sharpen knives correctly.

Blade Editing

Editing - a minor fine-tuning of the blade to obtain better sharpness. It is necessary to apply editing if the knife is not very dull. For editing fit:

• grindstone;
• sandpaper;
• ordinary ceramic plate;
• musat - a special tool similar to a round file (comes with knives).

Blade sharpening

Sharpening is a more thorough and laborious work with the blade. It is used if the tool has finally lost sharpness.

Important! Sharpening knives is better in advance, and not when you need to chop a salad. High-quality and uniform sharpening takes time and patience. In a hurry, you can even get injured.

For sharpening use:

• grindstone;
• grinder;
• special electric sharpeners;
• diamond sharpeners.

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Determine the angle of sharpening

It is necessary not only to thoroughly know the technology of how to sharpen knives correctly. The sharpening angle is very important for kitchen knives: in order for the sharpening to be uniform, the angle must be unchanged during the entire operation.

When asked what angle to sharpen, experts usually recommend an angle of 20-25 between the blade and the plane of the grindstone, or any other abrasive material. In the case of a diamond sharpener and when using other electrical and special devices, it is necessary to follow the manufacturer's recommendations.

Important! There are a lot of devices for sharpening knives correctly. Which tool will be more relevant and convenient for you, choose your own, based on how often your kitchen helpers are dull and how skillfully you deal with the use of special equipment.

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Whetstone

A high-quality grinding device is almost an eternal thing. A bar or grindstone can serve for years, passed from generation to generation. Surely in the bins of your kitchen cabinet there is a bar left by your grandfather.

It’s easiest to sharpen knives correctly. In addition, this is the most convenient and versatile way, since it can be used not only in ordinary city kitchen, but also in a country house, camping trip.

Important! Such a tool is very compact, and knowing how to sharpen knives correctly with a bar is not something secret and complicated.

Stick to the bar with simple recommendations:

1. For work at hand, it is desirable to have not one, but two whetstones. The first - should have a fine-grained structure, and the second - coarse-grained. Use one whetstone for grinding, and another - for sharpening.
2. Before sharpening the knife, moisten the blade with water (or special mineral oil).

Sharpen your knives with a bar as follows:

1. Place the block on the table horizontally (the stone must have the correct geometry and lie flat).
2. Take the knife by the handle. Put the fingers of the second hand on the blade.
3. Slowly and evenly move the knife over the grinding tool with a knife, observing an angle of inclination of 20-25. Do it in one direction, for example from yourself.
4. Treat each side of the blade for 5-7 minutes.

Important! Fix the whetstone on a flat surface to sharpen the knife, always observing the same angle of inclination. Position the blade transversely. We recommend wetting the surface of the bar with a few drops of oil for even sharpening, and the blade with water.

Additional secrets

The bars come in different shapes and different grain sizes.The larger the grain, the more metal is removed from the blade. Sharpening will turn out fast, but rather rough.

Therefore it is recommended:

• First sharpen the knife with a coarse-grained bar, and then use a fine-grained bar.
• It is necessary to use a whetstone twice, after repeated sharpening use any leather product, for example, an old belt, the back of which resembles suede. Such an object will optimally provide grinding of the blade.
• Grind the blade in order to remove burrs.
• The surface should be flawless and smooth. This will give sharpening durability.

Important! A good solution is a universal bar, the faces of which have different grain sizes

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Mechanical sharpeners

Tools are used for sharpening kitchen knives and household scissors. The advantages include ease of use and low cost.

Important! If you sharpen knives using this method, the quality of sharpening is not high: the blade becomes sharp very quickly, but it also blunts faster, so use other methods for sports and hunting blades.

Device

A conventional mechanical sharpener is a device with several metal circles with notches. Circles are installed in a plastic or metal case.

Important! Among the varieties of this device, the best is a diamond sharpener for knives, that is, with diamond spraying on the discs. With it, you can achieve the best sharpening with a minimum of effort.

Sharpen the knife with a sharpener

Correctly sharpening a knife with a knife sharpener is very simple:

1. Insert the blade into the slotted hole in the tool and pull it toward you.
2. Repeat the procedure several times until the desired sharpness of the blade.

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Electric sharpeners

Electric tools are becoming increasingly popular, because, unlike their mechanical “counterparts,” electronic devices sharpen and polish knives qualitatively, not only for the kitchen, but also for hunting and sports. At the same time, they automatically determine the optimal angle of sharpening and can be used for both straight and wavy blades.

Important! An electric grinder is also used for screwdrivers and scissors.

Application

This appliance is useful for those housewives who have many different knives in the kitchen.

Using an electric sharpener is very easy:

1. Turn on the appliance.
2. Insert the blade into the slot.
3. Take them back and forth a few times.

pros

An electric sharpener can quickly restore even a very blunt blade and keep the tools in excellent condition for many years. If you sharpen knives correctly with an electric grinder, you will get excellent cutting edge quality.

The only minus is that you will not be able to sharpen the tool with the sharpness you need, since the instruments are configured for a universal form of sharpening. Previously, such devices were used in restaurants, cafes, and today they are available to everyone.

Important! An electric sharpener is a great gift for the hostess: with the help of such a device, she can always keep her tool in great shape without resorting to outside help.

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Musat

These tools, similar to round files, are designed to straighten the cutting edge of a knife. With the help of musat support sharpness of the blade without sharpening.

Important! It can be sold separately or supplied with the kitchen kit.

The most commonly used musat is for dressing kitchen knives that are constantly in use.

Device and types

Musat is a steel strip with two faces: in function it resembles a file. There are different types of musat:

• faceted;
• diamond;
• round;
• ceramic;
• metal with frequent notches.

Sharpen knife with musat

To sharpen a home knife properly using musat:

1. Place the end of the tool on the table.
2. Swipe the device several times with the blade.
3. Perform actions several times, changing the side of the blade.

Important! The optimum angle of sharpening is 20-25 degrees to the plane of the “file”.

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How to sharpen a knife without tools?

If you find yourself in a situation where there are no tools at hand, for example, on a hike or away, and sharpening the blade is “a matter of life and death,” then use simple tools at hand using our tips:

1. You can sharpen the knife with any stone, including a cement block or brick: move the blade in circles on the stone surface or the edge of the “sharpener”, observing the correct angle. The procedure is the same as when working with a grindstone.
2. You can refresh a dull blade with sandpaper.
3. The back of ceramic dishes is also used to sharpen a knife at home. Ceramics are a bit harder than metal, so this method will help to sharpen the blade no worse than a block, but such a procedure will take an order of magnitude more time.

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How to evaluate the sharpness of the blade?

It is necessary to sharpen a knife until it becomes sharp. You can check how well you managed to cope with the task in several ways.

Method 1

The easiest and safest way to check blade sharpness is to cut a piece of paper by weight. A sharp blade easily cuts any paper. Sharpening is considered ideal when the blade cuts the paper in a perfectly flat line or cuts off the hair from the hand.

Method 2

For kitchen needs, a weaker sharpening is also quite suitable. In this situation, you can check the sharpness on any vegetable or fruit. For example, lay the blade on a tomato and gently pull it toward you without applying pressure. If the blade is sharp, then the blade will easily enter the vegetable.

Method 3

You can appreciate the sharpness with the naked eye: bring the blade to the light. If the blade has glare along the length, then this indicates that blunt sections are present on the blade.

Method 4

The correctness of sharpening can be appreciated by a simple thread fixed in an upright position: a sharp knife can easily cut this thread.

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Types of knives that don't need sharpening

If you do not want to think about how to sharpen knives at home in the future, get self-sharpening tools.

Magnetic Layer Knives

You cannot sharpen this type of knife for one simple reason - a magnetic alloy is part of the special metal layer of the blade. The surface of such a product remains sharp for a long time.

Important! Sharpening a kitchen knife with a magnetic alloy will lead to deformation of the surface layer, rapid wear and loss of pristine sharpness of the blade.

Ceramic knives

Such household items are made of ceramic and honed on special machines. A positive quality is hardness (the blade is capable of cutting the toughest objects).

Important! The blade of this knife is slightly worse than the diamond coated model. The disadvantages of ceramics are their relative flexibility. The knife can be easily broken and the blade bent. Falling from a height to the floor for such a knife is tantamount to striking the blade with a hammer.

Serrated Knives

Toothed tools are made of hard wear-resistant steel, so they have increased strength, protection from deformation. Such products cut cheeses and sausages much better, but not all products are conveniently cut with such blades.

Important! It’s impossible to sharpen such knives with your own hands, as the teeth will be damaged and their uniformity will be broken. Professional sharpening machines are recommended for sharpening ceramic or serrated knives. This method is used in special workshops or in factories for the manufacture of knives..

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Helpful hints:

1. Although knife sharpening is a male occupation, we hope that thanks to our tips and tricks, any woman can handle this process.
2. In order not to get hurt and sharpen the blade correctly, perform all actions thoughtfully and slowly.

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Stock footage

You now have plenty of theoretical knowledge on how to sharpen knives and other sharp objects correctly. We advise you to apply them to acquire professional skills in practice. We hope that despite the fact that sharpening knives is a “man’s job”, following our advice, any girl can cope with such a task.