A bar manually (with a video without SMS and registration) and understand why do it at all. Professionals, of course, are aware of this topic, but for them, there may be helpful information. Or it will be an occasion to update your knowledge in order to "keep in good shape."

If you have to put in more and more effort to cut, then this is an occasion to think about sharpening your knife. Because using a blunt weapon is dangerous. It can slip off at any moment, and believe that in order to cause a serious injury to you or standing next to the sharpness of the blade will be enough for a person.

Preparing for sharpening. What needs to be done before then?

The blade of a knife, upon closer inspection, looks like a saw, and the more often the teeth are located in it and the smoother the transition between them, the easier it is to use the tool. A dull knife loses these teeth, they wear out, bend and crumble.
There are many ways to sharpen a knife using mechanical and electric sharpeners, as well as special machines with grinding wheels. But sharpeners do not give an ideal result, and easel sharpening requires considerable knowledge and skills. Therefore, we will consider how to properly sharpen knives with a bar, in step by step guide for independent work at home. This method will give you two main advantages: considerable money savings and excellent results.

The first thing to do is to determine the degree of damage to the blade. It is very easy to do this. Place it at an angle to a beam of bright light. This method instantly reveals all the chips and bumps that you need to eliminate. They will look like dots or lines on the blade. If the boundary between the planes is uniform, sharply defined, without transitions, then the instrument is in excellent condition.
After that, the knife should be washed in water with the addition of soap. This is done to facilitate subsequent work. The knife will become easier to slide on the whetstone, and it will be easier for you to maintain the required angle between the planes of the blade and the blade.

Choosing the right bar

The main tool in the subsequent work will be a whetstone. To get the perfect result, you will need several stones of different grits. The minimum number is two, but if you need a razor sharpness of the blade, brought to perfection, then you can use up to five whetstones.

There are two types of bars. The first ones are artificial, used for primary metal processing, made of the following materials.

Synthetic gems(diamond, sapphire, etc.):

• borazone;
• silicon carbide;
• elbor;
• and others.

The second is natural. They are used for finishing knife sharpening:

• diamond;
• Garnet;
• corundum;
• Japanese water stones

It is clear that natural whetstones cost decent money, but if you want to get a really good result, you will have to fork out a little.
An important parameter is the choice of the size suitable for the work of the bar. At a minimum, it should be the same length as the knife with which you will have to work. And ideally - one and a half to two times more. At the same time, the width of the stone does not matter and is selected based on personal preferences. Although if you take a wider donkey, then even an inexperienced beginner will find it easier to work on it.
Before starting, it is necessary to soak the bar in water (artificial) or oil (natural). The liquid will nourish, close the pores in it, reduce subsequent pollution and make your work easier.

Correct sharpening angle

How to sharpen a kitchen knife with a bar? Keep it at the right angle. It is this parameter that will subsequently determine the length of the blade's service life and the frequency of its sharpening. The larger the angle you get, the higher the resistance of the metal to external influences, which means that you need to update its sharpness less often. An acute angle gives ease of cutting, but due to the thinness of the metal obtained in this place, it is erased faster.

The determining factor will be the purpose of the knife:

• japanese cooking blades sharpened at an angle of 10-20 degrees;
• fillet knives and professional chefs require an angle of 25 degrees;
• household knives - 30 degrees;
• hunting blades are processed at an inclination of 35–40 degrees.

You will need not only to determine the angle of inclination, but also to maintain it during the entire work.

Advice! To find and maintain the required number of degrees, it is good to use a sheet of paper folded several times. It is a fast, cheap and accurate meter.

If, after reading the article, you still have questions about how to properly sharpen knives with a bar, the video attached to it will completely clarify them. It clearly shows the entire sequence of actions, which means that it will be easier for you to repeat them, gaining your own experience.

Every person who has cooked food at least once in their life knows how tedious it is to work with a dull knife. But a sharp, well-ground tool provides not only the speed and convenience of cutting blanks for various dishes, but also safety.

A dull knife often breaks and cuts the hands of its owner. Therefore, it is so important to maintain the sharpness of the blade, carefully exploiting it and sharpening it in a timely manner. This article is devoted to how to sharpen a knife correctly.

The best way to sharpen knives at home is considered handmade using bars with different grain sizes - starting with the coarsest.

They are sharpened until a narrow strip of metal appears along the entire length of the cutting edge - a burr. After that, they move on to using a finer-grained tool.

Sharpening a knife on a bar should be carried out according to the following rules.

1. The bar should be 1.5 to 2 times longer than the blade.
2. The grindstone is placed on a table or other stable surface.
3. Moisten the bar with water or an aqueous solution of soap.
4. The blade, in addition to the cutting edge, is sealed with adhesive tape to avoid scratches, and it is better for an inexperienced craftsman to paint over the edge with a marker so that it is easier to determine where the bar has passed and where it has not.
5. The cutting edge of the blade is located at a right angle to the bar, so that the sharpening is uniform.
6. The passage is made with the cutting edge forward. They start sharpening from the place where the handle is attached and, together with the movement of the blade along the bar, they pull the knife towards themselves in such a way that, reaching the end of the bar, they simultaneously reach the tip of the blade.
7. The sharpening angle of the knife should be maintained between 20 and 25 degrees between the bar and the plane of the tools intended for cutting. This angle is slightly larger for those whose purpose is felling. The main thing is not to change the angle along the entire length of the blade.
8. When the blade reaches the edge of the stone, care must be taken to ensure that it does not break off the bar and scratch.
9. These movements are repeated many times, while you should not put too much pressure on the blade, because this will not sharpen the knife faster with a bar, but the correct angle will be much more difficult to maintain.

After the sharpening of kitchen knives is completed with a coarse and fine-grained stone, you should start grinding them, the purpose of which is:

• removing burrs (to ensure the durability of sharpening);
• giving the blade a flawless smoothness.

Grinding is also performed with a bar, but with the finest grit.

Types of knives

For various spheres of human activity over a long history, specific types of knives have been developed. For their manufacture, steel of various hardness is used, but the optimal indicator is 45 - 60 HRC. This indicator also determines what angle of sharpening should be done.

The most common varieties are kitchen and hunting.

Kitchen knives

This tool is present in every kitchen. With its help, housewives cut vegetables, meat, bread and other products.

Kitchen knives are such a broad concept that includes more than a dozen specialized tools.

1. For cheese.
2. For pizza.
3. Chef knife.
4. For bread and many others.

However, in most cases, you can limit yourself to three types.

1. Chef knife, the length of which is more than 200 mm, and the purpose is to cut vegetables and cut meat products.
2. A knife used to clean vegetables. It is pointed and has a shorter length - from 50 to 100 mm.
3. Saw knife. It is used to cut bread. In order not to crush or crumble the bun, cutting even the thinnest slices, the blade of the saw knife is equipped with a serrator - special notches on the blade. Such a kitchen knife at home is very difficult to sharpen.

Two materials are used to make kitchen knife blades:

• steel.
• ceramics.

The best models are made of stainless steel with a high carbon content. They are strong enough, they can be sharpened at home, and any products can be cut with such tools without fear of oxidation.

Ceramic blades are hard and hold an edge well, but are very brittle (easily broken into pieces when struck against hard objects). Their owners are interested in how to properly sharpen kitchen knives from this material. It is quite difficult to do this, because ceramics can only be processed with diamond wheels.

Hunter knives

Very high demands have always been made on such tools, since a hunter can get into different situations, sometimes even life-threatening, from which only a faithful reliable blade will help him get out.

The requirements for it are higher.

1. Convenience, combined with quality and practicality.
2. Mandatory presence of a "warm" wooden handle.
3. The minimum guard or the complete absence of such, so as not to interfere with the cutting of trophies.
4. The blade must be made of Damascus steel, which has sufficient strength and, at the same time, does not crumble as a result of impacts on the animal's bone.
5. The optimal linear dimensions of a hunting knife are as follows: blade length 100 - 140 mm, its width up to 30 mm, butt thickness from 3 to 4 mm, steel hardness - more than 58 HRC.

For the convenience of processing prey, the butt of the tool is equipped with a special hook for skinning.

Other varieties

In addition to those listed above, there are a number of other specialized types of knives.

1. Combat (designed to equip the army and special services).
2. Tourist. The ease and practicality of the tool is ensured by the use of synthetic materials for the handle and blade made of steel, which is easy to properly sharpen and edit.
3. Folding (convenient for hidden carrying).
4. Multitools are folding knives with many other useful tools hidden in the handle.
5. Special Purpose. Category with a lot various kinds- for divers, gardeners, surgical scalpels and many others.
6. Camp. These are fixed, suitable, among other things, for cutting small branches. They are used as small machetes.
7. Sports. In fact, this is a throwing equipment. They have neither a cutting edge nor overhead handles.
8. Canteens (used when setting the table).

Separately, it is worth mentioning the relatively recent survival knives. This multifunctional tool is a kind of multitool, which includes such unexpected components as a compass or a lighter.

How to evaluate the sharpness of a blade?

For any kind of knives, the main requirement is their sharpness. A well-sharpened knife is a reliable and safe assistant in a variety of jobs. In order to determine how well it was possible to sharpen a knife at home, there are several simple ways.

paper test

In one hand is a sheet of A4 paper, in the other - a sharpened blade. You need to try to cut off a piece of the sheet.

If the cut turns out to be even, then the turning was successful, and if the blade slipped or the cut turned out to be uneven, then you need to think about how to sharpen the knife better.

The task can be made more difficult by using a thinner magazine sheet.

tomato test

As a rule, it is used in order to determine how correct the sharpening of kitchen knives is. However, any other blades can be tested in this way.

The essence of the method is to cut a thin slice from the edge of a ripe tomato. If the blade did not slip, but cut off a piece of the required size, then the knife was able to sharpen well.

Hand hair test

The blade is driven without touching the skin against the growth of hair on the arm.

If all the rules for sharpening a knife are followed exactly, it will be easy to cut hairs.

Why does a knife dull quickly?

Any blades, even the most high-quality and expensive ones, become dull after a while. Simply, the better the tool, the longer it will be possible to use it without the need to undermine it.

There are several reasons that cause the loss of the former sharpness of the blade.

1. Gradual slow wear of steel.
2. Bending the cutting edge to the side. It occurs due to high lateral loads on it, when the blade deviates to the side, during cutting.
3. Incorrect sharpening angle of a kitchen knife (however, as well as blades of other varieties).
4. Impact of the cutting edge on hard metal objects.
5. The influence of abrasive particles present in the material being cut or on its surface (grains of sand on fruit).

It is also believed that the knife will dull faster when washed with hot water. This can be substantiated by the impact on the cutting edge of aggressive salts dissolved in water, whose chemical activity relative to iron increases when heated.

What is the best way to sharpen knives?

The selection of a sharpening tool is no less important task than the selection of the knife itself. There are a great many of them on the market, but what and how to sharpen a knife should be analyzed in more detail.

What is musat?

This tool is similar to a regular file - a rod connected to a wooden or plastic handle.

Musat for knives performs a very important function - with its help, the cutting edge of knives is corrected, without complicated and time-consuming sharpening. Most often, it is used to care for kitchen tools that are constantly in use. However, musat for sharpening those knives that have already lost their sharpness is not suitable, they will have to be sharpened.

What is musat? These are rounded or faceted tools, for the manufacture of which diamond dust, ceramics or steel of high hardness are used. To straighten kitchen knives at home, it is enough to have a 250 mm long knife.

We sharpen the knife with musat

Having picked up this tool for the first time, people naturally ask themselves the question of how to sharpen knives with musat?

This is quite easy to do if you follow certain rules.

1. The knife to be sharpened should be taken by the handle, put it vertically, resting the edge on the table.
2. The angle between the plane of the blade and the device should be 25 o.
3. Move the tool in an arc, from the handle to its tip.
4. Treat the other side of the blade in the same way.
5. It's not worth the extra effort.

To the question of how you can use musat for sharpening blunt knives in order, the answer is unequivocal - in such cases, it is better not to use it at all, since it will not be possible to correct the situation with its help.

whetstone (whetstone)

The most affordable and gentle way to tidy up the cutting edge is to sharpen it with a bar. Stones of different grain sizes allow you to cope with defects of any severity: from correcting serious jags to polishing.

The tool is as old as the world, but if the question is how to sharpen a hunting knife properly, most people will do it with a whetstone.

This is the processing technology.

1. Take several bars with different grain sizes.
2. Before sharpening kitchen knives or any other blades, the surface of the bar is wetted with a special oil, which is usually sold with the product, or with plain water. It is undesirable to use sunflower oil for this, since it penetrates deep into the pores and it will no longer be possible to wash it out from there.
3. First, process the blade with a large grain bar, then medium, then fine, setting the tool vertically and holding it by the handle.
4. Lead the stone perpendicular to the blade, gradually shifting it down. Repeat on one side two or three times, then take on the other.
5. The burr formed from a coarser stone is removed with a finer one.
6. At the end, the blade is ground and washed with water from the remnants of small metal chips.

If at hand, right moment, there is no grindstone, then he has a substitute, which is called sandpaper. How to sharpen a kitchen knife with it? Just like a grindstone.

Grinder

Such a useful device as a knife sharpening machine is also quite popular. Although it requires a certain skill and decent work experience from the user.

On a grinding wheel rotating at high speed, in a split second, you can overheat the blade, after which it will become unsuitable for further full use.

At what angle to put the blade to the disk, you will need to select it yourself, since the machine does not provide special fasteners for fixing the tool in a certain position.

But an experienced person will be able to use such a machine to sharpen any knives with the highest possible speed.

Emery

In addition to the above methods, you can also sharpen a knife on emery.

This is the name of an electric machine that can be equipped with several types of circles:

• abrasive;
• felt;
• grinding.

Each of them has its own function. The emery machine is professional equipment, and sharpening blades on it requires high skill. It is not recommended for inexperienced people to use it to work with blades, as they will, in most cases, overheat and render any knives unusable.

Other types of grinding equipment

The latest developments, among devices for sharpening blades, are specialized mechanical and electric sharpeners. Their main area of ​​application is sharpening knives for the kitchen, as well as household scissors.

Using a mechanical sharpener is simple, and its cost is low. But before you sharpen a kitchen knife with such a tool, you should know that it will not be sharp for long, due to the poor quality of the cutting edge.

As for the more expensive blades for hunting or sports, this device can only spoil them. Although there are pleasant exceptions to this rule. For example, the Edge Pro Apex sharpener model. This is a quality tool with which you can sharpen blades quite well.

But electric sharpeners are a completely different matter. A quality tool of this type is able to cope with sharpening both kitchen and sports knives with both a straight and wavy blade, as well as scissors and screwdrivers.

The sharpening unit of the unit adjusts to the required processing angle and clearly maintains it along the entire length of the blade. Modern units are able to restore the sharpness of even a very dull blade. With their help, you can also perform delicate work - both straightening a knife and grinding it.

Electric sharpeners have now become quite compact and affordable, and at first only large catering establishments could afford to purchase them.

At what angle to sharpen the blade

The angle of sharpening blades depends on the tasks that they will perform.

1. Scalpels and similar cutting medical instruments are sharpened at an angle of 15°.
2. Kitchen - 25°.
3. Tourist, as well as kitchen cleavers designed for chopping bones and meat - 25 - 30 °.
4. Tools designed to cut cardboard - 30 - 40 °.

The following video will tell you how to properly sharpen knives with a bar, maintaining a given angle:

How to set the sharpening angle on the sharpener?

Let's look at how to sharpen a knife at a certain angle on the Edge Pro Apex sharpener, model 2013, a fairly popular and useful unit.

To simplify the work of users, the manufacturer has provided this unit with a set of interchangeable inserts, by changing which, you can set the required angle of sharpening blades for any purpose.

For convenience, these inserts are made in different colors:

• blue color - provides a sharpening angle of 24 °, suitable for thick blades of pocket and hunting knives;
• yellow - an angle of 21 ° (for blades of the same types, but with blades of smaller thickness);
• green - an angle of 18 ° (kitchen knives with thick blades);
• red - 15° (kitchen tools with thin blades);
• black - 10° (kitchen knives with serrated blades).

Changing inserts is not difficult. Thanks to these devices, uniform sharpening of the blade blades at one angle along the entire length is ensured.

At what angle should you sharpen kitchen knives?

The selection of the blade sharpening angle depends on three parameters:

• purpose of the tool;
• blade thickness;
• the quality of the steel from which it is made.

The more rough work will be done with this tool, the greater the sharpening angle should be - from 10 ° for serrated blades designed for thin cutting, up to 30 ° for cleavers that chop meat and bones.

The thicker the blade, the greater the sharpening angle is suitable for it - from 10 ° for the thinnest, to 18 ° for the thickest of those intended not for cutting, but for cutting.

The higher the quality of the steel, the smaller the sharpening angle can be set, since good steel guarantees a hard cutting edge.

How to sharpen a knife sharply?

Summing up, we can say that only the knife, which was processed in accordance with a certain technology and which passed all tests for the sharpness of the cutting edge, can be called high-quality sharpened. It is worth noting that this is also possible at home.

Dull knives create sharp problems in the kitchen and in family relationships. Who can stay calm when culinary inspiration comes down to the torturous attempt to saw through vegetables or break open raw chicken? Unsharpened knives are rightly considered a sign of the absence of the owner in the house. After all, how to sharpen a knife, men know much better.

Dull knives crush and crush food, in addition, according to statistics, they most often cause household injuries in the kitchen.

Is it possible to avoid such problems, in other words, how to sharpen a knife at home, we decided to consider in detail in this article.

Take knife sharpening seriously and be careful!

Main characteristics of knives

Material

The answer to the question of how to sharpen a knife correctly depends primarily on the quality of the material from which the blade (blade) is made. The most simple to manufacture and, accordingly, cheap are stamped stainless steel blades. Such products dull quickly enough, do not hold sharpening well, and often give the products a characteristic metallic taste.

Knives made of higher quality types of steel (high-carbon stainless steel, carbon alloyed, multi-layer, powder), especially forged ones, are significantly superior in hardness, wear resistance, toughness and anti-corrosion properties of their stamped counterparts.

Chef with personal set of knives. Professionals do not like to trust anyone to sharpen their tools and often sharpen their own knives.

Titanium knives are lightweight and flexible; at normal temperatures, a protective film of titanium oxide forms on their blade, which gives the metal additional resistance to corrosion (except for alkaline conditions).

It is important to know how to sharpen a knife made from a particular material. Pictured are knives with titanium blades

Ceramic knives are now becoming very popular, which retain their sharpness for a long time and practically do not need sharpening. Ceramics is neutral with respect to substances contained in food products, therefore it does not leave aftertaste and darkening on sections, and is not subject to corrosion. Is it possible to sharpen a ceramic knife - read on.

Ceramic knives can be not only sharp, but also very colorful.

Purpose, shape of blades and edges

According to their purpose in everyday life, knives are divided into table knives, which are served when setting the table, and used in the cooking process. Among kitchen knives, there are usually 1-2 universal cutting knives, as well as several special-purpose tools, for example:

• for bread - a long knife with a smooth straight blade and a serrated (wavy) edge;
• for peeling vegetables - a knife with a short straight or concave cutting edge of the blade having an acute-angled end;
• for cutting meat and poultry - a billhook resembling a hatchet, with a wide blade, which is convenient to cut small bones.

It is important to understand that the shape of the blade determines how to properly sharpen the knife, that is, at what angle of the cross section of the cutting edge it is necessary to sharpen in each case.

Devices and sharpening methods

The simplest and fast way sharpening a knife can be called the "two knives" method.

The main advantage of this method is that it does not require any special tools: only two knives are needed.

Before sharpening your knife, wash it well to remove all dirt with cold water. Cooled steel sharpens better.

The whole wisdom lies in the fact that a knife is taken in each hand and the cutting edge of one is sharpened due to intense friction against the cutting edge of the other. Since the edges have a slight surface grain, steel blades do become sharper, but not for long. This is more of a preventative than a full-fledged way to sharpen a knife.

Grinder

If you live in a private house, then the most professional solution would be to purchase a grinder.

With the help of a grinder, you can sharpen not only knives, but also all garden tools: shovels, axes, choppers, etc.

On the machine, all stages of sharpening are quickly and efficiently carried out - removing irregularities, restoring the angle of the cutting edge and straightening and finishing the sharpness of the blades.

Bar

The most common in everyday life is a whetstone. To properly sharpen a knife, you need to bring out the desired angle without removing excess steel and achieving the necessary sharpness. It is important to determine the optimal slope of the blade in relation to the bar: it is calculated as half of the angle of the blade's descent. That is, if the cutting edge in cross section looks like an angle of 45 °, then the knife must be placed on a bar with an inclination of 20-25 °.

Knives for fine work are sharpened at the most acute angles - from 10 to 20 °, chef's knives of various profiles - 20-25 °. To understand the process of how to sharpen a knife on a bar, it is recommended that you first do not take the most expensive and high-quality one, but practice on a simpler knife.

For better glide, the bar is moistened with water (you can wipe it with a sponge with the addition of detergent). The pressing force should not be too large, it is more correct to control the efforts when processing both sides of the blade so that they are the same. Movements are made in a wide arc alternately: first from oneself, sharpening one side, and then towards oneself, drawing the other side of the blade along the bar. Leading the knife is advised with a sharp edge forward, from the handle to the tip.

Finishing on a fine-grained bar provides the required sharpness of the cutting edge and the absence of burrs on the metal

If you make more movements on one side than on the other, the sharpening may turn out to be asymmetrical. When the sides of the cutting edge are sharpened at different angles, the knife becomes unusable.

As an alternative to a whetstone, you can take an emery cloth, but it is better not to sharpen it, but only to finish it, using fine-grained paper, which will not damage the blade and will not violate the original angle of the cutting edge.

Japanese water stones

They differ in grain structure. Stones with large grains (from 120 to 200 numbers) are used to align the cutting edge, correct its shape; with medium grain, the desired edge angle is restored. The most suitable for sharpening a kitchen knife is a stone with a grain size of 1000. It is convenient to bring the cutting edge to a sufficient sharpness on it. Polishing (from 1500 to 3000) stones allow you to achieve a razor-sharp blade.

Sharpening is done as follows: the stones are first soaked in water for 15-20 minutes (which is why they are called "water"), then the blade is pressed at such an angle that the plane of the descent is in close contact with the stone, and first one side is sharpened until the edge of the opposite side is formed . Then turn the blade over and straighten this edge.

In the process, the stone is additionally moistened with water, and when changing the grain size, the blade is thoroughly washed.

Sharpeners

Ready-made knife sharpeners are a very convenient device. Sharpening is done using metal discs built into a plastic case. Often, in addition to the main slots for sharpening tools, there is another one with ceramic or other grinding surfaces for fine finishing. The main advantage of compact sharpeners is that they provide and set the most suitable sharpening angle for kitchen knives - 10-20 °.

To correct the edge and eliminate small defects, the knife is moved from top to bottom along the slot several times without removing it from the sharpener (follow the instructions for your sharpener)

Musat

This device is used for straightening knives. Musat ensures their long-term sharpness and allows you not to worry about sharpening knives so often. When the blade begins to dull, its cutting edge is flattened and jammed, bending unevenly in different directions.

Musat straightens dents, restoring a smooth cutting edge

At the moment, ceramic and diamond-coated musats are often used. It is preferable for them to regularly edit knives made of medium hard steel (they “choose” too much on soft metal, and they crumble on durable metal). Musat is recommended to rest the rod on a non-slip surface (you can put a towel) and with light movements draw the blade along it from the base to the very tip of the blade, alternating the sides of the knife 4-5 times. You can see how to use musat in the following video:

Those who, instead of a bunch of blunt knives in the kitchen, prefer to have one, but constantly sharp professional cutting tool, choose expensive models from high-quality laminated steels, titanium, zirconium ceramics.

Self-sharpening are knives with a magnetic coating, with a serrated edge and ceramic

The loud name "self-sharpening" is rather a publicity stunt. This is understood as the technology of processing the cutting edge of steel blades with a laser. They make notches that are melted, then the metal is hardened a little again. As a result, the cutting surface turns out to be unevenly hard, that is, in non-hardened places - “overhangs”, and in hardened ones - teeth. In the process of using knives, the metal removals become larger, respectively, the teeth are sharper.

Such knives can only be spoiled by sharpening, as they simply lose their properties. The same applies to knives coated with a magnetic alloy. The outer layer retains its sharpness for a long time, and attempts to sharpen the knife deform and grind it.

Another type of knife that is considered self-sharpening is ceramic. They do remain sharp for a very long time, but their blades are too strong and do not have flexibility. Such knives are more likely not blunt, but break and lose their cutting qualities due to dents on the edge that appear during careless handling. Therefore, if you are interested in how to sharpen a ceramic knife, it is better not to do it yourself.

The presence of zirconium oxide in a ceramic knife slightly increases its flexibility and fracture resistance.

It is possible to straighten a ceramic knife only with the help of tools and materials that are harder than ceramic itself, such as a diamond wheel. Manufacturers of zirconia ceramic instruments recommend sharpening 1-2 times a year and offer such services in their service centers but not everyone can afford it.

At home, it is advised to use diamond bars or pastes, which will require several hours of painstaking work and great care to sharpen a ceramic knife.

Also on sale are quite expensive specialized sharpeners for knives made of zirconium ceramics - mechanical and electric. It is much more convenient to use them, but, given the fragility of the material, any careless movement can lead to breakage of your favorite knife. In order to qualitatively sharpen and even straighten small chips, it is important to consider how thick the blade is and at what angle the sharpener is designed, as well as to have some experience and dexterity.

Still, it is better to entrust knife sharpening to men, so at least there will be someone to shift responsibility if something goes wrong

During industrial sharpening of ceramic knives, the edge in the section (cross section) is made slightly convex, which cannot be achieved at home. If you still have any questions about how to sharpen a knife, watch the following video. Rating: 4.73 (11 votes)

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The knife is one of the oldest tools created by mankind, indispensable in the household. Knives are different types, designed for different things and made from different types of steel. But most products have in common that they need sharpening. If you do not sharpen the blade for a long time, it becomes dull and ceases to perform its functions well. In order to sharpen a knife in a timely manner and not spoil it in the process, you need to know the rules of how this is done.

kitchen tools

The most commonly used and indispensable type of knife at home is the kitchen one. At home, various knives are used, depending on the passion and desires of the owner. Professional kitchen tools are used in professional kitchens of restaurants and cafes. This is a whole range of blades, different in shape and function. They also differ in the material from which they are made.

The most common of the materials:

To correctly sharpen a knife, you need to know what material it is made of. The harder the alloy, the smaller the sharpening angle. And also the method of sharpening the blade is selected from the hardness of the alloy.

Blade shapes

A knife is always a combination of blade and handle. But blades can vary greatly and have component parts. The part of the blade that needs to be constantly looked after and sharpened regularly consists of the following parts:

1. Cutting edge, cutting edge height
2. Butt and its thickness
3. Rectangular section and its height
4. Descents, their height
5. Cutting edges, their height and thickness

The following forms of blade blades are also found:

1. wedge-shaped
2. Shaving
3. Chisel, "Japanese"
4. "Chopping Chinese"
5. Bullet

Blade sharpening and blunting

Blade blunting occurs due to the following factors:

1. The blade rubs against the product during cutting
2. The blade has rough contact with inhomogeneous particles in products or when dropped and hit with the surface
3. Chemical oxidation in contact with acidic foods and herbs
4. Unsymmetrical side loads

A dull blade is easy to determine, it can be seen even by eye, and it feels very easy to touch.

The task of sharpening is to restore the correct outlines of the cutting edges of the blade and grind them to the required smoothness. The main difficulty of sharpening for people inexperienced in this matter is that you need to maintain the desired angle of inclination of the knife all the time during sharpening. To make it easier to deal with this, special mechanisms or devices are often used.

Often, in addition to kitchen appliances, you need to sharpen at home and tools such as a straight razor, hairdressing or household scissors, and other tools. If a person shaves at home with a straight razor, or frequently uses scissors as a household tool, or metal shears, they also become blunt. The rules and sharpening tools for them are the same as for knives.

Most often, stones are used for sharpening at home. They meet different forms and make stones from different materials: mineral natural stones, polymer alloys, abrasive mixtures, ceramics. When sharpening on stones, you can set the required sharpening angle and sharpen the knife correctly, but a special skill is required.

Sharpeners, which are made according to the principle of dragging the blade, do not allow you to set the sharpening angle, and therefore are suitable only for short-term edits. And in some cases it is generally undesirable to use them - you can damage the edge of the blade.

Cooks use musat - this is a handle with a rod made of longitudinal ribs. But sharpening on a musat requires some skill, and this method may not work the first time.

There are also electric sharpeners, but they are not suitable for sharpening kitchen knives.

How to determine the angle of sharpening a knife

The value of the sharpening angle depends on the purpose of the blade. There is a table by which it can be determined. It was developed by the global company CATRA, which controls the quality and advises on sharpening any type of knives.

According to it, depending on the purpose of the blade, the following sharpening angles are recommended:

In the table you can find the corners and share more rare tools that can be used at home.

Also, do not wash knives, razors, scissors and other metal blades with hot water, put in dishwashersto avoid too rapid dulling.

It should be borne in mind that stones and whetstones for sharpening are also designed for different types blades - these properties are indicated on them, and the stone must be chosen so that it fits the existing blades for sharpening. Often the stone comes with a set of knives and should fit a particular set or blades with similar characteristics.

Sharpening a knife blade to razor sharpness is a simple matter. By following the sequence of actions, based on your own acquired experience, a certain pleasure is provided from the result. To do this, it is enough to have a sharpening station or a high-quality sharpener available, to know the rules for obtaining a high-quality sharpened blade, which are included in the instructions for these devices.

Types of knives and their purpose

Modern classification divides knives into the following categories:

• Combat. They are melee weapons, are in service with the army, as an addition to firearms. They are not intended for free sale and use.
• Tourist. Available for purchase, not forbidden to wear, the handle and sheath are usually made of synthetic materials.
• Hunting. They have a variety of forms and directions of use: work on butchering the hunted game, skinning, arranging the hunting ground. Some species require a permit to purchase and carry.
• Folding or folding. A very common species, loved by all age categories of people. From the name it is clear that the blade is folded and the cutting edge is placed in the handle. Some types are supplied with clips for fixing on a belt or pocket.
• Multitool. Folding multifunctional knife with a set of tools - indispensable for travel and repair. The standard sample includes: a small and a large blade, pliers, screwdrivers, wrenches, ruler, hook, scissors.
• Special Purpose. A tool used in certain branches of human activity: medicine (scalpel), diving, Ministry of Emergency Situations, gardening.
• Camps or bivouacs. Have enough big sizes, weight. Designed for setting up a tourist camp, cleaning the territory of the location of the resting place from bushes and small trees. An example is a machete or kukri. In practice, they easily replace an ax, but at the same time, they remain knives.
• Marks or sports knife for throwing. It is all-metal, without a cutting edge, designed to hit a target with a hand throw.
• Kitchen. Used for cooking, produced in various forms, dimensions, thickness and configuration of the blade.
• Canteens. They have a certain shape with a rounded tip of the blade, the main purpose is to facilitate food intake.
• For survival. Positioned as assistants in extreme conditions. They have a number of features: the presence of a compass, a hollow handle containing a survival kit (a lighter, a fishing line with a sinker and a hook, a thread with a needle, an antiseptic, an antibiotic).

Rules for sharpening knives

The knife is the oldest invention of mankind, a tool that cannot be replaced in everyday life and work of a person. Thousands of years of use, modernization of the form and materials used, has led to the emergence of household items that are different in use and purpose. When sharpening knives, pay attention to the following:

1. You need to work, starting with a larger abrasive.
2. The last stage of grinding is used on the stone with the smallest fractions.
3. Provides razor sharpness Genuine Leather, ceramics.
4. The standard sharpening angle is 20º. The need for others is indicated by the manufacturer in the instructions. As a rule, a larger one is required for rough work.
5. The larger the angle, the more metal is removed.
6. When sharpening, the knife is held with both hands by the handle and the edge of the blade.
7. Wet with water to prevent overheating.

Rules for using a grindstone

To ensure the desired cutting qualities of the knife, the following recommendations should be considered:

• soak the stone in water for 15 - 20 minutes;
• for work you need a table in a well-lit place or with a lamp;
• to prevent the stone from slipping and damaging the table cover, cloth or paper is laid on the table;
• to visually determine the angle of sharpening the knife, the blade is applied to the whetstone;
• the sharpened blade is directed away from itself at a selected angle;
• with slight pressure, a reciprocating movement is performed with imitation of cutting a thin film from a grindstone along its entire plane. In this case, the blade is displaced relative to the bar from the handle to the tip and back;
• the selected sharpening angle is maintained during each pass over the stone;
• the blade and stone are periodically wetted with water, cleaned;
• after 20 - 30 repetitions on both sides of the blade, the cutting edge is inspected. When razor sharpened, it is not visible to the naked eye;
• The sharpness of a blade is tested on a sheet of paper by cutting it from top to bottom. A sharp enough blade cuts rather than tears the paper.

At what angle do you need to sharpen knives, and how to fix the knife when sharpening

The main conditions that determine the sharpening angles of the blade are the purpose and conditions for using the blade. The smallest sharpening angle suggests the sharpest blade for a thin cut, as an example of a loin type. A larger angle of the sharpened blade is preferred when dressing a chopping tool - an ax, a camp knife. Applying knowledge in practice, it is easy to get the desired sharpness and resistance to blunting with different tools, be sure to consider the type of blade steel.

Having decided on the sharpening angle, the knife is held with one or two hands, pressing against the abrasive. Holding with two hands takes place by the handle and the opposite part from the edge of the blade being sharpened, thus holding a tool with a long and wide cutting part. Control over the desired fixation and observance of the angle is visually tactile, acquired with experience.

Required angle for each tool used when sharpening the blade:

No. n\n	Types of knife	Angle (in degrees)
1	canteen	55 — 60
2	kitchen household	30 — 35
3	professional kitchen	25 — 30
4	professional chef	20 — 25
5	professional for fish	25
6	professional for meat	30
7	vegetable	35
8	for root crops	22 — 25
9	boning for meat	25 — 30
10	sirloin	10 — 15
11	for cutting bones	30 — 45
12	folding - pen	20 — 25
13	tourist - universal	30 — 35
14	camping knife	40 — 45
15	special purpose shoemaker	30 — 40
16	cutting knife for leather	20 — 25
17	carpentry	30 — 45
18	camper - machete	45 — 60

Sharpening tools

There are many ways to sharpen, as well as devices used for this process. Let's take a look at the most popular ones. Popular among them are:

whetstone

Natural stones are popular with professional sharpeners, and when used correctly, they achieve the highest quality cut of the tool being sharpened. Arkansas novaculite stone and Japanese water stone are favorite natural stones. The price of such bars is high, although they are produced artificially in an industrial way. Stone wear is high, which is suitable for lenticular sharpening of blades. Patience and perseverance, high qualifications will be needed for a beginner to work with such stones:

• diamond stones are a popular and very affordable material for turning any tool. Small and coarse grits of different shapes and sizes are produced. They are a great choice for a beginner. The price is budgetary, it allows you to have in your arsenal a set of stones for any need. The wear of the diamond bar is very low, strong abrasive effect, so the control of the sharpened edge of the blade should be increased as much as possible. It is used in most cases for the initial processing of the cutting part, setting the sharpening angle.
• ceramic whetstones are modern sharpening stones that combine the advantages of natural and diamond materials used by sharpeners. The main application is the final finishing after working with a knife on a diamond abrasive. They have low wear, allow you to achieve high quality cuts, as well as natural stones.
• abrasive artificial stones. The main representatives are carbides and electrocorundum. They have a minimum cost, availability, high wear. They are used, like diamond bars, for the initial preparation of a sharpened blade.

Mechanical sharpener

Mechanical sharpener - a device for sharpening knives that requires the application of physical effort, has the following features:

• selection of the required grinding stone in terms of grain size, hardness;
• fastening, holding the blade in the right position for proper processing;
• setting a suitable abrasive angle relative to the cutting edge of the blade being processed;
• the presence of instructions for the correct use of the device;
• obtaining a consistently positive result after correctly performed actions.

electric sharpener

It is used for dressing and sharpening all types of cutting tools, even with a ceramic blade, it does not require a professional approach, it is enough to study the instructions. The working element is replaceable (diamond roller is mainly used). It is possible to sharpen knives with one-sided and two-sided sharpening. Power supply from the electric current network.

Musat

This is a kind of mechanical sharpener that requires the application of physical strength and maintaining the angle of sharpening. Used to straighten a properly sharpened blade. external form such a device resembles a file of round or oval section. It has a working part, a handle with limiters for safe sharpening, protects the hand from slipping the knife.

The working part of the musat is made from:

• magnetized steel;
• aluminum coated with a thin layer of the oxide of this metal (leucosapphire);
• metal rod with ceramic coating;
• whole ceramics.

Musats are not used for sharpening, only for straightening the blade of a cutting tool with a hardness of the material from which they are made up to 60 HRC units. A razor belt is used to straighten a razor.

Sharpening and grinding machines

Types of machines:

• household, universal. They are used for sharpening all kinds of cutting tools. The angle of sharpening the blades is selected visually. Clamping force to the rotating abrasive is maintained independently;
• special purpose. Initially, they were created for a specific tool (scissors, drills, chainsaw chains, electric saws), with a choice of sharpening angle and limiting clamping force.

Sharpener Lansky

This is a sharpening device for forming the desired angle on the cutting edge of the blade. It is used after processing the blank of the future knife on an emery machine, when it is necessary to set the desired angle of sharpening the blade. To do this, the blade is fixed in an aluminum clamp, the guide with the stone holder is inserted into the marked hole on the holder corresponding to the desired sharpening angle. Next, the desired cutting angle of the blade is formed. Such a device also copes well with editing the blade and sharpening angle on a finished cutting tool of any configuration.

The procedure for using sharpening devices and objects at home using the example of a kitchen knife

Let us consider in more detail the work on sharpening for a kitchen knife that is common for daily use, giving as an example the described sharpening methods:

Whetstone:

• the stone is soaked in water for 15 - 25 minutes;
• the knife is set perpendicular to the stone;
• the sharpening angle is set to 30 degrees, determined visually (90 degrees is divided by 3 hours
• the blade is directed away from itself by the cutting edge;
• reciprocating movements from the handle to the tip of the knife are carried out along the entire plane of the stone on both sides of the blade until the desired result is obtained.

Mechanical sharpener- the step-by-step instructions described above are used.

electric sharpener- same as above.

Musat:

• holding the handle, the device is installed in a vertical position;
• the knife blade is leaned at an angle of 30 degrees;
• circular movements of the blade are made with a smooth lowering from top to bottom;
• actions are repeated on both sides of the knife until the desired result is obtained.

Sharpening and grinding machines:

• protective equipment (goggles, overalls) must be used;
• a sharpening angle of 30 degrees is visually determined;
• clamping force of the sharpened tool to the rotating abrasive, below average;
• constant control of overheating of the blade occurs by immersion in the coolant;
• processing is carried out on both sides of the blade, to the desired state.

Sharpener Lansky:

• the blade is fixed in an aluminum clamp;
• the guide with the stone holder is inserted into the marked hole on the holder corresponding to the desired sharpening angle, and the desired cutting angle of the blade is formed;
• reciprocating movements are made in the right amount on both sides of the blade until sufficient sharpness is obtained.

How to sharpen a ceramic knife

The right choice for sharpening a ceramic knife is an electric sharpener. The material used for the manufacture of blades for such knives has high hardness, resistance to oxidation, abrasion, and therefore keeps the factory sharpening for a very long time. During operation, careful handling and storage is the key to the sharpness of the cutting edge of the ceramic blade. It is not recommended to use bars, grinders, pastes, sandpaper for sharpening, as there is a chance of doing more harm than fix. Therefore, in the absence of the opportunity to use your own electric sharpener, it is better to contact a specialized workshop that provides such a service (necessarily with a guarantee).

How to sharpen meat grinder knives

Before starting the process of sharpening knives and mesh for a meat grinder, it is necessary to prepare a workplace. The surface on which the work will be carried out must be perfectly flat, without recesses and depressions. If possible, you can use an organic glass board. Sharpened knives, mesh, abrasive surface (sandpaper, grindstones) are lubricated with sunflower oil to obtain a homogeneous paste when grinding the abrasive. For uniform sharpening, use a wooden clamp. Pressing medium force is carried out in the center of the knife or mesh being sharpened. The work is done in a circular motion clockwise.

Which knives can not be sharpened by yourself

It is not recommended to sharpen self-sharpening blades and metal blades. The device of the cutting edge of the self-sharpening blade (has a fine-toothed shape) allows you to do without sharpening and editing throughout the entire service life. Ceramic knives, which are highly wear resistant, also have limitations. Therefore, they are rarely corrected, on a special instrument, which, unfortunately, is not always available at home.

In life, there are moments when, being in nature, it is necessary to correct a dull knife, but there is no opportunity to use a sharpening tool. A few tips that can help in this situation:

• cobblestone is suitable for editing as an abrasive stone. By choosing the right angle, having experience in straightening the blade, you can achieve a decent result with it;
• you can use the second knife as a musat;
• glass and ceramic products back side plates) can act as a grinding bar;
• a stretched leather belt can become a substitute for musat, it will not be possible to achieve special sharpness, but the blade will polish perfectly.

Choose good knives and take good care of them. In return, they will "thank you" with high-quality and long-term work.