Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 7:31 pm Post subject: knife sharpening.
To some its second nature ,to others a mystery! so heres a basic guide based on 20+ years of butchery.
whether preparing game or cutting wood a blade must be sharp.Some may be suprised to find that a blunt knife is far more dangerouse than a sharp one this is because a blunt knife requires a lot of preassure behind the cut and when things go wrong they go wrong in style! so a sharp blade is a good safe blade.
firstly there are many devices for sharpening knives,ive tried most of them from cheap to expensive.the first to chuck in the bin is the carbide/tool steel type that the blade is pulled through,all they do is tear and scrape the blade edge.so that leaves you wet stones,diamond hones and steels.
Wet stones and oil stones are very good,when buying look for the type with two different grades one side rough and side smoother.Diamond hones are in my view the way forwards,avoid the cheepie ones and go for the proprietry brands like draper,they both look the same but the cheeper ones are covered in tiny resin clusters which rub off quickly,the better ones are actyally diamond grains and realy do the job well.Steels or butchers steels are brilliant for keeping an edge super sharp once honed to the right angle etc,in the trade i used 2 steels one rough and one near smooth.
in the following description of the method i use and teach trainee butchers i will refer to the sharpening tool as a stone but the method is the same for the diamond hones.
Use the rough side first to remove any burrs chips or shoulder on the cutting edge,then the finer side to achieve a fine usable edge that will last and not chip with use.
Tsharpen the blade,hold the handle in your right hand,use a clockwise circular motion and apply a steady preasure on the blade with your fingers of your left hand as you push away.try to keep the angle constant at 22Degrees,and the stone wet or oiled.what ever you do dont drag the blade towards you under pressure ,all this will do is produce a burr.use less pressure when using the finer stone.to sharpen the other side of the blade simple do the same swapping hands and work anti clockwise.
Once you have got a 22 degree angled cutting edge its just a matter of a little upkeep to maintain this edge,personally i have one of those pen type diamond steels that are sold by B&Q and Screwfix.just a quick rub after each use and the edge will last. _________________
Cheers for them tips, i hadnt sharpened a knife since my teens and had forgotten how to do it, just tried how you explained and the blades coming on a treat . _________________ WHERES THE BEAVERS GONE
thanks for the advice fish, my late father used to sharpen all the knives in the house, but sadly never passed on the skill before he died, so your advice is SPOT ON, many thanks,found the wet stone, knives now alot sharper than they used to be !thank you
We were taught to use a figure of eight pattern to cover the whole surface of the stone to keep the wear even, but that was with chisel and plane blades so I suppose it's just habit now.
Agree totally about the pull through types but still have a 1960's kitchen one for my bone handle dinner knives does the job great on them,
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