Are you having a hard time with your rough and blunt knife? If so, then you must sharpen it before using it. Verily, a blunt knife needs more pressure to do a job. Moreover, bluntness makes the knife unsuitable for faster jobs. Whereas, the sharper knife can do all the hard and delicate tasks swiftly.
However, you must know that the rough and blunt knife frequently causes accidents. To ensure safety, you must sharpen a blunt knife before you start using it.
It is common for a knife to get blunt due to excessive use. Some knives also get dull and blunt if you fail to choose a quality knife. To reduce the bluntness, you can regularly hone or sharpen the knife after a specific period.
Now, how to sharpen a knife? Let’s disclose the possible ways of sharpening a blunt knife. Before disclosing the sharpening methods, let’s first talk about what is sharpening.
Sharpening is the method where a blade gets a new and sharp edge after grinding. Typically, the hard and rough surface is used to sharpen the knife, such as the knife sharpener, sandpaper, Whitestone, and so on.
How to sharpen a knife (Three methods of sharpening)
Indeed, a blunt edge is hazardous to use. Moreover, the blunt blade makes the work harder for the user. Everyone who is a regular knife user knows the facts very well.
That’s why we have come with more than one method of sharpening your knife’s edge. Let’s disclose the methods on how to sharpen a knife.
Method 1: Sharpen with white stone and diamond stone
White stone and diamond stone are the most used knife sharpening tools. The reason behind their popularity is the tools effectively sharpen the knife. Here are the guidelines of sharpening your knife with the diamond or white stone.
Step 1: Read the manufacturer’s instructions
Before starting the sharpening, read the manufacturer’s instructions. Take a brief idea of what to do and what no to do during sharpening.
Step 2: Lubricate the Whitestone
Soak the Whitestone into the water until no bubbles come out of it. The ideal time of keeping the Whitestone into water is 5 to 10 minutes. This process is not compulsory for the diamond stone.
Step 3: Rub the knife with a stone
Now uphold the knife at 10° – 30° angle against the stone. Rub each side of the knife gently on the stone a few times.
Step 4: Check the sharpness
Check the sharpness of the knife on a paper. If the blade cannot cut the paper at ease, repeat the process of sharpening on the stone. If the Whitestone gets dry within that time, you must pour some water on the Whitestone.
Some precautions
- Be careful about your hand.
- Hold the knife tightly.
- Hone the knife if necessary
- Oil the knife after honing
- Check and double-check the manufacturer’s instruction.
Method 2: Sharpen with an electrical knife sharpener
Using a sharpener is the quick and hassle-free solution of sharpening a knife. It won’t consume too much effort or time to sharpen your blunt knife.
The knife manual sharpener mightn’t give better results on your knife. But the electrical sharpener gives better output than the manual sharpener. So, you should purchase an electrical knife sharpener, especially for the electrical knife.
Let’s go to the guidelines you must follow to sharpen your knife with an electrical sharpener.
Step 1: Check the sharpness of your knife
First, make a small test on your knife if you are confused about its sharpness. Take a folded newspaper, and run your knife over the paper. If it cuts swiftly, then you have a very sharp knife. Otherwise, go to the next step to sharpen your knife.
Step 2: Insert the knife into the electrical sharpener
Now, as you have confirmed that your knife is blunt, turn on your electrical sharpener. Hold the knife securely at 15-20 degrees angle and pull it through the sharpener. Swap the blade from its bottom to the top side into the sharpener.
Don’t make a rush when pulling the edge through the knife sharpener. Instead, do it slowly and smoothly. Reverse the process on the other side of the blade.
Step 3: Continue the process
When putting a dull knife into the sharpener, you will hear the grinding noise. Reverse the process of the sharpening knife until the grinding sound stops. Hopefully, by doing 5-6 times consecutive sharpening, you will not get any sound.
Step 4: Wash the knife.
After sharpening, rinse the knife into lukewarm water and wipe with a dry cloth.
Some precautions
- Avoid using a dishwasher for cleaning the knife.
- Don’t put the knife without drying properly.
- Keep your hand in the safe zone.
- Control your knife’s speed
Method 3: Sharpen with a coffee mug
Surprising but true, your coffee mug is an effective and inexpensive sharpening tool. Especially the ceramic coffee mug when the other sharpening tools are unavailable.
Let’s know how to make your coffee mug an effective sharpening tool.
Step 1: Take a ceramic coffee mug
First of all, take an unused coffee mug. To get a better result, it would be better if you take a ceramic coffee mug.
Step 2: Hold your knife and sharpen the blade
Now keep the front side of the mug on the table. Hold your knife at a 20-degree angle over the backside of the coffee mug. Graze one side of the dull blade for several minutes.
Step 3: Reverse the previous step at another side
After completing one side, reverse the process on the other side of the blade. After that, go to the next step.
Step 4: Hone your knife.
Honing is beneficial to do after sharpening a knife. When applying the other sharpening tools, honing is preferable for your knife. Conversely, you must hone your knife with the honing rod when using the coffee mug to sharpen your knife,
After completing the process, test the sharpness of your knife. If you think your knife can go through the paper, then you have got your expected sharpness. Otherwise, complete the whole process of sharpening once again.
Note: Sharpening with the coffee mug is good for the less blunt blade. You mightn’t get a good result if your knife’s blade is too blunt and rough.
How to maintain your knife
Honing is the best way of maintaining your knife after sharpening. Indeed, regular honing reduces the necessity of sharpening knives. Moreover, honing makes straight to your curvy knife.
That’s why it is better to hone your knife once in a week. Verily, to reduce the necessity of sharpening, you must hone your knife before using it every time. So, how to hone your sharpened knife? Let’s know about the guidelines.
Step 1: Hold the honing with your left hand
Firstly, hold the honing rod vertically with your left hand. Make sure the honing rod is away from your body.
Step 2: Take the knife at your right hand
Afterward, hold your knife firmly with your right hand at a 15-20-degree angle. Keep your fingers at the safe zone away from the knife’s blade.
Step 3: Rub the knife on the honing rod
Now slide the blade from upper to lower in slow motion on the honing rod. Make sure each portion of the blade gets touched with the rod.
At first, abrade one side of the blade with the honing rod. Continue the process for a few times. After some time, abrade another side of the knife’s blade with the rod and continue for some time.
Don’t give much pressure when honing the knife’s blade with the honing rod. Once you have honed both sides of the blade, your knife is ready to use.
Some precautions
- Keep away both the knife and honing rod from your body. Also, keep these tools away from the children’s reach.
- Your small mistake can cause a significant accident. So, don’t get absent-minded at the time of honing your knife.
Benefits of honing knife
- Honing is essential for those who want long-lasting sharpness without sharpening the knife.
- You don’t have to worry about your knife’s blade if you hone it regularly. That’s because honing doesn’t make any adverse impact over the knife. Whereas, sharpening with Whetstone or diamond stone reduces the lifespan of the knife.
- Honing is the quickest method than most of the sharpening methods.
Some relevant question
Do electrical knife sharpeners damage knives?
Whether it’s an electrical or manual sharpener, you must have perfect control over it. If you cannot control the speed and pressure of the sharpener, it may damage your blade.
However, people frequently complain about the aggressiveness of the electric sharpener. Well, it is not wrong at all. But you can reduce the aggressiveness by controlling its pressure and speed.
How many times can you sharpen a knife?
You should sharpen a knife at least once within 1-2 years if you hone it regularly. Honing is important to hold the sharpness of your knife. Perhaps, you know, honing keeps the knife’s blade in the proper position. Hence, it reduces the necessity of frequently sharpening a knife.
The stainless-steel needs to hone after 2-4 uses. Whereas, the carbon steel needs to hone after each use.
Should you sharpen a knife every time you use it?
If you hone your knife once every 2/4 times after using, you can expect to hold the sharpness of your knife. That’s because honing aligns the tines of the blade. It is compulsory to increase the longevity of your knife’s sharpness.
If you hone your knife on time, you needn’t repeat the sharpening process after each use.
Should you wash your knife after sharpening?
Sharpening picks up the rust that sticks with the blade of the knife and makes it dirty. After throwing away the debris, there is still some dirt left on the knife’s blade.
To remove the debris properly, you must wash the knife after sharpening. You better use lukewarm water when washing the knife. Avoid using hot water or any detergent to wash the knife. Wipe away the knife with a clean cloth or sponge after washing. Don’t put the knife in a wet condition.
The sum up
Overall, there are various tools to sharpening your favorite knife. They include both costly and cost-effective tools. Often, the branded knife comes with the relevant sharpening tools.
But what to do with the blunt knives that don’t include sharpening tools? Perhaps you have such a tool, and that’s why you are here. Don’t worry! In this article, we have shared the versatile sharpening tools along with guidance.
Make sure you are following our guidelines consecutively to sharpen your knife. Hopefully, you will not face further problems in sharpening your dull and blunt tool.
