How To Use A Sharpening Stone

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Home| Contact| Guarantee Shipping| Home | Contact | Guarantee Shipping | Home Articles How to Use a Sharpening Stone SHOP OUR STORE Arkansas Stones Ultra Sharp Diamond Stones Shapton Stones Wicked Edge KME Sharpeners Pride Abrasive Water Stones Gift Certificates DMT Diamond Norton Stones Edge Pro Sharpener SharpWorx Sharpeners Strops Diamond Emulsions 3M Lapping Film Slips & Specialty Razor Edge Belgian Sharpening Chefs Choice Norton Professional Deals & Discounts Professional Series QUICK LINKS Home Contact Guarantee Shipping My Account INFORMATION Articles About Us My Order Details SHOP OUR STORE Arkansas Stones Ultra Sharp Diamond Stones Shapton Stones Wicked Edge KME Sharpeners Pride Abrasive Water Stones Gift Certificates DMT Diamond Norton Stones Edge Pro Sharpener SharpWorx Sharpeners Strops Diamond Emulsions 3M Lapping Film Slips & Specialty Razor Edge Belgian Sharpening Chefs Choice Norton Professional Deals & Discounts Professional Series QUICK LINKS Home Contact Guarantee Shipping My Account INFORMATION Articles About Us My Order Details Christmas Sale! | Save 12% off Everything! | Use Coupon Code staysharp | Sale ends 12/21 How to Use a Sharpening Stone Topics Covered:

• Tools Required
• Sharpening Geometry
• Knife Anatomy
• Creating the Burr
• Refining Your Edge
• Testing for Sharpness
• Types of Sharpening Stones
• Sharpening Stones Grits
• Using an Angle Guide
• Why use a stone
• Summary

For thousands of years man has used a sharpening stone to shape and sharpen the tools he needs to survive. There are several ways to sharpen with a stone. The purpose of this article is to provide a tried-and-true method that anyone, regardless of experience can use to sharpen a knife with a stone. Using a sharpening stone is a very easy skill to master. It takes a little practice and a little patience but you can learn this valuable skill quicker than you imagined. Whether you're learning how to sharpen kitchen knives, pocket knives or sporting knives this article will teach you how. Before we get into the two steps of sharpening let's take a quick look at the tools you'll need. Tools Required

• A Sharpening Stone - Which sharpening stone you use is a personal choice but I strongly suggest beginners use a diamond stone. A diamond stone removes metal much faster than other abrasives and you'll be able to see your progress more quickly. The various stone types are explained in more detail below.
• A Sharpening Stone Holder - A sharpening stone holder is an inexpensive yet valuable tool. It holds your stone firmly in place while sharpening and also provides the needed knuckle clearance you need.
• Lubricant - It is imperative that your stone remain well lubricated during the sharpening process. If using a diamond stone use Krud Kutter or glass cleaner as a lubricant. If using a water stone use water, and if using an oil stone I recommend mineral oil.

Now that you've got the tools, let's take a quick look at the basic geometry of sharpening and a little knife anatomy before we begin. Knife Edge Geometry Simply put, a perfect edge is created when two planes of equal size and dimension intersect at a point forming an apex. Sharpening a knife is nothing more than creating those two planes. Think of sharpening as grinding. You are really just grinding away metal until you have created two intersecting planes and an apex if formed. One of the most common mistakes made is not grinding away enough metal to form the Apex. You need to keep grinding until you have removed enough metal to form a point where the two planes intersect.

 

Free Hand or Angle Guided? There are several types of angle guides available that can be used to sharpen a knife with a sharpening stone. Using an angle guide helps a beginner learn to hold the knife at a consistent angle and develops the muscle-memory needed to sharpen with a stone. We recommend the angle guides from Razor Edge for holding a consistent angle - Razor Edge Sharpening Angle Guides. I have a set of Razor Edge Guides I have been using for about 10 years and they are still going strong. After sharpening several knives with an angle guide you may find you no longer need them. It's kind of like when we learned to ride a bike with training wheels. Although I primarily freehand sharpen, I still use them when I get a knife that is in very bad condition and I need to establish a new bevel from scratch. It makes the job quicker and it's much easier than freehand when a lot of steel needs to be removed. Why Sharpen with a Stone?

• Sharpening with a stone is the easiest and fastest way to keep your knives and tools sharp. It is much easier and faster to simply take a stone out of a drawer, place in on a counter top and begin sharpening. The set-up time is about 10 seconds.
• A good sharpening stone set is fairly inexpensive as opposed to a decent knife sharpener that can cost hundreds of dollars.

Summary:

• Using a sharpening stone is an easy skill to learn
• Maintain a consistent angle and even pressure
• The tools needed are a stone, stone holder and lubricant
• The most common mistake is not removing enough metal
• The best all-purpose stone is a 1200 grit diamond sharpening stone

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