How to Sharpen Knife with Waterstones
Do you think sharpening knives is difficult?
No, because there is no official way. Just take my word for it, and you’ll find it’s easy!
A sharpening craftsman said, “You’ll never harm knives even if you have not done sharpening before. It’s far better for knives to sharpen than keep using without sharpening in any case.”
Take it easy and just try! You’ll improve your sharpening technique as you do.
Basics of Sharpening
Posture
Grab your knife in your dominant hand, and put your thumb at around heel of the blade. (Fig.1) Put fingers of the other hand at appropriate place of the blade, and press the knife on to a waterstone. Set the knife at 45 degrees to the waterstone. (Fig.2)
Then, incline the knife enough to the waterstone surface. Keep the gap between knife and waterstone constant while sharpening. The gap is approximately the height of three coins. (Fig.3)
Fig.1
Fig.2
Fig.3
Sharpening Process
1.
For double-edged knife, start sharpening from one side of the blade. For single-edge knife, start sharpening from the face of the blade; there may be a marking on the face. Divide the edge of the blade roughly into 3 part, and start sharpening from its heel. (Fig.4)
Fig.4
Keep your posture and grind the edge on Waterstone. Put power when you push your blade, and less power when pull. Try to keep the waterstone wet by dropping water sometimes. Be careful not to wash mud-like liquid away; it’s important because it works as abrasive. (Fig.5)
Fig.5
2.
Move to next part of the blade. Repeat sharpening from heel to top in the same way. After you finish sharpening of one side, touch the other side of the edge to see if there are burrs. Burrs indicate you successfully ground the edge. (Fig.6) Flip the blade and grind with the waterstone softly for a couple of times to remove burrs. Now you finished sharpening one side.
Fig.6
If you are sharpening double-edge knife, then do the same process. (Fig.7)
Fig.7
3.
After sharpening, wash knife well and wipe off water with towel. Leave the knife for a while to dry.
Final Note
Good waterstone is necessary for sharpening!
Please read through related pages below about waterstones.
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