How to Sharpen Knives With a Sharpening Stone

A dull knife can be more dangerous than a sharp knife.

Most people think of sharp knives as being dangerous. While this is true, dull knives can be equally dangerous. A dull knife is more likely to slip during cutting, putting your hands at risk. Sharpening dull knives is an important part of maintaining your kitchen utensils. Sharp knives are safer to cut with and your knives will last longer if they are properly sharpened. A sharpening stone is a convenient tool that can be used to quickly sharpen dull knives. A proper sharpening stone should be at least 2 by 6 inches and feature a coarse side and a fine side.

Things You'll Need

• Rag
• Mineral oil
• Knife steel or ceramic honing rod

Instructions

1. Lubricate the sharpening stone. Moisten a rag with mineral oil. Rub a moderate coating of the mineral oil over the entire stone.

2. Place the sharpening stone on a sturdy countertop or table. Make sure that it is situated so that it will not move around during sharpening.

3. Inspect your knife to determine the bevel angle. Different knives have different bevel angles. Filet and paring knives will have shallow bevels of only 5 to 10 degrees. Pocket knives or camping knives have a bevel of 10 to 15 degrees. Chopping knives and cleavers have a bevel between 15 and 25 degrees.

4. Place the edge of the knife against the surface of the stone. Hold the knife at the angle of the bevel. For instance, if sharpening a chopping knife with a bevel of 20 degrees, hold the knife so that the body of the blade is at a 20-degree angle against the stone.

5. Sharpen the knife on the coarse side of the stone first. Grasp the handle of the knife and, with your wrists locked, move the edge of the knife back and forth over the sharpening stone, using a circular motion. Do this about 12 times, applying moderate pressure. If sharpening a blade longer than the sharpening stone, or a curved knife blade, move the blade sideways as you are sharpening to make sure that the entire edge of the blade is evenly sharpened.

6. Flip the knife over and sharpen the other side of the blade on the coarse side of the stone. Do this about 12 times.

7. Flip the sharpening stone over to the fine side. Sharpen the blade in the same manner as you did on the coarse side, making about 12 strokes on each side of the knife blade. It is important to always keep the blade of the knife held at the angle of the bevel.

8. Hone the edges of the knife, using a knife steel or ceramic honing rod. The purpose of honing is to get rid of the burr left on the knife blade by the sharpening stone. Hold the honing tool in one hand and the knife in the other. Rub each side of the edges of the blade lightly against the honing tool. Do this just a few times on each side of the blade. Maintain an angle a bit wider than the bevel angle while honing the edges.

References

• The Farm: How to Sharpen a Knife
• The Art of Manliness: How to Sharpen a Pocket Knife
• Corner Hardware: Sharpening a Knife