How to Sharpen Ceramic Knife Blades

A well-sharpened knife makes food prep easier.

Ceramic knives are much harder than stainless steel knives and do not need sharpening very often. The most advisable way to sharpen your ceramic blade is to send it to the manufacturer where they'll use a computer-assisted sharpening device. For home sharpening, ceramic blades require two kinds of sharpeners: a diamond sharpener for the first sharpening and a silicon carbide sharpener to finish it up. The procedure for each sharpener is the same. Both sharpeners come as either wheel or stone. The kind you have will dictate procedure.

Things You'll Need

• Diamond knife sharpener
• Silicon carbide knife sharpener

Instructions

1. Pull the one side of the blade through the wheels of the diamond sharpener toward you several times. If you are using a stone, run the blade a 15 degree angle to the stone in a sweeping direction toward yourself. Repeat the process for the other side of the blade.

2. Pull the one side of the blade through the wheels of the silicon carbide sharpener. following the same procedure in Step 1. The reason two types of sharpeners is necessary is because the diamond sharpener performs the preliminary sharpening, but it leaves minute scratches on the blade surface. These scratches, over time, make the blade weaker and it can potentially crack. The silicon carbide sharpener smooths out these scratches for a refined blade edge.

3. Wash the knife blade in soap and water to remove any particulate matter sloughed off from the sharpener.

4. Wash the knife sharpeners with soap and water.

Tips & Warnings

• A wheel-style sharpener is the easiest to use since the angle for the blade is built in to the sharpener. A stone is more difficult since it will require you to keep the appropriate angle for a new knife edge.

References

• Sharpening Ceramic Blades: Toolmonger
• A Primer on Knife Sharpening