Different types of sharpening knives

During the sales phase, a knife goes through all tests for sharpness and continues to delight its owner with its cutting properties for a long time. Any tool requires attention and time, and a knife is no exception; blades need sharpening. Sharpening involves two significant factors: the angle and the selection of the right abrasive materials.

The sharpening angle depends on two aspects: the blade material and its intended use.

The angles and their corresponding applications are as follows:

• 10° - 15°: Sharpening angle for razors and scalpels, creating an extremely sharp edge.
• 15° - 25°: Angle for kitchen and fillet knives.
• 25° - 35°: Sharpening angle for hunting and utility knives (tourist, outdoor).
• 30° - 40°: Large sharpening angle for knives subjected to heavy loads (suitable for high-grade steel knives).

You can determine the sharpening angle yourself using scissors (if the blade spine of your knife is not too small). Open the scissors, place the knife blade perpendicular to the scissor blades, secure the scissors, and transfer the obtained angle to paper (see photo).

Attention! By reducing the sharpening angle, you increase the cutting properties of the blade but decrease the metal's strength, and vice versa.

Whetstones, dry abrasive grains, strips, sandpaper, abrasive wheels, pastes, etc., are not all the units that fall under Abrasive Materials. These materials are categorized by hardness, chemical composition, and the size of the abrasive grain. Since the sharpening process is usually done step by step, the selection of abrasive materials should be appropriate: for correcting blade defects (grinding), for sharpening, and for final polishing.

Let's consider the proposed types of sharpeners:

• Mechanical sharpeners (mechanical) are characterized by their versatility, which is determined by their equipment and well-thought-out design. Typically, a set of stones with different grain sizes per 1 cubic millimeter is included with the sharpener, and there is already a function for adjusting the sharpening angle, which can be changed as needed (using guides). The quality depends on the quality of materials and the selected angle of the knife bevel, and the speed depends on the force of your hand.
• Electric sharpening is not recommended.
• Whetstone (sharpening stone) is a classic choice: of compactness and portability. With skillful use, you can expect results no worse than with an electric sharpener. Whetstones come with various numbers of abrasive grains, one-sided or two-sided, on a base, with rubberized feet, or simply packaged in a functional case. For quality sharpening, you should have at least two stones – one for sharpening and one for honing.

Honing steel is not a sharpener; it only maintains sharpness without sharpening and corrects the cutting edge of knives that are constantly in use.