Rules and ways to sharpen knives

The ability to quickly and accurately sharpen the blade of a knife has always been considered necessary for a real man, because in the old days not only success in hunting, but also security depended on it. Nowadays, the need to use blades as a combat weapon has already disappeared, but this has not made the sharpening of knives less relevant. Sharp blades are required both in the kitchen for banal cutting of meat and sausage, and in hunting and fishing for cutting prey.

Knives must be sharpened periodically, otherwise they simply will not do their job well.

Today, owners of both conventional kitchen knives and expensive hardened steel blades can use several methods of sharpening. For this purpose, modern electrical appliances, water stones used in Japan, traditional grinding hamlets and much more are offered. Namely the villages that were used in Russia since ancient times are considered to be the simplest and most reliable method of sharpening.

Features of the choice of grinding stone

Artificial grinding stones are made so that on one side there is a surface with small grains, and on the other - with large ones.

The grinding stones offered to consumers in stores can be both artificial and natural. Natural donkey, made of fine-grained stones, quickly crumble, therefore, are rarely used for sharpening heavily blunted blades. Usually they are used for straightening kitchen knives when you need to sharpen the blade slightly before cutting meat or poultry.

Artificial grinding stones are made in such a way that on the one hand there is a surface with large grains, and on the other - with small grains. This makes this tool more versatile and allows you to use it for sharpening stainless steel knives and razors.

After choosing a bar you need to prepare it for work. So, the surface of the wheel must be lubricated with oil or water and kept for 20 minutes. The liquid will penetrate into the gaps between the stone grains, which will exclude the likelihood of their clogging with steel particles that occur during the grinding process. And this, in turn, will significantly extend the life of the grindstone.

Rules for working on the grinding stone

Direction when sharpening a knife.

If a double-sided bar is used during work, sharpening should begin with larger grains. So the excess layer of steel is removed quickly and efficiently. It is necessary to know that the quality of sharpening knives is largely influenced by the angle at which the blade of the blade will be located to the surface of the axle. An angle of 20 ° is considered ideal, but experienced craftsmen note that often the size of the angle should be determined by both the type of knife and its purpose.

Given this, you should know that:

• for folding and hunting knives, the sharpening angle should be 30 ° if it is necessary to form a very sharp blade, or 40 ° if it is necessary to increase the resistance of steel to dulling;
• tactical blades should be sharpened at an angle of 25 to 40 °;
• professional cook and cutting tools are sharpened at an angle of 25 °;
• for ordinary kitchen knives, an angle of 25-30 ° is required.

The smallest angle should be when working with Japanese blades and razors - from 10 to 20 °. The smaller the angle, the sharper the blade will be, and the larger - the longer it will remain sharp.

Work on a grindstone with large grains

Sharpening knives should be done with uniform and smooth movements. When the grindstone touches the bend of the blade, the knife handle must be slightly raised.

For sharpening knives, you can purchase a special machine.

This action will allow you to keep the same angle between the steel and the wheel along the entire length of the cutting part of the knife. In addition, you need to ensure that the movements of the blade when sharpening are always perpendicular to the cutting edge of the blade.

Many housewives use a special device, which is a piece of plastic with two abrasive discs. Sharpening knives in this design is not perpendicular to the cutting edge, and along it. Knives are sharpened very quickly, but also just as quickly dull.

When working with a grinding stone, you should choose the right force of the pressure of the blade on the surface: as a very strong pressing, and a weak stroking will not lead to the desired result. Sharpening should be stopped when a fingernail burr appears on the back of the cutting edge of the blade. After that, the knife is turned over to the other side and the opposite side of the blade is processed, completely removing this burr.

Ways of Blade Blade Finishing

When sharpening on a coarse surface is done, the blade should be finished on the side of a grinding stone with fine grains. It is carried out in smooth movements according to the principle described above. Also, for finishing the blade, you can use a regular leather belt or just a piece of leather.

The knife must be finished with a fine-grained stone.

Such processing will make the blade of the blade as sharp as possible. To carry out the work, the belt or leather should be pre-treated with a special grinding or abrasive paste. The algorithm of actions for fine-tuning with a belt or leather is no different from working on a grinding stone: all movements are performed in the same way as on a bar.

There are several more alternative ways of finishing blades. For example, instead of a fine-grained sandstone, you can use the edge of a ceramic cup or plate. To do this, turn the dishes and make sure that its bottom has a rough surface. If so, it can be successfully used as a grinding stone.

By purchasing sets of kitchen knives, many owners receive a set of musat - a steel rod, equipped with a handle and several longitudinal grooves. It is absolutely not suitable for sharpening knives, but allows you to maintain the integrity of the blades as long as possible. It is enough to hold the musatom along the cutting edge of the blade several times, and again you can use the knife.

What other way can the knife be sharpened? If we are talking about fine-tuning, here you can use a drill with a cone or cylindrical cone shape. The abrasive roller cutter, clamped in the drill chuck, will allow the knife to be straightened when it cannot be done on a high-grade grind.

These parts almost do not take up space, so you can always keep them in a box with drills for the drill and use them promptly if necessary. The action algorithm is simple: in order to fix the blade, it is enough to hold the roller cutter several times on the working drill along the cutting edge of the knife.

In the presence of carpentry power tools in the house, it can also be turned into a small grinding machine. For example, a conventional belt sander, in which sandpaper is inserted, can successfully sharpen the blade. For the same purpose, you can use the grinding wheel, and even an unnecessary computer hard drive connected to the power supply.

Beginners or experienced craftsmen can use both traditional and modern methods of blade sharpening. Each of them has its advantages and disadvantages, and when starting to work, it is necessary to focus not only on their own preferences, but also on the quality of the tool that needs sharpening. It is simpler to process cheaper knives, and when it comes to expensive hardened steel blades, it is necessary to treat their sharpening very responsibly and carefully.

In order to determine the most convenient method of sharpening, you need to try at least a few of them. Thus, it will be possible to choose precisely those actions that produce the most positive effect.