DIY Home: How to Use Knife Sharpener

Knife sharpener is a tool used to sharpen knife blades edge when it becomes blunt, this is particularly true if the blade is frequently used. It is recommended that one should use patent technologies when sharpening the blade; the sharpness can last for a longer period of time compares to using a random knife sharpener. Manual knife sharpener does not have any grinding mechanism that found in the electric model, which is quite popular nowadays.

A knife sharpener is very important because a blunt or dull kitchen knife blade is always dangerous than a sharp one. For example, when using a blunt knife, you will have to put more force when cutting and this might cause the blades edge get folded over a period of time in use. This might hurt you if your slip your hand as the blade is now facing you.

For that reason, knives maintenance is very essential to keep them in good cutting conditions. The best design of knife sharpener is the one with two stones as using the one stone sharpener will make it very difficult to sharpen the edges as the angle will not be accurate. Nowadays, very few people that still using the one stone sharpener.

How to Choose the Right Knife Sharpener

The most important factor to consider when sharpening a blade is the sharpening angle. Well, this is because even if the sharpness is there, you might still find incorrectness in the angle which resulting the sharpness won't last long before you need to sharpen it again.

Now what determines the right angle for sharpening the blade really depends entirely on the purpose that the knife serves. The larger the bevels angle, the more durable the knife will be and thus the longer period of time between sharpening.

On the other hand, the shallower the bevels angle, the sharper and more delicate it will be, but this will resulting the knife blade to require sharpening more often. There are many suitable angles for a beveled knife edge but only a few which are suitable for basic kitchen cutlery use.

It is always recommended that a 19 degree bevel angle to be used for kitchen cutlery. The perfect knife sharpener will be the one that will restore the kitchen knife to the correct angle, so do consider this when shopping for one.

Besides, it is also important that you pick one that you feel good and convenient to use - the one that is easy to operate. With this, you won't find that sharpening the knife's a dreading process.

By the way, it is not always important for a knife sharpener to provide a super polished edge sharpening as this does not slice and dice best for food processing duties.

Some of the most recommended knife sharpeners by chefs include Wüsthof 2-Stage Knife Sharpener, and Furi FUR626 Ozitech Diamond Fingers Pro Knife Sharpener. Both of these models are bestseller on Amazon and have received very good ratings.

Using a Knife Sharpener

Unlike manual sharpener, the electric knife sharpener has a two stone grinding device that will spin around the machine when operated. This kind of knife sharpener is the easiest and most convenient to sharpen the knife as all you need to do is just place the knife blade into the sharpener slot.

The knife handle must be drawn back in a smooth way and definitely not in a jerky motion. That's because only a smooth motion can provide the evenly result that you are looking for; it works on both sides of the blade simultaneously.

For manual sharpener, it also has a shape in a cross manner for the knife to fit in. This works the same as in the electric sharpener, only that you need to do it manually, using your muscle force. You can read more about electric knife sharpener by following the link.

The Amazing Pocket Knife Sharpener

Smith's PP1 new Pocket Pal Multi-Functional Knife Sharpener is an easy-to-use, compact sharpener for the tool or tackle box. Carbides provide quick edge setting, and specially shaped ceramic stones provide a razor sharp finished edge on either standard or serrated edges.

The carbide and ceramic stones are reversible and replaceable. A fold out, tapered round, diamond coated rod is designed for sharpening serrated as well as standard edges. Unit is lightweight, durable, and comes with a lanyard hole.

For more than 100 years Smith's has been in the knife and tool sharpening business. We pride ourselves on our industry reputation as The Edge Experts and today offer a full line of easy-to-use sharpeners from all five major sharpening categories: 100% Natural Arkansas Stones, Diamonds, Ceramics, Bonded Abrasives and Carbides. Smith's offers its customers the best performing sharpeners in the category at the best price.