When starting the process of learning about knives it can be a daunting task. From finding out what angles should be sharpened at for certain types of knives, to applying too much pressure or too little pressure, to using what methods for sharpening, to blade quality. That’s when I found out that your Blade isn’t perfect and that’s ok!
Things I wish I knew when learning about Blade sharpening!
Knife bevel angles aren’t perfect from the factory
Did you know that most knives from factories are still not perfect whether they’re sharpened by a machine or a sharpener. We’ve seen and our fellow sharpeners have seen bevels’ inclusive angles vary by a couple degrees and still work fine.
So when starting just try to keep the angles as close as you can on either side of the blade, and most of all don’t get discouraged when a bevel is slightly longer or shorter than the other side.
It’s ok to make mistakes with knife sharpening!
When starting out knife sharpening its best to not try to get your knife profile and angles and process perfect the first time when knife sharpening. No knife irreparable due to knife sharpening. Knife sharpening is a learning process and you should have fun learning a new skill.
It’s ok to try various sharpening tools to sharpen your blade.
There are various ways to sharpen a blade from using whetstones, pull through sharpeners, stone wheels, to diamond disks to belts. Although the Online Knife sharpening purists may suggest that anything other than whetstones is utter garbage, the fact is that most other tools will perform just as well as a whetstone and some much faster. Whetstones may give you the sharpest knife ever but the learning curve can be daunting, cost alot and use up precious time that could actually be used cooking rather than sharpening your blades. The fact is you may have the sharpest knife from the whetstone but do you really need it that sharp?
In most cases extreme sharpness usually means decreased durability causing you to sharpen or hone your knife more often due to the decreased blade angle. Find a tool that works for you and gives you the blade sharpness you need, and don’t let the purists deter you from picking the right tool.
Light pressure over hardwhen sharpening
Many times we think that because we’re removing material from a hard steel blade, that hard pressure is needed, but that is definitely not the case! Light pressure should be used this allows a more uniform bevel on both sides of the blade thus giving you a better performing knife. Hard pressure or firm pressure can leave uneven sharpness within the length of the blade. Hard pressure can even cause injuries, as the blade can still slip while sharpening. Light pressure and higher number of strokes will be safer and give you the best uniformity!
Buy a knife or use your existing knives and start learning!
When we research knife sharpening on the internet sometimes we only hear from the die hard hobbyist and their opinions. But as we know blades and their sharpening techniques are not always black and white. As we know much knife/blade snobbery can be had when reading about knife sharpening. As some hobbyists will only recommend only the $1000 knife and the most expensive sharpening stones at their fine luxury restaurants, but we all don’t need the latest and greatest of knives!
Kitchen knives should be about cooking the foods you love while being safe! So don’t think that even budget friendly knives don’t deserve or need knife sharpening, sharpening is more about safety than the sharpness of the blade. All blades perform the same function! TO CUT FOOD! So sharpen your budget knives using any sharpening method as long as the knife performs well and safe that’s all that any real blade enthusiast will tell you.
If you would like your Blades sharpened by us! Come visit us in Edmonton, Alberta and contact us HERE!
Want to see our previous work and see how we perform our sharpness test click HERE!
