To sharpen the blades, many methods exist: sharpening on sharpening stones, with a sharpening rifle, a sharpening system or an electric knife sharpener. It is also possible to entrust this task to a professional.
The best way to sharpen a knife depends on several factors: the type of sharpening knife, the steel of the blade, your experience with sharpening and the desired result.
In this article, we introduce you to the most common methods of sharpening knives. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. We will describe them as best we can.
How to Sharpen Kitchen Knives the Right Way
Sharpening stones
Pros
- Possible to achieve a very sharp result
- A suitable stone is available for each step of the sharpening process.
- Extends the life of the knives.
- Suitable for daily maintenance as well as full sharpening.
- Also allows to refine the blades.
Cons
- Requires some practice. See the video tutorial.
- It takes a little while to achieve a perfect result.
Sharpening rifle
Pros
- For daily maintenance.
- Extends the life of the knives.
- Removes little material from the blade.
- Quick result.
Cons
- Not suitable for dull blades.
- Not suitable for sharpening blades.
Knife sharpeners
Pros
- Ease of use
Cons
- Less sharp result than with a whetstone or sharpening gun.
- Does not refine the blades.
- Not recommended for very hard steels.
Electric sharpeners
Pros
- Ease of use.
- Quick result.
Cons
- Removes more material than a whetstone.
- Not suitable for sharpening blades.
- Less sharp result than with a whetstone or sharpening gun.
Guided sharpening systems
Pros
- Constant angle of sharpening.
- It is possible to achieve a professional result.
- There are models suitable for all kinds of knives.
Cons
- It takes a little while to achieve a perfect result.
- The jaw can cause scratches. We advise you to cover the blade with duct tape to avoid it.
Steel sharpening rifle
Pros
- To increase the edge of a sharp blade.
- Daily use.
Cons
- Do not confuse with sharpening guns (ceramic or diamond).
- No material is removed, it is not a question of sharpening.
Sharpening stones
Sharpening stones come in different grain sizes, they are ideal for restoring dull blades to their sharpness and keeping your knives sharp. The grain size of the sharpening stone determines the finish of the cutting edge. The finer the grain, the more polished the blade and the sharper the knife becomes
The grain size is given by a number. A high number indicates a fine grain, with which a blade can be more finely polished.
One of the major benefits of sharpening your knives on a whetstone is that you can sharpen your knife. This involves removing more metal from the sides of the blade and thereby making it thinner.
This is useful for knives that are sharpened often, as the edge gets thicker as you sharpen it. Refining a knife is of great importance for the preservation of cutting properties.
Sharpening knives on a whetstone takes a little practice, but the payoff is great: razor sharp knives. We show you in our video how sharpening on a whetstone takes place step by step.
Sharpening rifles
Sharpening guns are rods generally used to restore their sharpness to knives in a few passes. There are different types of sharpening guns:
Ceramic sharpener:
Most sharpening guns are made of ceramic material. A ceramic sharpener is great for keeping your knife sharp. It’s quick and easy. It is important to use it regularly to maintain a knife to prevent it from dulling.
Diamond Sharpener:
Next to ceramic sharpening guns there are also sharpening guns with a thin layer of diamond. Hard diamond grains quickly sharpen knives.
Compared to a ceramic sharpener, the result is a little worse. One disadvantage of a diamond sharpener is that, over time, the diamond grains break or crumble so that the sharpener loses its abrasive power.
The sharpening guns are therefore suitable for the (small) maintenance of your knives. For sharpening dull blades, it is advisable to use a whetstone or electric sharpener.
Be careful not to confuse the sharpening guns mentioned above with steel sharpening guns. Not only does the material differ, steel sharpening rifles are, as the name suggests, made of steel, but above all their use is not the same. They are designed to straighten the edge of the blade.
A steel sharpening rifle therefore does not sharpen the knife. In addition, they are not suitable for blades with very hard steel. So for the daily maintenance of the knives we recommend a ceramic rifle and for a complete sharpening the whetstones.
Knife sharpeners
A knife sharpener is the solution of choice for those who do not want to start sharpening on whetstones. A knife sharpener has one or more small sharpening discs of more or less coarse grain size.
How to sharpen with a sharpener? Just pass the knife several times through the slots along the sharpening discs without really exerting pressure.
The sharpening result is inferior in quality to that obtained with sharpening guns or sharpening stones. The edge is not neat and not very durable. For a really sharp result, it is therefore advisable to use one or more sharpening stones.
The fast and sometimes a little rough operation of most knife sharpeners is not recommended for hard steel types. A good knife deserves a more sophisticated method of sharpening, like a whetstone.
Electric sharpeners
For kitchen enthusiasts with no sharpening experience, electric sharpeners can provide a solution. An electric sharpening machine offers several stages for sharpening knives. There are different types of electric sharpeners.
Some use abrasive belts while others have discs or even sharpening stones. We usually start with a coarse grain and gradually move to finer grain sizes. An electric sharpener makes it possible to restore a sharp edge relatively quickly to the knives.
Electric sharpeners are quite easy to use and provide a good result. However, they remove more material from the blade than a whetstone. This shortens the life of the blade if they are used frequently.
For pocket knives, it is not recommended to use an electric sharpener. This is because a sharpener removes a substantial amount of material whereas pocket knives generally have thin blades.
Guided sharpening systems
Guided sharpening systems consist of a support where the knife is fixed and one or more sharpening rods or guides.
The fact that the knife is fixed on the support, makes it easy to adjust the desired sharpening angle.
A sharpening system makes it possible, depending on the system chosen, to sharpen the knives in two ways:
Either the sharpening bars are fixed to the support and the knife is passed along the bars to sharpen it. Either the knife is fixed in the support and we pass the sharpening bars along the knife to sharpen it.
There are various systems available commercially where the stone sharpens the knife at an adjustable angle. The result is a nice straight edge. The downside is that it takes longer than sharpening on a whetstone.
In addition, the fact that the angle is fixed, gives less flexibility. If you do not want to sharpen at a fixed angle, you should switch to ‘freehand’ sharpening.
Guided sharpening systems are highly recommended for sharpening expensive pocket knives to which you want to restore a nice edge.
However, we recommend that you cover the blade with adhesive tape to protect it from any scratches caused by the jaw. For kitchen knives, we recommend that you use a whetstone or an electric sharpener.
