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Unfortunately, 90% of modern people lack the skills to sharpen even the most basic tools – from knives to axes. This is a bit strange because 80 years ago our great-grandfathers could sharpen razors as well as kitchen knives. A Knife edge doesn’t allow for the slightest deviation, even if you make mistakes in your Knife-sharpening technique. So one of our favorite sayings, “It’s meant to be,” is manifested by cuts and burns on the skin of the face.
And our ancestors understood this very well. They know the difference between a sharp and a sharp kitchen Knife Block Set, what a whetstone is and a whetstone, which side of leather should be used as a filler, and which side should be used in pure form. They also know the big secret of the Can Opener: The Can Opener is man’s greatest invention. This is unacceptable on a hunting knife because a completely different sharpening is designed for a completely different shape. Cut meat, not corned beef.
And in this article, I will try to tell you at least a few things that everyone should know.
Type of face stone
What do you sharpen your tools with? Yes, it is a tool. Axes, chisels, etc
There are many types of whetstones. Ordinary users do not need all these nuances, so we will focus only on the most popular and proven scrapers, and their advantages and disadvantages.
Silicon Carbide
Silicon Carbide Particles
A silicon carbide wheel is designed for grinding carbon steels and high alloy steels. If your knives rust and stay sharp longer, a silicon carbide whetstone can help with the sharpening. A rusty blade means a high carbon content, and long-lasting sharpness means a high amount of hard alloying elements.
These stones have soft abrasive grains and should be soaked in water for 5-10 minutes before use.
As can be seen, the silicon carbide particles themselves contain sharp edges, which has a positive effect on the steel removal rate. In addition, the grains undergo rapid crushing-dividing, contributing to the formation of new sharp edges. A good grain improvement effect, coupled with a soft bond where the old used grains are broken down and new sharp grains are exposed, has a positive effect on the speed of hardened high alloy steels.
But as you know, nothing is perfect. So here you have to pay for the speed of work with the stone being produced quite quickly, ie the loss of its flatness. After 2-3 blades, the stone should be leveled. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it has a place.
These wheels are not suitable for sharpening stainless steel. I’m not saying you can’t sharpen stainless steel Knives. But this is not easy. Sticky and soft stainless steel actively removes sand from stone bundles, greatly accelerating the coating process. The stone starts to work very quickly and creates a lot of dirt in the form of clumps of crushed particles, it falls off itself.
Hardened steel containing silicon carbide:
Vanadis 10 – 4, PGK, 3V, M390, CPM® REX® 121, DI 90, D2, P6M5, P18, XB5, etc. But a lot depends on the particular stone, the heat treatment of the steel, and your, skill.
Natural rock
I want to talk about alumina
Alumina particles
Its best friend but also the opposite of the stones above is aluminum oxide. This image shows that the aluminum oxide grains are less sharp and the grain structure itself is less layered than silicon carbide.
All this means that the particles are less aggressive in removing the steel and less susceptible to breakage. The aluminum oxide impellers are designed to grind stainless steel up to 58 HRC.
Not only is the grain of the stone hard, but the bond itself is quite hard. Of course, there are exceptions, especially when it comes to Japanese artificial water stones. But now we are talking about the most popular options.
Such stones work very well with most stainless steels, from Russian to foreign analogs.
In my experience, most modern people prefer low-maintenance stainless steel. And these rods are great for sharpening. Except for powdered stainless steel, you need silicon carbide to sharpen them.
However, it was not without its drawbacks. Because burs wear very little, abrasive grains must be ground for a denser bond, resulting in a loss of acceleration. Therefore, the aluminum oxide rods on a conventional rigid bond must be moved and rubbed together as needed.
Hardening of steel with aluminum oxide:
65X13, 95X18, 440C, AUS8, H690, 440A, AUS6, 12C27, etc.
From the foregoing, we can conclude that for certain steels curtain rods should be selected. It may seem very confusing to some, but these are the facts and this person hasn’t thought of anything yet. High-speed sanding is not considered.
But there are other types of sharpening stones, and in principle, I do not care what kind of stone I sharpen. It “bites” sand as effectively as the simplest stainless steel, modern powdered steel.
Diamond
Diamond Crystal
As you remember from school, diamond is the hardest natural substance with a hardness of 10.
The diamond polishing bar is extremely wear-resistant, maintains perfect flatness, is not capricious, and can grind all steel materials.
You might think they are fine jewelry, but it’s not that simple. Despite all these advantages, you have to pay for its not-so-obvious disadvantages. First, the rod quickly clogs with removable steel, loses grinding ability, and requires cleaning of the pores of the stone in the steel. In addition, the high hardness of diamonds often causes debris and clogging of the cutting edge of the tool, which is very scary. Imagine this: you’ve been polishing for two hours, you’re moving on to the last stone, and suddenly you hear a crack—the diamond has chipped part of its edge. Even very hard steel cannot be polished with fine diamonds. It falls apart during the sharpening process.
I don’t use diamonds. However, if you don’t need a high-quality cut, these gems are fine.
natural oil which is a product of nature and not man-made. These stones are the elite of all knife-sharpening tools. They are rare and expensive. Many species no longer breed because the sediment supply has been depleted. The structure, shape, and density of the grains, together with the welding, have a very good effect on the cutting edge of the knife: a high degree of sharpness combined with excellent stress resistance. I prefer to use natural abrasives from the sanding stage.
Of course, there are downsides among these elites. First, it is difficult to master. The effective use of natural stone requires theoretical and practical knowledge. Second, the mutation rate of the same model features is very high. You should choose a stone that suits you experientially.
Sharpening Technology
It’s hard to explain in text how to properly sharpen a tool, but I’ll try.
The first thing I encountered was the deeply rooted misconception that knives are sharpened by moving them along sharp edges, which is completely false. , which I believe played a role in throwing this error.
The movement of the stone should be perpendicular to the blade and the cutting edge should be forward. Suffice it to say that a novice knife sharpener should try to remove a fine chip from the stone with their knife. The pressure on the knife should not be too great.
When polishing, strong pressure only aggravates the loss of smoothness of the stone or increases the speed of the polished grain (depending on the stone model) and the cutting edge itself. The high pressure begins to bend in the opposite direction, making it difficult to sharpen the stone underneath.
The second important and difficult aspect is to constantly control the sharpening angle. If you want to get a new angle every time you put a new edge on the stone, or if the blade wobbles between edges, this sharpening won’t do you any good, it means developing fine motor skills to maintain the angle. How did you do it? Easy to re-grind, analyze and inspect. Manual sharpening can only be learned this way.
Tools:
- To effectively maintain a cutting tool, you must have at least three stones of different grain sizes.
- F 230. This is a coarse sharpening stone designed to remove large pieces of steel when the knife has visible jams or splinters.
- F600. Original whetstone. Designed to eliminate rough hazards from 230. Or, if the tool is not seriously damaged, the first stone to start shaving with.
- F1000. full stone. Its task, like all subsequent tasks, is to eliminate the danger of the precious stone. If the F 1000 is the last stone in your collection, complete the sharpening and cut the required features to the edge.
- This is a minimal whetstone set, by no means definitive. After F 1000, 3000, 6000, 10000, 12000, 15000, etc. depends on how sharp you want to achieve given the value you place on the particular steel.
- sharpen the corner
- – Sharpen me 30 degrees. – And I’m 35 – Oh, and I’m 28! , with “sacred” knowledge, I want the perfect sharpening angle for my knife to be exactly 28 degrees. There’s nothing wrong with that desire, but let’s unravel it anyway.
- The sharpening angle itself does not have a 100% impact on the result of tool performance. The sharpening angle is closely related to the steel grade and the geometry of the blade. Moreover, the same steel can be tempered in different ways. Therefore, considering all of these factors (a particular knife with a particular blade geometry, a particular steel that has been heating treated in a particular way, and the conditions the knife will be used in), the ideal sharpening method is determined empirically. can choose. The angle and final wheel of a specific specimen.
- Trying to average for simplicity, I don’t think this is correct, but I get roughly the following sharpening angles and finishing wheels:
- 1. Carving knife (not for use on bones):
- Stainless steel – 30-40 degrees. Finish F 600
- Carbon steel – 20-30 degrees. Exit with F 1000 to F 3000
- Steel powder – 20-30 degrees. Finish with F 3000 – 7000
- 2. Hunting and outdoor knives:
- Stainless steel – 35-45 degrees. Finish with F 1000
- Carbon steel – 25-35 degrees. Exit with F 1000 to F 3000
- Steel powder – 25-45 degrees. Finish with F 3000 – 7000
- 3. Camp Knife or Axe:
- Carbon steel or powder steel with good mechanical properties – 35-50 degrees. Finish F 1000 – F 3000.
- It turns out that sharpening a kitchen knife is no different than sharpening a hunting knife. This difference is influenced by:
- Type of steel
- hyperthermia
- blade shape
- The number of times the owner intends to hand over the knife
- Finish by sharpening the edge.
Type of sharpening
There are several types of sharpening, of which the most popular are described.
- Straight or wedge. 80% of the knives we buy are sharpeners. Nothing special about it, but nothing negative about it either. It all depends on the quality and finish of the sharpening.
- lenticular. This one is more difficult and requires sharpening skills. Without sharp edges, it penetrates the material being cut more easily and can withstand smaller angles and higher loads.
- Rub in with a micro finger. Designed to be slightly less sharp and more durable.
- Gypsy. One trick is to increase the aggression of the knife cuts while maintaining good resistance.
- walk Because it is biconvex, it is difficult to make and requires advanced technology.
- Kasumi is an abrasive made in Japan, but it is also used as a sharpener. It’s very difficult to do.
- I have listed the most popular and well-known (in some circles) sharpening types. But every great grinder has its developments, secrets, and tricks. And secrets are secrets. Please do not disclose it.
How often should knives be sharpened?
Q: How long do knives stay sharp? They often carry a knife (probably made and not sharpened). And the sharpness of his knife is good for men because they can’t see well.
- I came to this conclusion based on my home testing. A knife is dull if:
- A pass weight prevents the chewiness of soft tomatoes.
- Knead the soft bread without chewing.
- Do not cut the corners of the milk carton immediately.
Rubbing your arm or tearing up a newspaper is a target test. As an example, I chose an activity that almost everyone does every day that helps them determine when it’s time to sharpen their knives.
I hope that anyone reading this article understands that sharpening a stone, rather than simply cutting it with a knife, is a complete science, even an art.
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