Simple, Useful Information About Sharpening Your Knives

Just a little about knife sharpening for your reading enjoyment, you CAN do this.

I feel qualified to offer the following tid bit of experience to you because I spent 15 years in the restaurant business. When you just don’t have the time or patience to spend hand sharpening your knives, get yourself an electric diamond knife sharpener they do a very nice job. They are lightweight easy to use and don’t take up much room in your cabinets.

I prefer a sharpener with two different diamond grit wheels and a polishing station. Chef’s Choice makes several models that will do everything the average person needs. Take your time and be careful! Place the unit on a level surface and avoid any distractions, your knives are about to be very sharp! As you make the first couple of passes over the diamond sharpening wheels you will want to touch the blade to see if it is getting sharper. At this stage it may feel course and somewhat jagged to the touch.

If you try to slice a sheet of paper you may be disappointed because it has a piece of metal (burr) that needs to be removed. When you put it in the polishing station that’s when the magic happens. Remember seeing the movies where the barber uses a long leather strap,(Strop) same thing. The polisher removes any metal material that the grinding wheels left and now the blade is ready for action.

Please use caution whenever you sharpen knives and pay attention! It won’t take much for you to receive a serious cut. Being in the restaurant business I saw many cuts that were caused by being careless and not paying attention. Did I also mention these diamond knife sharpeners will put a great edge on butcher knives, cleavers, serrated blades, hunting or fishing knives and you could probably even give a machete’ a razor sharp edge( just for Rambo). Some models will even bring new life to your favorite scissors. A good quality sharpener will give you years of service and keep all your knives ready for service.

One of the best ways to keep your knives sharp is to store them properly. Find a drawer that is large enough to keep them flat and where they will not be banged around with your butter knives. Really sharp edges do not have a lot of tolerance for metal to metal contact. sintered diamond burs