When it’s your turn to prepare the big family meal or the hors d’oeuvres for a cocktail party, you will certainly want your tools to be ready for the job. This means making sure your kitchen knives are nice and sharp.

There are various methods of sharpening knifes and other tools. You can always take your knives to a knife shop and pay someone to sharpen them, or you could invest in an electric knife sharpener. We prefer, however, to use one of the oldest methods of knife sharpening, and one that still happens to be among the best:  the sharpening stone.

Learn to use a sharpening stone, and you will easily be able to sharpen your own knives to a razor-sharp edge, without damaging them, and for a good bit less money than taking them to a professional to do the job. Your food prep tasks will go much more quickly, and your cuts will be more precise. You won’t even know how you managed to cook with dull knives in the past!

There are many different types of sharpening stones, and many ways to do the job. After you learn the basics, you may even discover your own special method for sharpening your knives and tools.

Types of Sharpening Stones

The 3 most common types of sharpening stones are:

• Oil stone
• Water stone
• Diamond grit stone (can be used with oil or water)

 

 

Oil Stone

The oil stone is used in combination with oil to sharpen the blade. Oil stones can be made from natural material (sometimes referred to as “Arkansas stones”) or synthetic material (also called “India stones”). Oil stones are one of the oldest types of cutting stones, and are the most traditional way of honing a knife. The downside to the oil stones are that they take a very, very long time to sharpen the blade.

 

Water stone

Water stones are used with water to sharpen the knife, as the name implies. Like oil stones, they come in natural and synthetic materials. Water stones are very popular with woodworkers, as they sharpen blades more quickly than oil stones do. What is nice about water stones is that the water helps to carry away the “swarf,” which are the tiny metal filings that come off the blade being sharpened. The downside to water stones is that they wear out more quickly than oil stones, and they can sometimes become warped over time, requiring the use of a “flattening stone” to straighten them out.

 

Diamond grit stone

The diamond grit stones are the type of stones we prefer. They are sharpening stones that contain tiny diamond chips, which are visible if you look very closely at the surface of the stone. These stones combine the speed of using a water stone, with the durability of an oil stone. Diamond grit stones will sharpen your blades very quickly, and all the time retain their shape and flatness. They are also long-lasting. The only downside to diamond grit stones is that they are more expensive than either  oil or water stones.

 

How to Sharpen a Knife with a Stone

Step 1: Place the sharpening stone on a secure, non-slip surface.

Step 2: As with sanding down wood with sandpaper, you want to start with sharpening your knife on the coarse grit, and then move to a finer grit. The diamond grit stone has two sides, so if that is the stone you are using, make sure that you start with the coarser side.

Step 3: Lightly wet down the surface of the stone. (You may want to keep a spray bottle of water handy, so you can keep re-wetting the stone as you work.)

 

Step 4: Place the heel of the blade at the back of the stone, and adjust it so that you are holding it at a 20-degree angle. If this is difficult to visualize, start by holding the blade at an approximately 45-degree angle, and then lower it halfway down to an approximately 20degree angle. The cutting edge should be facing out and away from you.

 

Step 5: Keeping your wrist locked, sweep the blade in a circular motion away from you, ensuring that the entire cutting edge of the blade remains in contact with the stone. Keep your wrist stiff, so you are moving the knife with your arm, and try to make your motions as fluid as possible.

 

Step 6: Next, flip the blade over and sharpen the other side of the blade. Be careful to make the same number of swipes on the second side as you did on the first side.

 

Step 7: Once it seems like the blade is sharp, check the blade for burrs by gently sliding the flat side of the blade across your palm, being careful to not cut yourself. You should feel a slight burr underneath the blade, which will tell you that you can now refine the edge by using the finer side of the stone.

Step 8: Repeat steps 5 and 6 using the fine grit side of the stone.

 

If you like, try doing the “paper test” by swiping your newly sharpened knife blade through a sheet of plain white paper.

Your knife is now ready to become the workhorse of your kitchen again.

 

 

Watch how it is done in this step-by-step video: