Gadgets Philippines – May 2017

http://www.gadgetsmagazine.com.ph MAY 2017 89

the stone. Draw the stone against the edge of the
knife, as if you were taking thin slices off the stone
with the blade. After one pass, you can check if
your angle is right based on what you’ve scraped
off. What you’re after is marker removed from the
whole primary bevel (the actual edge of the knife).
If there’s still marker at the edge, raise the spine a
bit more during the stroke. If there’s no marker at
the edge, but still some by the shoulder, drop the
spine on the next pass. Once you have your angle
right, keep it that way for every pass, and you’re
on your way.

“But Ren,” you might ask, “how do i know when
to stop?” I’m glad you asked. Keep going, with
moderate pressure (more than the weight of
the knife, but not bearing down on the blade),
until you raise a burr on the opposite side of the

blade.Basically, you remove material on the side

you’re attacking, and causing the very tip of the

blade to fold over to the other side. You’ll know

you’ve done so once you can feel the rough,

jagged material on the very edge opposite the

one you’ve been sharpening. Once you can feel

it, start working on the side with the burr. Keep

going until you once again knock the burr over

to the opposite side. If there is one thing you

should focus on, it should be keeping that angle

consistent; otherwise, you’ll either be making the

knife duller, or scraping away, making no progress

at all. Once you get that burr over, it’s time to

switch to the next smoother stone, and repeat the

process.

Remember, you want a consistent angle, a fair

amount of pressure. Keep going until you can feel

the burr move to the other side, then switch to the

next smoother stone. Basically, keep going until

you’re out of smoother stones.

It’s not going to be a fixed number of strokes per

side, or alternating sides every stroke, or anything

like that. The key here is raising the burr, and

knocking it over to the other side. The key to that

is a consistent angle and consistent pressure. And

lots of patience. What you’re doing is a lot like

sanding wood: you’re scratching away material

with your current grit, and then scratching out

the marks left by that grit, through the use of the

next smoother stone. Simple on paper, but it takes

some practice to master. Take note that some

materials, like ceramic, won’t develop a burr, and

others, like titanium and some of the harder steels,

will take a long time to sharpen.

Now, on to a few details.

I have tried using circular strokes, and strokes in
one direction, into the edge. Both seem to work
reasonably well, but I tend to prefer strokes in
one direction, because it makes more sense to
me to consistently cut into the edge.

Some kits come with honing oil, for use during
sharpening. I have likewise tried it dry and
oiled, and find that there isn’t any appreciable
difference; however, if you use oil on the stones,
you’re going to have to always use oil, so
knowing this, I choose to keep my stones dry.

It’s good practice to clean the stones after use,
as the pores can get clogged up with metal,
causing them to lose their bite, and be much

less effective. Soapy water, your bare fingers,

and some elbow grease make short work of dirty

stones. Clean stones make quick work of dull

knives, so keep ‘em clean.

Once I finish with the last stone, I move over to

a leather strop loaded with metal polish. On the

strop, drop the pressure to about the weight of

the knife. Too much, and you’ll feed the edge

into the leather and dull the edge. Remember to

continue to keep the correct angle, otherwise,

you’ll undo all your hard work. As long as you

keel the right pressure and angle, don’t worry

about it, as you can’t really over-strop. You can

keep going until you get a mirror finish, and

that’ll be fine.

To check your work, you can take your freshly

sharpened blade, and lay it at a 90-degree

angle on the barrel of a plastic pen (think

a Sharpie). If you apply a bit of sideways

pressure on the blade, and it doesn’t budge

against the weight of the knife on the pen,

you’ve nailed it.

There are many more nuances to the process

as a whole, but this should get you started on

the way to sharpening your knives. There are

different blade profiles that require different

methods, but for the usual knives we see

and carry, this should do you right. Take your

time, and practice. I ruined my share of blades

getting the process right, but on the bright

side, those knives I messed up eventually got

re-sharpened to an edge much better than

stock.