Getting Back into Sharpening and Honing

July 24, 2020

I've gotten into sharpening-and-honingSharpening and Honing
Most cutting tools require sharpening. There are various methods and tools for sharpening. For very sharp tools like shavers, they often call it honing rather than sharpening. The most traditional method is to use whetstonesWhetstones
Whetstones are stones used in the [[Sharpening and Honing]] of knives, tools and razors. There are synthetic whetstones created by compressing some abrasive material. There are also "natural" whetstones that are mined. Whetstones are often sorted by "grit" which measures the abrasiveness of the stone. Sometimes people refer to the size of the particles in μ or other measures. Natural stones do not have "grit" in the same way as synthetic stones because the partic...
. Whetstones have different grits or hardness/fineness levels and are used in progression from rough to smooth. You can also use files, leather strops, abrasive compounds embedded in cloth, wood or leather, the palm of your hand, cardboard, the bottom of a p...
my knives on and off over the decades since I lived in Chicago and the sushi chef at the local sushi shop, first taught me how to handle a Japanese knife and sharpen it. I've always enjoyed sharpening knives and each time I "get into it" I seem to go a bit deeper. However, I found it hard to learn to sharpen without a good teacher and I didn't have the time, energy or the opportunity to apprentice anywhere.

As I started ramping up my cooking during COVID, I realized that my knives needed work. I pulled out my old stones and tried to sharpen my knives. One knife didn't sharpen well so I started googling. Oops.

There is a TON of information - YouTube videos, dedicated forums and blogs... all about sharpening and honing. I read a bunch of stuff, bought a few more stones and started again. I realized that my bevel was messed up so I looked up how to set a bevel.

Then I noticed reading about people obsessing about sharpening razors... Then I discovered Japanese kamisori razors and Japanese natural stones... then nagura stones to create slurry. This feels like a real deep end that I'm falling into where I don't yet know what I don't know - like when I started scuba diving. Oops.

So I think I'll start writing more about my whetstonesWhetstones
Whetstones are stones used in the [[Sharpening and Honing]] of knives, tools and razors. There are synthetic whetstones created by compressing some abrasive material. There are also "natural" whetstones that are mined. Whetstones are often sorted by "grit" which measures the abrasiveness of the stone. Sometimes people refer to the size of the particles in μ or other measures. Natural stones do not have "grit" in the same way as synthetic stones because the partic...
and other sharpening-and-honingSharpening and Honing
Most cutting tools require sharpening. There are various methods and tools for sharpening. For very sharp tools like shavers, they often call it honing rather than sharpening. The most traditional method is to use whetstonesWhetstones
Whetstones are stones used in the [[Sharpening and Honing]] of knives, tools and razors. There are synthetic whetstones created by compressing some abrasive material. There are also "natural" whetstones that are mined. Whetstones are often sorted by "grit" which measures the abrasiveness of the stone. Sometimes people refer to the size of the particles in μ or other measures. Natural stones do not have "grit" in the same way as synthetic stones because the partic...
. Whetstones have different grits or hardness/fineness levels and are used in progression from rough to smooth. You can also use files, leather strops, abrasive compounds embedded in cloth, wood or leather, the palm of your hand, cardboard, the bottom of a p...
things on this site now.

Here are a few links I've read about stones and honing: