Imagine you are hosting a dinner party at your home. You have got all the ingredients and starting to prepare the meal.
As soon as you get the start chopping, you realize the knife is smashing the vegetable, not chopping. Nothing can be more infuriating than that, right? Nonetheless, a few strokes over the whetstone can fix the issue.
Honing and sharpening the knife is a distinct set of skills. It involves a handful of steps of picking the suitable stone, preparing it for honing, and finally, honing the blade.
If you find all these steps intimidating, it is nothing of that sort. With the right tool and technique, you can sharpen your knife blade in minutes.
In this article, we will try to simplify the process of how to sharpen a knife with an oil stone. Don’t forget to check the Traditional Pocket Knives reviews.
Is it Important to Sharpen the Knife?
What can be a bigger enemy in the kitchen than a dull knife? A blunt knife!
You might think the chopping gets difficult with a dull knife. Nonetheless, the list cons of doesn’t stop there.
When working with a blunt knife, you have to apply more pressure. As a result, you increase the chance of slipping and causing accidents.
In contrast, you can have evenly chopped vegetables and protein with a sharp knife. Home cook or professional- opting for different chopping techniques is simple with a sharp knife.
Once you analyze these facts, you cannot deny the feasibility you get with a sharpened knife. Check out the most essential Review for Bunka Knife.
Testing Sharpness
Before you bring out the oil stone and begin the honing process, it is important to ask a simple question. “Does the knife require sharpening?”
While you can inspect this query in many ways, not all of them are safe. On that account, the “paper test” is full proof and safe way to check the sharpness of the blade.
To do the test, you will need a plain paper sheet. Hold the paper straight and place the knife at the edge. Now pass the knife through the paper in one stroke.
Did you face any resistance from the paper? If yes, the knife probably needs a few strokes over the oil stone. Otherwise, you are just fine.
Picking the Right Stone for Sharpening
When it comes to blade sharpening a blade on a stone, you must pick a suitable honing stone. There is no superior or inferior style of honing stone. Each one comes with its pros and cons.
Still and all, oil stones make a safe choice for everyone. How? Let’s find out.
Consistent performance and durability make oil stones a sustainable pick. The coarse surface of the stone is ideal for quick and easy honing. Additionally, the pricing on this honing stone is quite reasonable.
The only drawback is you will need oil to work on this stone. For that, the process can be a bit messy.
Overall, there is nothing much to complain about oil stones.
What is the Right Grit for Stone?
Picking the stone with an apt grit count does the half job of sharpening. Fine, medium, coarse- these are three grit counts commonly found in whetstone.
Usually, you can do the honing with the coarse surface and use the fine surface for finishing touches. Buying two different stones can be a bit expensive.
For that, you can find stones with coarse and fine grits on the opposite sides of the stone as well. Here to mention, do not use the coarse surface for honing. It is suitable for extremely dull blades. For day-to-day honing needs, you can get away with the fine surface.
Finding the Right Angle for Honing
There is a lot of dilemma around the perfect angle for honing a knife. As per experts, you get the most ergonomy in sharpening the knife at a degree of 22.5. But how do we get the angle accurately?
Don’t be fret! We have found a method so that you get a 22.5-degree angle every time you opt for honing.
Firstly, place the blade perpendicular to your oil stone. Then rotate the blade halfway in any direction. That way, you get a 45-degree angle. Repeat the process once again.
This will take you to the perfect angle for honing the blade. Of course, you can adjust the angle further for a better result.
Steps of How to Sharpen a Knife With an Oil Stone
Step 1:
Choose a plain surface as your workspace. Now lay a wet towel on the surface place the oilstone over it.
Step 2:
We will begin with the coarse side. So, make sure you are placing the rough side on top. It will bring back the knife in its shape like no other.
Step 3:
As the name suggests, oil stone requires some form of lubrication. This procedure will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. So, make sure you check the instructions to find the right way to lubricate the stone.
Step 4:
Now slowly draw the knife over the stone starting from the heel to the tip in a steady motion. Keep an eye on the blade so that you can maintain the 22.5-degree angle.
Depending on how dull the knife is, you might need to repeat the process multiple times. Now flip the blade and repeat. Count the number of strokes on both sides for consistency.
Step 5:
Bring back the original side. This time, draw the blade from tip to heel. Now repeat the process on the other side. Opt for strokes as required for the blade.
Step 6:
Now flip the stone to the fine side and brush the blade for finishing touches.
Final Words
To check if the sharpness is up to par, you can now try out the paper test. Once you see zero resistance from the paper, you are good to go.
There is no alternative to consistency to get the desired result from oil stone honing. Hence, try to maintain a similar angle and motion in the sharpening process. Keep the knife clean and hone it at regular intervals.
The knife will reward you with amazing cuts!