Sharpening
Semantically, most people hear this word and associate it withanythingthat makes the knife sharper.
If viewed via cross-section, the edge resembles less of a triangle and more of a trapezoid.
Like sandpaper, sharpeners are measured in grit.
Do you know the difference between honing and stropping? Are they the same? What about sharpening? How does it all fit together?
From there, high-grit sharpeners are used to refine the blade.
Extremely high-grit compounds can produce a mirror-polished edge.
Theoretically, a knife canalwaysbe sharpened to restore a functional edge.
Sharpening requires removing metal to change the geometry of the cutting edge. It’s not normally realistic to add metal to a deformed knife blade to fix problems, so material is instead taken away.
[Catch Randall Chaneys articleHow to Sharpen a Knifefor more information.]
Honing
If your knife wont cut, it may be possible that the edge is simply misaligned.
Ideally, the cutting edge of any knife should look like a straight line when viewed dead on.
Sharpeners rely on extremely hard, abrasive compounds. The material of a blade is worn away in order to facilitate re-profiling.
This phenomenon is especially common among knives made out of softer steel compounds.
Honing is the process of pushing the blade edge back into proper alignment.
Most typically, its done with a cylindrical length of honing steel.
Honing is essentially straightening the edge of a knife. Through a harder compound of steel, many deformities can be bent or pushed back into place.
(If youve ever wondered what that rod in your knife block was for, now you know.)
Then, do the same on the alternate side of the blade.
Repeat that process about 10 to 20 times.
While honing is a process often associated with kitchen knives, it also can work like gangbusters on some pocket knives and fixed blades.
Surprisingly, you dont need to be all that precise to obtain satisfactory results.
Once you become familiar with a honing steel, your heart may warm to a lot of soft steels.
(As well as any gas station quality knife, whose mystery steel is bound to be soft.)
In general, stropping takes a knife from sharp to sharper, as smaller imperfections are polished away. Far less material is removed than would be via the sharpening process, and blade geometry remains mostly unchanged.
Stropping makes a sharp blade even sharper.
Stropping is a last mile technique that gets a blade hair-poppingly sharp.
Essentially, the process of rubbing the knife edge across the strop surface polishes away rough bumps and imperfections.
Stropping is made tremendously more effective with use of a polishing compound. Apply liberally. If your knife cuts pretty well but isn’t sharp enough to shave with, stropping will get you to the next tier of edge performance.
If done right, however, you will notice a difference in cutting performance.
In olden days, people used cow or camel leather alone.
Others have asserted silicates attach themselves to the strop through the absorption of chemicals used in the tanning process.
When stropping, its easiest to lay the material flat on the table in front of you.
Thats your blade angle.
Again, stropping is a poor technique to employ on dull or barely sharp edges.
Are you doubtful the knife was ever a good cutter?
Probably sharpening is the way to go.
Is your knife made from a soft steel you remember being sharp some time ago?
Honing might be in order.
Do you have an already-sharp knife you want to get sharper?
Apply some compound to your strop and get to work.
Again, context will determine what approach is best.
Lifes too short to deal with a dull knife!
