Monday, April 11, 2011

Sharpen Curved Blades







A whole drawer full of knives and not one of them sharp enough to cut a sandwich. So you get a knife sharpener and the straight bladed knives are all razor-edge perfection, but then your curved knives just sit there in the drawer, dull and rusting. You could just go buy new curved knives, but there's a simple way to sharpen all of your knives, even curved ones.


Instructions


1. Determine your level of skill. If you've never sharpened a knife in your life, a curved knife is not the best place to start. But if that's the knife you need to sharpen, be sure to purchase a blade grip to hold the knife at the proper angle. Don't freehand sharpen the knife unless you can maintain the correct angle.








2. Select the right sharpener for your knife. There are plenty on the market ranging from automatic sharpeners to stones and wheels. For a curved knife, it will be more difficult to maintain the correct sharpening angle for the curvature of the edge, so consider a stone and a guide for sharpening.


3. Use a sharpening stone. Apply oil or water depending on the stone and then place the blade in the guide. Or use a sharpening wheel with a guide and sharpen your blade that way.


4. Keep stroking the blade against the stone until the edge is sharp again, or about ten strokes. You can sharpen straight blades the same way, and as your sharpening finesse increases with practice, you could even try sharpening your curved blades without a grip at all.

Tags: curved knife, curved knives, guide sharpening, maintain correct, sharpen your