I'm going to get started, what do I need?

Ok, congratulations, you have reached the point where you want to try sharpening your own knives.

I can promise you this, with just one water stone, you can can achieve at the very least, a factory edge on your knife, which means, as sharp as when you bought it, with just one stone.

If you are brand new to sharpening but you are interested and obviously you are or you wouldn't be here. You don't wont to pay to get a couple of knives sharpened and to be honest, I don't blame you.
Even though I have my own knife sharpening business and obviously I like to make some money from it, I will....your interest in sharpening is now going to shut me down.
No matter what, nobody can take my own interest away, I will always have that so good on you.
Let's get started.

Here is the  bare minimum you need to get a dull knife sharp. This is assuming the knife is not damaged, it is just dull.

It isn't the knife your Grandfather gave you 30 years ago that was dull when you got it. It is a good knife but it just doesn't cut it tears food, it's bad news.'

Now, having a water stone or 30 of them won't help,  you need to have some knowledge of what you are trying to achieve, some passion and some patience. Don't listen to much to the guy selling the water stones, listen to me.

1,000 grit Japanese Water Stone.

Also, I have already told you about the gadgets and why you don't want one of those. Did I tell you that if you already have one to throw it away?.....do that now.

So if you are on a budget like just about everyone one else, one 30 dollar stone will suffice. You can pick up a King 1,000 grit stone for 30 dollars at Lee Valley.

I do not recommend  you starting with a coarse stone, a 400 grit for example, while it happens to be the most important stone in my personal line up, it is a coarse stone, so not a good one to learn on.

Your goal right now is this:

• Technique
• Building confidence;
• Getting comfortable with the the technique
• Improving the edge a little.

Here is the sequence of steps you should follow:

1. Buy the stone, walk in there like you own the store and get a 1k or 1.2k King water stone or any brand of stone as long as it is 1,000 grit.

2. Drive home safely and know that just by getting that stone you are better than all those millions of people that have bought gadgets.....you threw yours out so it doesn't count, you're still cool because you have a water stone.

3. If applicable, tell your significant other you are busy and not to be disturbed.

4. Submerge the stone in room temperature water and observe the bubbles, start getting excited because when those bubbles stop, your world is going to change.

5. Now you need a place to put that stone, on something that won't slip, a wet towel but you need some knuckle room.  You can purchase a stone holder at Lee Valley for about 20 bucks, us cool people have one of those but if you don't have one yet that is OK, you have the stone. That is like find a dragons egg or something, very cool. Pat yourself on the back.

6. Have the knife ready and some rags maybe to wipe the blade every now and then and a little bowl of water to keep that stone lubricated.

7. Pat yourself on the back and know that just by having that stone, you're better than your neighbours. 

8. Have the bubbles stopped, OK now we can start sharpening.

HERE WE GO

Now remember, the knife is dull because the metal along the edge is fatigued, it has rolled over to the side or both sides and you need to remove that old edge,  take that old metal away that has done it's job and expose the fresh metal underneath.

Now take that saturated stone and put some water one the top, you can use the sharpie trick I taught you before to find the angle, if not watch this: (Jon Broida is a great man, a world class sharpener, his videos are top notch.)

Sharpie Trick

 You have watched the videos by Jon Broida at Japanese Knife Imports right, if not, you need to do that.

Start here:

Holding the Knife

Then this one:

Double Bevel lecture (Your knife is a double bevel knife)

Then this one:

Sharpening

Now that you have watched the videos, all you need to do is RAISE the BURR on both sides of the knife along the entire edge of the knife. Then you just need to remove the burr.

So it is up to you to be watching these videos first and then practise and practise. You just need to expose the new metal and then refine the edge a little with that 1K stone.

Now as you improve and get more comfortable you can add 2 stones, a coarse stone, (400-500 grit) and a fine stone, anything over 1,000 grit. 

You raise a burr which is basically the tired out metal that you have abraded away and then you refine the edge holding  a consistent angle for the entire process. Whether that angle is 17 or 22 degrees, just practise at holding the angle that you have chosen.

Patience is the key here and maintain light pressure at all times. 

Keep the stone wet and be patient.

Good luck and congratulations, you have just sharpened a knife, and when you have done this 100 times, that knife will be sharper than new. Do not be disappointed if after 10 minutes you don't seem to be going anywhere. Go back and watch the videos, I do all the time and I'm a knife sharpener.

Peter