📝 Article 8: Practical Application – Implementation of the Last 7 Articles

Sharpening Technique: Create, Recenter and Polish the Edge (400 to 10,000 grit)

🚀 Introduction: Expertise at Your Fingertips

Successful sharpening isn't a matter of chance, but of a deep understanding of the material. Whether you use a traditional stone or a rolling sharpener with interchangeable tips , the principle remains the same: remove material to create a point (the edge), then polish and recenter it. This discussion focuses solely on methods for re-sharpening the edge; honing steels and other sharpening tools are therefore excluded.

Here is the complete method, from rough repair to mirror polishing.

1. Choose the correct abrasive for your knife

Before you begin, observe your blade:

• Classic stainless steel knives (thick blades): While diamond is effective, these "material-eating" steels can prematurely wear down your diamond grinding wheels. For these types of knives, it's best to use sharpening stones (stone attachments for a rolling sharpener) . They are better suited to larger volumes of metal.

• Precision knives (Damascus, Carbon, Hard stainless steel): Diamond discs excel here due to their bite and durability on hardened steels.

Expert tip: Complete your equipment with a range of different grits (interchangeable tips) to go from a 400 grit repair to a 6000 or even 10,000 grit polish!

➡️ See Stone and Diamond Tips for Magnetic Rolling Sharpener!

We won't discuss the 240 grit because it's too abrasive and requires significant experience. It's only useful for extremely damaged knives, and unnecessary in 95% of cases.

2. Step 1: Create the Thread (The Coarse Grain)

The targeted movement

• With the Rolling Sharpener , make back-and-forth movements , taking care to work both the ends (often neglected) and the middle of the blade.

➡️ See Rotary Sharpener

• Using a water stone , alternate between the upper and lower parts of your foot, trying to maintain the same number of strokes on both the toe and heel sides. The most important aspect of this method is maintaining a consistent angle.

➡️ See traditional water stones (Supplied with angle adjuster)

• Whether you have chosen the stone or the rolling sharpener, keep in mind that a blade is fragile and you need to know how to adjust the pressure, even if it takes a little more time at the beginning; the finer the grit, the more care you need to take.

Reminder: Grain size ➡️ 240 to 600, coarse ➡️ 800 to 1500, medium ➡️ 1500+, fine

Morfil detection (Touch test)

Sharpen one side until you feel a metallic "lip" (the burr) on the opposite side by running your thumb from the back towards the edge. If you feel the edge, you've succeeded: the point is created.

3. Step 2: The Art of Recentering (Surgical Precision)

Once the burr is detected, it must be straightened in the center . This is where finesse comes in:

• Don't try to "scrub" the other side. Just 2 or 3 light taps on the face where you feel the burr are enough to bring it back into alignment.

• The pitfall: If you force it too much, the thread will simply swing to the other side. The goal is to stabilize it in the middle.

4. Step 3: The Progression of Grains (3, 4 steps or more)

Sharpening isn't limited to two grits. For a "laser" edge, multiply the steps:

1. Grain 400: Yarn creation.

2. 1000 grit: Refining scratches and initial polishing. No need to go any further.

3. Grains 3000 to 10,000: Less and less material is removed, but more and more is polished.

   At each change of grain, repeat the operation: feel the burr, recenter with 2-3 light strokes, then move on to the next grain.

5. Special Case: Asymmetrical Bevels

Not all knives are sharpened to a 50/50 ratio.

• Symmetrical (50/50): Work the same amount of time on each side.

• Asymmetrical (e.g., 80/20): Some knives have a much more pronounced bevel on one side. Spend significantly more time working on the side with the wider bevel.

• The imperative: Regardless of the asymmetry of the bevels, the edge (the final point) must always be perfectly centered in the thickness of the blade to guarantee a straight cut.

🗃️ Summary of the Expert Method

✨ Conclusion

Sharpening is a dialogue between the craftsman and the steel. By respecting the symmetry of your blade and patiently progressing through the grits while recentering the edge at each stage, you are not just sharpening: you are enhancing your tool.

➡️ To better understand the subject of sharpening, start with the theory in our first article - The Fundamentals of Sharpening