How hard do you press when sharpening a knife?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “sharpening a knife“
About Sophia
Written by: Sophia
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How hard do you press when sharpening a knife?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “sharpening a knife“
About Sophia
not very hard. light even pressure. the edge is already there, you are just working on it a bit.
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When sharpening a knife, a little pressure is needed. When knife moves in up and down direction, press it firmly when going down. In up direction release the pressure as it can damage the knife edge. Keep the knife at proper angle and you don’t need to press it so hard.
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Well, your answer can only be really answered by experience, but, rather than cop out like that, I will simply say this:
Situation #1: You are using a whet stone. In that case, firm but light to moderate pressure is ideal. By firm, I mean, consistent. But “firm but light” this is something that can only be described. You will have to find that balance on your own. (Don’t sweat it. You can find it via practice, probably fairly quickly, actually).
Situation #2: You are using an electric sharpener. In this case, although it might take a bit of faith, my best advice is to simply let the device do the job for you. Do NOT press down. Simply drag the blade along the activated electric sharpener and develop a “feel” for when it is doing it’s job. Again, this isn’t some esoteric, occult thing. It is a skill that can be picked up quickly. You will KNOW when you are dong it right
Situation #3: You are using some sort of rotating sharpening wheel. I have absolutely no experience with that. But, hey, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
Finally, I admire your desire to enhance your knowledge on sharpening knives I hope you also learn, if you haven’t already, about honing and maintaining an edge.
My primary interest in this subject has always been culinary related (a sharp knife is not just safer, it brings huge amounts of additional satisfaction to cooking).
Whatever your intentions are, good luck!
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For hand sharpening (without using a power tool) the answer largely depends on the material of the knife blade, the dullness of the knife blade, and what tool (and lubricant, if any) is being used to do the sharpening.
A very dull and neglected or abused, very tough (like D2 die steel) and hard (Rockwell C 60+) thick steel blade being sharpened (initially) with a very course abrasive will logically require (for efficiency) more pressure than than the relatively thin blade of a more common steel knife that has just lost its ability to dry shave hair from a man’s forearm and is being touched up using a very fine ceramic stone or stick.
This is one of those things that only experience can teach you. Pressing too hard can quickly “turn over the edge” creating a “mess” and extra work to correct. Using very light pressure at the beginning of restoring the edge to a very dull knife wastes a lot of time.
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Ahhh, that’s a tricky question!
I use a light pressure, for two reasons; one- I use the coarse side to reshape the blade. Two- I use the fine side to make the blade sharp. On neither side do I press hard, because I want to feel the way the grit grabs the blade. When I feel the blade grabbing the grit instead of skating on the stone, I know the blade is pretty sharp. I’m not a sophisticated knife sharpener. I have just been doing it since I was nine… so lots of experience.
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