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Knife sharpeners

There are a few different kinds of knife sharpeners that people can use. A sharpening steel, a sharpening stone and a commercial knife sharpener are all among the types used.

Most people tend to use sharpening stones because they are readily available and priced well. If you are wondering how to use one of these stones in order to get a good, sharp knife, follow these instructions:

• The first thing you need to understand about these knife sharpeners is that they can be wet or dry. Either way they should be able to get your knife sharp. But for the purpose of these instructions, let’s assume it is a dry sharpener.

• Take the stone and place it down on a flat surface. The best place to put it would be on top of a picnic table or a kitchen counter. It should be in some place that you do not need to strain yourself to get to comfortably when doing the actual sharpening.

• Take the knife and hold it by its handle. Make sure you get a nice, tight grip. Then, pull the blade up to a 15 degree angle to the stone. This angle can vary 10 or 15 degrees higher, but the closer you can get to 15 degrees, the better.

• Pull the knife toward yourself and across the stone. Do so carefully to make sure that you are not ever in the way of the blade. Then repeat the process on the other side of the blade.

Whereas electronic knife sharpeners are sometimes used to do much the same thing in less time, if you have fine knives, it is recommended that you only sharpen them by hand.