Knife Sharpeners and Knife Honing For Kitchen Cutlery

Most people are not aware of the difference between honing a knife and its sharpening, though both are needed to have sharp knives. Yet, the two are quite different. The sharp edge is there in both but honing causes the blade to have straight sharp edges known as bevels. Bevels are characteristically “V” shaped edges. When a knife is honed, its bevels are sharpened. For honing of knives one needs to use a honing rod that’s made from ceramic or diamond, has a length of about one foot and thickness of ¼ to ½ inch.

Then again sharpening a knife results to giving back its beveled edge the correct angle for cutting action. That means you can sharpen a knife but also give it some honing characteristics in the process of its sharpening as knife sharpening also contributes to straightening of the edge. Some dual stage manual knife sharpeners are designed to offer both the facilities, sharpening the knife, and its honing too. A dual-stage sharpener is of great help as it has the ability to hone a knife blade, so that the knife will not require frequent sharpening.

The angle is determined by the intended application of the knife. The more the bevel angle of the knife, the more durable it becomes and lasts much longer. It won’t require frequent sharpening. On the other hand, shallower bevel angles make it very delicate, needing frequent sharpening. There are many angles to a beveled knife but all are not suitable for domestic purposes and won’t form a piece of good cutlery.

For instance the narrowest bevel angle is 11 degrees. Its razor sharp edge makes it suitable for being used on fine cutting tools of the kind of X-Acto blades, or for wood carving instruments and other special purpose tools. This angle calls for very frequent sharpening, though X-Acto blades are so economical to use that one can discard them on their getting dull. The other angle of 15 degrees is used for fillets and boning, which need extra sharpness, yet slightly more durability.

A bevel angle of 19 degrees suffices for all kitchen applications. Knife sharpener for being used in the kitchen should restore the correct angle of the knife. Further, kitchen sharpener should offer ease of operation, enabling their frequent use for having sharp knives around to facilitate frequent cutting actions in the kitchen. A kitchen knife sharpener need deliver extra polished edge, the kind required by chefs.

And, finally we get a 22-degree bevel angle. It provides a wider, more durable edge that is needed for pocket knives, fixed-blade hunting knives and serrated-blade knives. The 25-degree bevel angle, as you can make out now, is the widest, and gives the longest lasting edge, making it appropriate for cutting of carpets or linoleum and electricians’ knives.