Lubrication will make it easier for the blade to pass over the stone, as well as keep the steel shavings (the by-product of sharpening) from clogging the stone’s pores. [1] X Research source If you don’t have honing oil, you can use mineral oil, vegetable oil, or window cleaner as a substitute. [2] X Research source

Shallower angles make a sharper edge that doesn’t last as long; steeper angles are more durable, so 15° - 20° is a good compromise between the two. Sharpening at a different angle will take significantly more time and may take a few goes before any rough angles are smoothed out.

Dragging the knife this way will help your blade to maintain a symmetrical edge and allow a burr to form on the stone and prolong the stone’s life. In general, whetstones have different grits on either side. Check the grit on your stone, or the packaging that came with the stone, to identify which side is which. To estimate a 20° angle, use an angle guide.

You can test to see if a burr has formed by applying your fingernail—carefully!—to the edge of the blade. 20 times per knife edge is a rough estimate: if your knife just needs a touch-up, you may need to grind it fewer times. But if your knife is really dull, you may need to grind longer.

The rough grit side of the stone is used to grind the steel down, while the fine grit side is used to sharpen or hone the knife.

Stropping will make the edge better suited for “push cutting” (cutting directly into materials, pushing straight down without sliding the blade across the object) but may impair slicing ability: without the microscopic serrations left by grinding with a stone, the blade tends to not bite into things like tomato skins.

If you’re new to honing, consider placing the tip of the rod against the surface of a cutting board or work table for stability. It’s slower than holding the rod out in the air, but much easier. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/1/1a/Sharpen-a-Knife-Step-7Bullet1. jpg/v4-460px-Sharpen-a-Knife-Step-7Bullet1. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/1/1a/Sharpen-a-Knife-Step-7Bullet1. jpg/v4-728px-Sharpen-a-Knife-Step-7Bullet1. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">

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<br />\n</p></div>"} Honing and sharpening aren’t the same thing. A honing rod realigns the metal in a blade, massaging small nicks, indentations, and flat spots away. Using a honing rod regularly delays the need to use a whetstone. The less you use your whetstone, the longer your knives will thrive.

Make sure to maintain the same angle throughout the honing process. Changing the angle used during the honing process won’t smooth out the metal in the blade as much as using a consistent angle will. [7] X Research source

It’s all in the wrist: without moving the wrist, you won’t be able to sweep the entire blade—heel to tip—across the honing rod.

After you’ve finished honing your blade, wipe it down or rinse it off to get rid of any lingering steel particles.

If you want to sharpen your knife without any fancy equipment, a coffee mug can serve as a surprisingly effective sharpening tool in a pinch. The ceramic material of a mug is a material coarse enough to get good results. In fact, some honing rods even use ceramic material to keep a blade honed in between sharpenings! You can also lay your sandpaper down atop a mousepad, which will prevent it from slipping.

During the grinding process, your blade likely formed some burrs—features that steel will automatically form when one bevel is ground until it meets another. Honing the blade will help relax the burrs, leaving the blade edge even sharper and more polished.