I really admired my grandfather, who was a doctor, pharmacist, hunter and gardener. I especially admired two of his nonprofessional skills - even when he was in his nineties he could put a razor edge on a knife, then use that knife to put a perfect point on a pencil.

That's my Grandpa, Charles Monroe Bottorff, on the left; me kneeling in front of Mom; and my brother Jim and sister Judy on the right.  The picture was taken in 1952.

I learned to sharpen with hand stones at Grandpa's knee, but I always had trouble with certain knives. For years I searched for the ultimate knife sharpening method. I realized that I might not have the skills required so I was willing to use whatever gadgets and machines I could find. Testing over 60 different knife sharpeners taught me what works and what doesn't, and I decided to write this article and share the information.  BTW: I gave up on sharpening a pencil with a knife and bought a pencil sharpener.

The instructions that come with sharpening equipment is often inadequate. Some give no instruction at all. I note in this article when equipment comes with good instructions.

There are two schools of knife sharpening - those who like a knife to keep some roughness from the stone and those who believe that it should be as smooth as possible. Both approaches have their benefits.

Blades with a rough edge can be aggressive cutters, especially when the blade is thin.   They have micro-serrations that act like a microscopic saw.  These micro-saws are very well suited for slicing fibrous material, such as a rope. This edge is easy to produce because you just stop sharpening after a medium stone (200 to 300 grit). Blades sharpened this way do become dull faster as the points wear or bend, so frequent touch-ups are needed.

Smooth edges are best for cutting with a straight push and are preferred by barbers, surgeons and woodworkers. Research done by John Juranitch of Razor Edge Systems (1) shows that butchers can cut more meat per shift and tire less when using a smooth edge. Analysis with an electron microscope (2) has confirmed that wood cutting ability is correlated to edge smoothness. Sharpening a smooth edge requires more work, but the results are worth it.

(1) The Razor Edge Book of Sharpening by John Juranitch
Warner Books 1977 ISBN 0-446-38002-4 $ 19.95
(2) The Complete Guide to Sharpening by Leonard Lee
Taunton Books 1995 ISBN 1-56158-125-9 $ 22.95
(3) Sharpening Made Easy by Steve Bottorff
Knife World 2002 ISBN 0-940362-19-8  $ 9.95
 
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 February 14, 2007
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