how to clean a diamond sharpening stone

How To Sharpen A Knife With A Stone

Last updated on 8/15/2021

Nothing affects the longevity and daily performance of your knives more than sharpening and maintenance. When it comes to knife safety, a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one. This is because kitchen staff must force their way through cutting meat and slicing vegetables. Sharpening stones make required daily knife maintenance easy. Learn how to use a sharpening stone with our video tutorial and comprehensive guide.

Shop All Sharpening Stones

Click below to learn more about the knife sharpening:

Knife Sharpening Angle
How to Sharpen a Knife with a Stone
How to Use a Sharpening Steel
How to Flatten a Sharpening Stone
How to Tell If Your Knife Is Sharp Enough
How to Clean a Sharpening Stone

Sharpening Stone Tutorial

Check out the video below to learn how to sharpen your knives with a sharpening stone.

Knife Sharpening Angle

Experts recommend you sharpen your knives at a 22.5-degree angle. Follow these simple steps to find a 22.5-degree angle. Additionally, we've included an image to guide you through the process.

Place blade down: Hold the knife with the blade down, at a 90-degree angle.
Rotate blade halfway: Move the knife to a 45-degree angle, halving the distance between the 90-degree angle and the table.
Rotate blade halfway again: Once more, move the knife to half of the remaining angle. Now you have a good estimate of the appropriate sharpening angle. You can adjust the angle up or down as needed.

Hold the knife with the blade down at a 90-degree angle Move the knife to a 45 degree angle Move the knife down to roughly a 25 degree angle

How to Sharpen a Knife with a Stone

Sharpening a knife with a sharpening stone

Once you've found the correct angle for your knife, you can begin sharpening. Whether you purchase a sharpening stone made of Novaculite, aluminum oxide, or silicon carbide (known as Arkansas, India, and Crystolon stones), you'll follow a similar sharpening process. Make sure you check your manufacturer's instructions for any nuances.

Here are the steps you need to follow to sharpen your kitchen knives.

Prepare workspace: Put your sharpening stone on a moist towel atop a flat surface.
Begin coarse side up: Before you start sharpening your knives, make sure that the coarse side of the stone is on top. This is the quickest way to form the knife blade back into the correct shape.
Lubricate the stone: Be sure to check the manufacturer's specifications for how to properly lubricate your sharpening stone. Some options like diamond stones don't need any lubricant at all, so be sure to check the stone's instructions.
Begin sharpening: With your knife at a 22.5-degree angle, slowly draw the knife down and across the stone in a smooth motion, starting at the heel and finishing at the tip.
Repeat: Once you've begun sharpening, repeat this action five times. You may need to repeat this motion additional times, depending on the dullness of the knife.
Change sides and continue: Flip the knife to the other side and sharpen the reverse side using the same motion. You should sharpen this side the same number of times as the other side for consistency.
Sharpen in reverse: Return the knife to the original side, but this time draw the knife from the tip to the heel. Repeat this motion five times.
Change sides again: Flip to the reverse side and sharpen from tip to heel five times.
Sharpen final side: Turn your sharpening stone over to the fine side and repeat steps 1-5.

IMPORTANT: When sharpening knives with a sharpening stone, consistency is key. So, be sure that you're using the same angle each time, and that you sharpen both sides of your knife equally.

Back to Top

How to Use a Sharpening Steel

Chef knives hone the edges of your Sharpening steels and help keep the edge straight. In addition to honing the edges of your knives, you can use them after sharpening your knives with a sharpening stone to smooth out the edge.

How to Hone a Knife

Learn how to hone a knife with a sharpening steel.

Position steel: Hold the steel vertically with your dominant hand and the tip of the steel resting on a cutting board or work table.
Position knife: Place your knife horizontally with the edge touching the steel at the top.
Angle knife: Turn the knife until it's roughly at a 22.5-degree angle with the sharpening steel.
Begin honing: Gently pull the knife down and back across the sharpening steel going from the heel to the tip of the knife.
Repeat: Once you've begun, repeat this motion five to ten times.
Change sides: Switch to the other side of the blade and steel, and repeat the same motions.

How to Flatten a Sharpening Stone

Since the middle wears down more quickly than the edges, sharpening stones become uneven with use. If you don't flatten your sharpening stone, it will round the edges of your kitchen knives.

Execute these simple steps to flatten your sharpening stone.

Place stone on a flat surface: To ensure that you have a working base to level the stone, we recommend using a flat surface such as a cutting board.
Choose lubricant: Check the documents that came with your sharpening stone to see whether it requires oil or water.
Lubricate the stone: Put a small line of oil or water down the middle of the stone. Gently massage and disperse the oil or water across your sharpening stone.
Begin smoothing: Smooth the stone by rubbing it with 100 grit sand screen disc until it is flat.
(Optional) Repeat: If your stone has coarse scratch marks, repeat the previous step with a 400 grit sand screen disc. Or, if your stone shows little wear, simply wipe it down with a 400 grit paper and skip the previous step.

IMPORTANT: Never apply food oils such as vegetable and olive oil to sharpening stones. Only use honing oils approved for sharpening stones.

How to Tell If Your Knife Is Sharp Enough

You can tell you knife is sharp enough when the burr is gone. When you sharpen knives, especially on coarser stones, you'll notice a burr form on the opposite side of the edge. It can be difficult to see, but easy to feel. Carefully feel for the burr by running your finger from the spine of the knife to the edge.

The burr will jump from side to side as you sharpen each edge, and once you've felt the burr move to both sides, you can move to the next finer stone. Once you get to the finest grit, the burr will become smaller and smaller, until it disappears. When the burr is gone, you'll know your knife is sharp enough.

How to Clean a Sharpening Stone

To clean your sharpening stone after use, simply use a damp towel to wipe away any metal shavings and excess oil. There is no need to rinse or wash your sharpening stone after use. After wiping down your sharpening stone, place it back in its box or store it in a dry place.

Back to Top

Not only does regularly sharpening your chef knives with sharpening stones and steels make food prep easier, but it can also prevent accidents and injuries in the kitchen. Use this guide to Incorporate knife maintenance into your routine.