
1. Start off with the rough grit. If you have a particularly dull blade, start off with the rough grit side of your sharpening stone. How do you tell which side is the rough grit? Sometimes you can tell by sight. If you can’t do that, do a thumbnail test. Scratch the surface with your thumbnail and whichever side feels rougher, that’s the side you want to start off with. Also, rough grits tend to be more porous than finer grits. So if you put water on one side and the stone really drinks it up, chances are it’s the rough grit.

Every few months, you'll notice that your chef's knife has a harder time yielding perfectly thin slices and precise dices. You might even find your knifework is slipping—literally. And aside from being annoying to cut with, a dull knife can be seriously dangerous. To keep your fingers (and your dinner) in good shape, you'll want to learn how sharpen a kitchen knife by using a whetstone or a sharpener, and maintain that edge by honing it with a steel rod.

The basic concept of sharpening is simple – you're using an abrasive edge to remove metal – but the knife you buy may alter the method you should use. A general rule of thumb is that a waterstone can be used for both Japanese- and Western-style blades, but you should avoid pull-through sharpeners for Japanese knives (or any knife with very brittle blades).
After testing nine honing rods, both steel and ceramic, we think the Idahone 12″ fine ceramic rod is best for most kitchens. We were looking for a tool that kept knives of all styles sharp, from 4-inch paring knives to 12-inch chef’s knives. We wanted one that worked equally well on German and Japanese blades, which are made of softer and harder steels, respectively. We also wanted to pay less than $40. The Idahone met all our requirements. Its surface was noticeably smoother than that of the other three ceramic models we tried, yet rapidly restored the edges of all the knives we tested. It also removed less material from the blades, which will help to prolong their working lives. And compared with the five steel honing rods we tested, the Idahone was gentler on the blades.
Its main disadvantage is cost: At about $120, the flagship stainless steel Professional model sits in an uncomfortable middle ground between our main pick and our upgrade pick. That said, an otherwise identical Classic model made of black plastic is generally closer to the price of our main pick. A lesser point, but an important one, is that this design is not completely foolproof, as our other picks are. You have to pay attention and use a steady hand and pressure to get a straight edge. Not hard—but you may need a little practice to master the process.
The Work Sharp WSKTS-KT Knife is your complete knife sharpening solution for both field and home use. It is a combination of precision sharpening guides and flexible premium abrasive belts, to give you razor sharp blades. Apart from knives, it can be used for other sharpening jobs like lawn mower blades, shovels, garden pruners and a wide range of other bladed tools. As you can see, you are not buying a simple knife sharpener, but a multipurpose sharpening tool, for home and outdoor use.
A: When it comes to the best knife sharpeners used in a domestic setting the abrasives used to sharpen the blade should last for quite a few years. When they do eventually wear out many of the best manufacturers will refurbish them for you, typically for a nominal fee. Again, however, unless you are using the sharpener on a daily basis (and there is virtually no reason the average person would do this), the sharpener should last for many years before ever needing service.

Sharpening on the other hand is reupholstering the furniture or telling the hair stylist to give you a new look. Material is going to be removed from the edge of the blade. There’s no way around it. How much is removed will be a function of just how dull the knife has become or whether you’re sharpening to compensate for a chip in the edge or because the tip has broken off. If your knife is not damaged and you have it sharpened twice a year very little material will be removed each time, yet it may still be enough for you to notice just by looking carefully with the naked eye.
As noted above, both Chef’sChoice and Cook’s Illustrated advocate using the Trizor XV to convert 20-degree knives to the arch-shaped 15-degree edge, so if you have European-style knives, you can still use this machine confidently. You can also use the final honing stage to “strop” serrated knives—helping to keep the teeth polished and aligned—but the Trizor XV cannot resharpen them.