knifeopedia

Sharpening Routine 

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Once you've learned how to sharpen your knife and have the necessary sharpening tools, the next big question is: how often should you sharpen it? Here's some guidance to help minimize both the time spent sharpening and the material removed from your knife.

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Start with the paper or tomato cutting test. If your knife cleanly and easily cuts through a sheet of paper or a tomato, it's still sharp. If not, it might simply have a rolled edge, so try stropping first. A new or freshly sharpened knife can stay sharp for months with regular stropping alone.

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If stropping no longer restores the edge, it’s time to remove a small amount of material. Use your highest grit whetstone (or the finest setting on your sharpener) and give the knife a few swipes from each side at a slightly wider angle than the original sharpening. This will create a microbevel, which for a while can again be maintained by stropping.

 

When stropping sessions become more frequent, the time to create a new Microbevel becomes longer and if after sharpening, the knife doesn’t feel so sharp any more, it’s time for a full sharpening session. Go back to a #1000 grit stone or lower (or the coarse setting of your sharpener) to restore the original edge angle.

 

As a general rule of thumb for a household with regular daily cooking and rotating between a few knives with at least HRC60 steel, expect to strop every week or two, add a microbevel every 2-3 months, and fully sharpen the knife every 6-9 months. Following this routine, your knife should always stay sharp enough to pass the paper or tomato test, and you'll spend less than 30 minutes sharpening it each year.