How to Use a Electric Knife Sharpener - Home

All knives need to be sharpened sooner or later even expensive knives get dull after a while. A dull knife is not only annoying to use, it can also be dangerous for you. A dull knife needs an extra force and can slide off the product instead of cutting it and this increases the risk of cutting yourself. A sharp knife will glide through more easily which makes it easier to control the knife leaving little opportunity of cutting yourself. This is why you should sharpen your knives.

Modern electric knife sharpeners are easy to use requiring little more than the insertion of the blade to be sharpened into a couple of designated "V" shaped slots usually in two or three stages. The slots feature built-in precision angle guides to eliminate all the guesswork. There are usually two sharpening stages and one polishing/honing stage. Most of your knives in your home or restaurant can be sharpened with an electric sharpener such as knives for: hunting, crafting, butchering, fishing and of course kitchen knives. The electric sharpeners typically feature dual blades and often incorporate industrial diamonds that are used in the sharpening process.

Electric knife sharpeners can make a knife as good as new again and sometimes even better than new. Old quality knives or cheaper knives can be given a second life when sharpened in an electric sharpener. The benefit of using an electric sharpener is that it doesn't require the dexterity or skill that sharpening by hand demands. Sharpening a knife by hand is very time-consuming. Electric sharpeners differ with brand to brand and model to model, but a few basic techniques are common to all them.

The first thing you should do when you have bought an electric sharpener is to read the instructions and Figure out what each of the slots on your sharpener does. The manual should be able to tell you what the slots on your machine does and which order you should use them. Some of the possibilities are sharpening, honing, stropping, and steeling. The slots must be used in correct order. The earlier stages structure the edge, taking out nicks and deformations. The later stages hone and polish the edge. If later your knife needs a "touch up" sharpening, you can run it through the final stage without using the other stages.

Turn the machine on. Insert the blade in the first slot to sharpen the right edge of the blade. You will be pulling the blade toward you, make sure the area closest to the handle contacts the sharpener wheels first. Draw the blade at a rate of about two inches per second. For example, a 8-inch knife should take about four seconds to pull. Use only enough pressure to make sure the blade has a good contact with the wheels.

Knife sharpeners often have a collector for the metal shavings that come off the blades. It could be a good idea to Clean the collector periodically. Knife sharpeners can put a very sharp edge on a knife,keep your fingers out of the way. The speed with which it cuts will probably surprise you!

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