Sharpening Double-Bevel Knives

A sharp knife doesn’t just make cooking easier and more enjoyable—it also helps preserve the freshness of ingredients. When fruits, vegetables, and meats are cut with a properly sharpened knife, they retain more moisture and flavor, enhancing both texture and taste.

Here’s what you need:

Grindstone: I recommend a grindstone in grit about 1000 and about 3000 as a good “starter combination” then you can always add more stones as you become more experienced. If your knife has damage that cannot be easily repaired on a grit 1000, I would recommend you get help from an experienced sharpener, as you can easily cause major damage to the knife with very coarse stones if you are not trained.

Water – 2 small coins – concrete block or similar – non-slip mat – tea towel

1. Place the stone in water for approx. 10-15 minutes. Before use (until no more air bubbles come out of it), place the stone on the concrete block with the non-slip mat in between, make sure everything is stable, Safety first!
2. Hold the knife in your primary hand at a 45 degree angle on the stone. Place the 2 coins on top of each other and place the back of the knife on the coins, this gives you an angle of about 14 degrees which you should try to maintain throughout the grinding process. The better you hold that angle, the better the result!
3. Now move the knife back and forth over the stone with a light pressure as you move the knife in the direction of the spine, an optimal pressure will be about 2 kg (try it on a scale), but don’t be intimidated, practice makes perfect. Depending on the type of knife you are sharpening, it can be difficult to sharpen the tip, so lift your elbow up slightly to tilt the knife slightly and sharpen the tip of the knife as well.
4. When you feel a burr on the entire edge, you can turn the knife over and sharpen the other side. It’s done the same way, just take your time, it’s not a competition to be the fastest, rather get a good result.
5. Once you’ve made a burr on the other side now. Then take the finer stone and start grinding it, it works the same way, with the 2 coin angle and a slight pressure when you move the knife in the direction of its back. Once you’ve created a burr on the entire edge, turn the knife and do the same on the opposite side.

Burr

After you have created burrs on both sides of the fine stone, you are almost done. You now need to do what is called de-burr, i.e. remove the burr you have on the knife. Some people use the stone for this, but especially in the beginning I would recommend doing it on a tea towel, for example. It can also be done on a leather strap, newspaper or other rough, soft surface. Stroke the knife with the back first at a slightly higher angle than you have sharpened. Stroke the knife on both sides to remove the burr that way. Then try cutting a piece of newspaper. You want to get as clean a cut as possible, with as little noise as possible. If you notice small nicks when you cut the newspaper, you may still have residual burrs on the knife. Then try strapping it a little again.