With over 50 years in business, the staff at Northwestern
Cutlery are truly experts in the art of knife sharpening. Fine cutlery can be
easily maintained with the proper use of sharpening steels and stones but only
for a period of time. In order to ensure a lifetime of quality performance in
your knife, professional sharpening is also highly recommended.
Our aim is to restore or even improve
upon the manufacturers original edge. We use a series of belts, buffers and
stones to recreate the sharpness you expect from high end cutlery. We also use
water cooled grindstones for heavier work. This would include stock removal to
repair damaged or out of shape knives and for thinning out knives that become to
thick over time.
We also sharpen scissors, chisels and
garden tools (prices vary). When sending us your knives please also fill-out and
enclose the Sharpening Request
Form or call us toll-free for more information:
1-888-248-4449.
When
selecting products for use at home, you can follow a few helpful
tips.
Sharpening Steels
Sharpening
steels are used to keep your knife sharp. They are not meant to sharpen dull
knives. Use your steel often enough to maintain the sharpness but you don't want
to over do it either. Excessive use of the steel will wear out a knife before
it's time.
When
you feel the knife is not cutting like it should, give the knife a few light
strokes on the steel. If you are consistent with the angle that should be all it
needs. Consistency is the key here. Go slowly so you can better control
the knife. You can always use more strokes or apply more pressure but less is
better.
High
quality knives such as Mac, Kikuichi & Shun come with very fine, highly
polished edges. In order to maintain this type of edge, you need a steel just as
fine. Using a regular cut steel that most manufacturers sell with their sets
will keep the knife sharp but you will never have that same sharpness as when
the knife was new. Therefore you will become disappointed with
it.
Sharpening Stones
Eventually,
steeling the knife will cause the blade to become to thick to effectively
maintain an edge. When it does a stone is used to thin the knife out so a new
edge can be put on the knife.
Begin with
an Oil stone. Oil stones are harder and work faster removing stock. We use our
oil stones dry and only use the oil for cleaning. There are course water stones
but they are softer and wear much faster.
After the
edge has been thinned out you will notice that the course stone has left deep
scratches in the knife. The rest of the process is simply a matter of polishing
out those scratches until you reach your desired finish. Water stones are
typically used for the final stages. I like to use the Norton India Combination
Stone to start and then move to the Norton 1000 Water Stone. You can go as high
as an 8000 grit water stone.
If you would like more detail of the sharpening process, Norton
has produced an instructional DVD for Water Stones and one for Oil
Stones.
