What is a Whetstone Knife Sharpener?

Keeping your kitchen knives in tip top condition and razor sharp should be on everyone to-do list. Believe it or not you can actually get a nastier cut from a dull knife than a razor sharp knife – crazy I know but it’s true.

For me I like to sharpen my best kitchen knives at least once a month and I tend to use a honing steel around 1 in 3 times I use my knife, but honing is not sharpening your knife it’s just realigning the blade but its good practice to hone your knife regularly to avoid permanent damage and on the plus side it also reduces the need to send your knives away for professional sharpening as often, which saves you money.

Forget about those fancy electric sharpeners the traditional Whetstone is the only way to sharpen your kitchen knife properly and like a pro. Learning the correct way to use a whetstone knife sharpener may take a bit of practice, but once you get the hang of it you’ll be able to keep your kitchen knives razor sharp, and save time and money.

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Okay, so what exactly is a Whetstone Knife Sharpener?

Whetstones may be natural or artificial stones, these artificial whetstones are typically composed of ceramic and these types of whetstones are to more common.

There is one basic shape of whetstone that is used for knives and kitchen knives in particular and that is a rectangular shape but you’ll also see a slight variation in whetstone shapes with complex looking edges but this are for sharpening other tools such as drill bits and wood turning tools, so best not to try and sharpen your Shun kitchen knife on one!

Whetstones usually have two sides; one side offers a fine grit surface and the other a more coarse grit. The finer of the two is the finishing side and the coarser grit is to take more of the metal of the edge and is normally the first you use when sharpening your knife.

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How to Use a Whetstone for Sharpening Your Knives?

Using a whetstone to sharpen you knives doesn’t really take that much effort to learn it’s all about technique and once you’ve learnt that whetstone sharpening technique you can sharpen your kitchen knives until your heart’s content. What you need to know is it’s all about angle, consistent angle – that’s it!

Here is a quick whetstone knife sharpening overview to get you going;

Place you whetstone on your counter top or even a chopping board, with the coarse side of the whetstone facing up. (tip: place a damp cloth or paper towel underneath to stop it slipping)

With one of your hands (depending if you’re a lefty or a righty) hold your kitchen knife firmly by the handle and hold the blade against the whetstone, point-first, with the cutting edge meeting the stone at a 22½-degree angle. You can use your other hand to stabilize the blade.

Using moderate pressure gently slide your knife blade forward and across the whetstone making sure to cover the entire length of the blade whilst all the time keeping the blade flush against the whetstone at a consistent 22½-degree angle.

Continue doing this for about 10 repetitions then take your knife flip it over and do the same on that side. Now that you’ve done both sides of your kitchen knife flip over the whetstone to the finer side and give both sides of your knife at least ten strokes.

Right you’re nearly done – easy right? Now all that’s left to do is to run your kitchen knife over your honing steel, quickly rinse and dry the blade to make sure any small metal bits are removed and that’s it.

Once you master this whetstone knife sharpening technique you’ll be able to sharpen your kitchen knives like a pro.