Knife Sharpening

Honing steel is used to realign the micro-edge of a knife. Gently pulling the blade across the honing steel at the proper angle straightens the knife’s edge. Given the advanced steels that SHAN ZU uses, the edge will tend to stay sharp longer than those of other knives—depending on how often you use your SHAN ZU knives. Depending on use, you may wish to hone your knives only once a week or so.

To maintain the life of your blade and ensure optimal performance, it’s important to keep your knife honed. But remember that there’s a big difference between honing and sharpening. Honing maintains your blade. It simply realigns the micro-edge of your blade to give you the best performance possible—until your knife is ready for sharpening. Sharpening actually removes metal from the blade, creating a fresh edge on the knife. If you hone regularly, you’ll reduce the need for sharpening and extend the service life of your knife.

You can easily hone your knives with the SHAN ZU Honing Steel by gently running the blade across the honing steel at the proper angle. A fairly sharp knife may only need 2-3 repetitions on each side of the blade, while a dull knife will need more. (Please do not use a diamond steel for regular honing, as diamond steels are for sharpening and will remove metal from your knife. Use a diamond steel only when necessary.)

SHAN ZU offers a whetstone that works well on SHAN ZU knives and restores their brand-new sharpness. But please remember that sharpening is not something that should be done daily. Sharpening actually removes some of the metal from the blade, so sharpening too frequently may reduce the life of your knife.

To maintain the life of your blade and ensure optimal performance, it’s recommended that you use SHAN ZU Honing Steel to hone your knife regularly. SHAN ZU Honing Steel straightens the knife’s edge and helps it stay sharp. If you hone the knife regularly, you’ll reduce the need for sharpening and extend the life of your knife.

SHAN ZU Honing Steel is strictly for honing, that is, realigning the blade's edge; it won't remove material from your blade. In general, a ceramic rod is a sharpening rod and will remove material from your blade; it will not only hone but also sharpen. Use a ceramic rod more sparingly than you would a honing steel.

Select the proper coarseness for your whetstone.

Not every knife needs to start with the coarsest stone you have. On the other hand, a very dull knife cannot be sharpened using only your finest stone. Starting with the proper coarseness will ensure that you achieve the edge you need quickly. If your knife is very dull or has a nicked blade, start with your coarsest stone. The coarse stone removes material quickly, so a poor edge can be refined quickly. However, the coarse stone must be followed by a finer stone to refine the edge. If your knife is only slightly dull and needs a quick touch-up, starting with a medium or fine stone can save you time. Starting with a fine stone requires fewer steps, but it should only be used on an edge requiring little work.

Find the right bevel angle for sharpening.

Different knives require the edge of the knife to be applied to the stone at different angles. In general, most straight blades need to be sharpened at a 20-degree angle. Your knife might need a larger sharpening angle if the blade is very large or thick. If you're using a very coarse stone, you may want an even shallower (lower) angle so you don't sharpen away too much of the blade.

Apply water or oil to the whetstone.

Some stones need water, while others need oil to float the swarf (small metal filings created during sharpening) away. Simply apply a few drops of oil or water directly to the stone. (We recommend using an inexpensive spray bottle to apply the water.) The lubricant you need is determined by the type of stone you are using. Water stones and diamond stones require water. Oil stones such as India, Crystolon, and Arkansas stones use oil as a lubricant.

Sharpen the knife.

Rest your knife on the stone at your chosen bevel angle. An easy way to determine the angle by eye is to visualize a 45-degree angle and then take half of it. That will give you a ballpark estimate of the angle, after which you can adjust it accordingly. Using a slicing motion, draw the length of the knife across the stone, starting with the heel of the knife on the stone and ending with the tip. The motion should resemble a sweeping arc across the stone. Be very careful to maintain the knife’s angle on the stone. Longer, curved knives present additional challenges, but as long as you can maintain the angle, you will sharpen very effectively. Repeat this process on the other side of the knife and continue until you achieve a razor-sharp edge.