How to identify and set the angle of sharpening knives?

Dull knives - a terrible dream of every cook. Cooking with such a knife turns into torture, so the fact that they can be sharpened at home is a lot of luck. But there are some subtleties that need to be known in order to make the knife sharper, and not to blunt it even more. First of all, you need to find out what the angle of grinding is and why it is needed at all.

First of all, it is worth remembering that a universal angle of sharpening, equally suitable for all types of knives, simply does not exist. The choice of the right will depend only on what the knife is used for. Now you can figure out what it is. The term “sharpening angle” has many characteristics. On a knife, the angle of sharpening is the one on which the carts converge. And the supply, in turn, is the very place where the descents of the blade smoothly pass into the cutting edge.

First, find out what is sharpening. This is the restoration of the initial parameters of the cutting edge. Of course, it can be changed, but then you need to look at the material from which the knife is made. Some are made from fragile materials and may not withstand rough work. We give the most commonly used materials from which to make knives.

• Carbon steel is a special alloy of carbon with iron, with the addition of manganese or vanadium. These knives are fine sharpened, but rust over time.
• Stainless steel often found in kitchens. It is also an alloy of carbon, iron and chromium with the addition of nickel or molybdenum. Very often, these knives are blunt, and therefore require sharpening much more often. If suddenly the steel of the blade became dull, it means that the knife is no longer suitable for further use.
• Stainless high carbon steel - an alloy of stainless and carbon steel to which cobalt, molybdenum and vanadium are added. It retains all the best properties of these two alloys, that is, it has high strength, sharpness and time without sharpening.
• Damascus steel considered one of the best (and expensive) materials. It is a blacksmith forging, which involves the alternation of soft and hard alloys. Damascus steel products are always sharpened by hand.
• Titanium alloy manufactured using sintering of titanium with carbide inserts. Such sharpening products are required very rarely. The alloy requires careful handling, as well as the presence of special skills and professional equipment for sharpening.
• Zirconium alloy (ceramic) - is ceramics after pressing and firing. Such products retain their sharpness for a very long time, but require careful handling and storage. Used for cutting soft, thawed products. If you need to sharpen such a knife, then you need to purchase special equipment.

So, before choosing one or another angle of sharpening, you need to know what material the knife is made of.Based on the knowledge of the material, it is possible to draw certain conclusions about the strength of the product and about what it is suitable for. For example, if a knife made of stainless high-carbon steel can be cut into frozen foods, then the ceramic will very poorly survive this treatment.

There is a certain classification of sharpening angles related to the field in which a particular variety is applied. This classification is based on the general position that with a smaller angle of sharpening the blade is much sharper, but less durable. Accordingly, with a greater angle of sharpening, the strength is higher, but the sharpness is lower. For kitchen knives, parameters from 10 to 60 degrees are used, but even here there is a separation according to the types of use.

• Plain Table Knifeused when serving should be equal to 55-60 degrees.
• Household, kitchenused in home cooking is about 30-35 degrees.
• Professional kitchenWhich is used at various power points, sharpened at 25-30 degrees.
• Chef's knife can be used for cutting a variety of products, it is sharpened under 20-25 degrees.
• Knife, which is cut fish, has a sharpening angle strictly 25 degrees.
• Knife, which cut the meat, sharpen an angle of 30 degrees.
• Knife, which is cut vegetables, usually has an angle of 35 degrees.
• Knife used for root vegetables, has an angle of 22-25 degrees.
• For boning knife use an angle of 25-30 degrees.
• The knife that separates the filet part, should have a sharpening of 10-15 degrees. Such knives should be as sharp as possible in order to more accurately separate the loin from the rest of the carcass.
• For frozen meat or fishwhich are very hard and can damage knives made of brittle materials, set a sharpening angle of 30-45 degrees, with an emphasis not on sharpness, but on the strength of the blade.
• Small pen room (folding, folding) products sharpen at an angle of 20-25 degrees.
• Tourist and hunting knives sharpen usually under a specific focus. For cutting carcasses, where sharpness is needed for the most part, the product is sharpened at an angle of 30-35 degrees, and when priority is given to strength and durability, choose an angle of 40-45 degrees.
• Special shoe knives also have two varieties. The first - shoe repair, sharpening an angle of 30-40 degrees. Shoe cutter sharper, therefore, sharpened at an angle of 20-25 degrees.
• Planer universal (he is universal carpentry) should be sharpened at an angle of 30-45 degrees.

Home use implies a less severe division of knives for their intended use. It is unlikely that someone will distinguish the knife for vegetables from the knife for root vegetables. Then enough to calculate the universal angle of sharpening, which is suitable for most kitchen work. The most suitable angle for a kitchen knife, which will be universal for cutting various products - 30-35 degrees. In this embodiment, emphasis is placed on sharpness. When wear resistance is a priority, it is better to sharpen the product at an angle of 40 degrees.

To determine the correct value of the angle can be given the table of common values. This will help to orient with what particular characteristic is more important at the moment: sharpness or strength.

The most accurate angle can be set using a protractor.However, this is not the most common household item. therefore You can do with a protractor with scissors. This method does not provide one hundred percent accuracy, but will allow to calculate the approximate value. You will need scissors and a protractor. Open the scissors and insert in the center of the knife's edge. Then cut the ends of the scissors until they touch the blade. Remove the knife and carefully, so as not to lose the measured result, lean the scissors on a sheet of paper and circle around with a pencil. Then measure with a protractor.

Sharpeners are divided into mechanical and electrical. On electric sharpeners, the sharpening angle is already set. In mechanical sharpeners calculate the angle of inclination is also difficult. The effect of sharpeners is short-lived, but their plus is that sharpening is much faster, and this is convenient when you urgently need to cook something.

However, an electric sharpener with sharpening angle adjustment can greatly simplify your life. It is very simple and intuitive to use.

There are a lot of tools for sharpening a knife. Each has its own specifics of work and its own difficulties.

• Sharpening bar. The most common for sharpening the house. Very easy to use, the only difficulty is maintaining the angle of sharpening. It is necessary to have two bars: coarse and fine-grained. First, the blade is leaned against the coarse bar at an angle of 20-25 degrees and advanced along the surface of the bar. Try not to tilt. After turn and sharpen the other side. Continue to sharpen both sides alternately. After change the bar to fine-grained and polished product.
• Musat Used only for a small correction of sharpness. If the knife is completely blunt, then nutmeg alone will not be enough. We take a knife in one hand, musat in the other. Approximately calculate the angle of 25 degrees, and about 4-6 times we drive the blade along the musatu in both directions. You can put the musatom on the table, if you suddenly hold the tool with your hands, it will not be very convenient for you.
• Pocket Sharpeners These are small grinding stones that are already placed in a plastic case. They already have the required angle, so you don’t have to stand and hold it.
• Grinding machine. It is a two abrasive wheel, rotating due to the presence of an electric motor. Not recommended for use by beginners, as when using such a tool it is easy to damage the blade. Suitable masters who know how to set the angle and avoid heating the metal.

There are also extreme ways of sharpening, which are suitable when there is nothing more at hand. These include:

• ordinary cobblestone, which can slightly improve the state of the blade;
• another knife, when the knives rub against each other with blades for 5-10 minutes, while both are sharpened;
• a large fragment of a bottle or other glass product (it is important not to hurt yourself when sharpening);
• A leather belt is also often used to grind the blade.

How to set the angle of sharpening the knife, see the following video.