Do Knife Sharpeners Ruin Knives?

There’s a common misconception that knife sharpeners damage knives. But if you want to use your knife for a longer time, you need to sharpen it. Therefore, you need to know the answer to the question, “Do knife sharpeners ruin knives?”

Knife sharpeners necessarily don’t ruin knives. They are required to keep the knife in good condition for longer. Using a dull knife is more dangerous than using a razor-sharp knife. You need to select a good sharpener and follow sharpening methods properly to avoid damage.

What are the best knife sharpeners, and what methods should you follow to sharpen knives without damaging them? Stay tuned till the end to find out!

What is the best way to sharpen knives: Quick look

Knives may become useless if you do not sharpen them timely. Even when you are sharpening them, you need to follow some specific processes. Using whetstones and electric knife sharpeners is the best way to sharpen knives. you have to sharpen the knife in a way that does not damage the knife.

Let’s have a quick look at these methods:

a) Whetstones:

Whetstones, also known as sharpening stones, are special types of stones used for sharpening knives. They come in different grids and sizes. Whetstones are the best option for sharpening knives due to their gentler nature.

b) Electric knife sharpeners:

An electric knife sharpener is a commercial knife sharpener that runs on electricity. Electric knife sharpeners usually have metal or ceramic slots for sharpening knives. These tools work pretty quickly but are costlier than whetstones.

c) Manual knife sharpener:

Manual knife sharpeners are small tools where you need to pull the knife manually for sharpening, unlike electric ones. These are also excellent and less expensive.

Let’s Reveal The Chemistry

There’s a belief among people that knife sharpeners ruin knives. That’s because the metal from the knife edge wears during the sharpening process. It probably can reduce the lifespan of the knives; that’s a common idea. But is that true?

A knife sharpener doesn’t necessarily ruin or damage knives. In fact, sharpening knives is essential to use the knife for a long time.

Knives have sharp edges, and they will wear off the more you use them. After a certain time, it will become dull and unusable. This is when you need to sharpen your knife.

After sharpening the knife, you will be able to use the knife again. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have. The point here is that knife sharpeners are not ruining knives but making them more usable.

However, you must be careful about what process or sharpener you are using for sharpening your knife. Few low-quality knife sharpeners can actually damage knives.

Using whetstones is the best method for sharpening knives. It is a manual process and seems hard at first.

Hence, you need to master the skill of using whetstones. The good thing about whetstones is that they almost never reduce the functionality of the knives.

On the other hand, electric knife sharpeners are also a good and easy method for sharpening knives. Almost all companies sharpen knives on electric knife sharpeners before selling them to you.

If the machine had to damage the knives, they would already have been damaged when you purchased them.

Although it’s an easy process, you need to be careful using electric knife sharpeners. Careless handling can damage the knives. Now you must be thinking about how to sharpen a knife without damaging it. Let’s find out.

FAQs

1.     Is it bad to sharpen a knife with a knife?

You can not use a knife to sharpen a knife. Forcefully trying to do it may harm the knife. Instead, you can hone your knife with another. It is good for increasing the lifespan of your knife.

2.     How do chefs sharpen their knives?

Chefs regularly hone their knives with other steel knives. Besides, professional chefs often use honing steel to keep their knives sharp. The surfaces are coarse and work excellent to hon knives.

3.     How do professionals sharpen knives?

Professionals sharpen their knives following either the WickedEdge or Tormek system. The Tormek machine wheels only rotate at 90 degrees. 1,000 grit is usually the most suitable. The WickedEdge system is the mountable and repeatable hand method with a digital angle gauge.

4.     What happens if you sharpen a knife too much?

Every time you sharpen a knife, a little bit of metal from the edge gets worn out. If you sharpen your knife too much, most of the metal from the edge will be removed, and the knife edge will get thicker.

5.     How do you ruin a knife?

Careless maintenance can ruin your knife quickly. Some of the reasons why a knife is ruined are using it on glass, leaving it in the sink, using it dull, putting it in the dishwasher, and so on.

Conclusion

I hope you found the answer to the question: Do knife sharpeners ruin knives? However, you should not sharpen your knife too frequently. Instead, hone it after every usage to keep the edges in good condition and sharpen only when necessary.