apart. As the blade becomes sharp, you will feel the knife pull
more smoothly through the sharpener. It is normal to see some
fine metal shavings during coarse sharpening. Coarse sharpening
should always be followed by honing.
Polishing: Polishing creates an extremely smooth and sharp
blade in standard (double bevel) knives and Japanese Style
(single bevel) knives. It is also safe for maintaining high-quality
Damascus knives. Polishing does not remove metal from the
blade. Before polishing, the blade should already be quite sharp.
To polish a knife, start by holding it horizontally (not tipped up or
down). Place the knife in the central "V". Using your other hand,
spread the upper knobs of the sharpening bars fully apart. Gently
glide the knife back and forth, allowing only the weight of the
knife to exert pressure on the flat sides of the sharpening surface
(see Fig.
). Do not apply downward pressure on the knife.
E
SERRATED KNIVES (BREAD KNIVES)
To sharpen a serrated knife, start by holding it horizontally. Place
the knife in the central "V", then angle it approximately 45
degrees as viewed from the top (see Fig.
). Serrated knives
F
usually have serrations on the right side of the blade while the
left side is flat. In this case, your hand should move right, while the
tip of the blade moves left (see Fig.
). Pull the knife smoothly
F
though the central "V", using just enough downward pressure
to move one upper knob slightly to the side. The knife blade
should touch only one of the carbide sharpeners, on the side
with the serrations. Use the left inner vertical edge of the central
"V" slot of the sharpener as a guide edge to keep the knife from
twisting (see Fig.
G
). Repeat several times. No other sharpening is
necessary.
