Having a sharp knife is the key to safety and efficiency in the kitchen. This is because a sharp blade cuts with ease and rarely ever slips. Keeping your knives sharp doesn't happen on its own however, and requires some active sharpening. The sharpening process can be done using many different methods, but the one we will focussing on in this article is whetstone sharpening.

Whetstones are a type of sharpening stone that have been used for hundreds of years to sharpen blades within a degree of accuracy. It is unanimous amongst knife collectors that whetstones provide the sharpest and most consistent edge out of all the sharpening methods. Every whetstone has a specific grit; this is basically the degree of coarseness or fineness of its surface and is what ultimately sharpens the blade through abrasion.

The higher the grit the finer the surface of the stone. A stone with a fine grit should be used for carving knives and other knives which require a particularly sharp edge, while coarser stones will be required for thick blades such as that of a cleaver.

When using multiple stones, one should always start with the coarsest stone available and move on to the finer stones afterwards. It is advised to use a lubricant when sharpening with a whetstone- mineral oil is the preferred choice, however water will suffice and is the most common choice. Whether you should sharpen a blade from tip to heel or heel to tip is a divided topic, with neither option being the clear winner. What is unanimously agreed upon however, is that the consistency of the direction of the stroke that the blade passes over the stone with is important. So pick one direction and stick with it!

Here is a set of basic guidelines to keep in mind when sharpening a knife with a whetstone:
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1. Starting with the coarsest whetstone, place it into the base provided- a good stone should come with a non-slip base.
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2. Make sure the base is anchored to a secure surface before use.
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3. Use mineral oil or water to lubricate the stone. The heat caused by the friction of sharpening a blade damages the knife overtime and lubricant helps reduce friction between the blade and the stone prolonging the life of the blade.
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4. Hold the knife firmly by its handle with your dominant hand, then place the four main fingers of your other hand- every finger other than your pinky- on the knife to maintain a constant pressure across its blade. Refer to the picture above.
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5. Draw the knife gently across the stone, keeping an even pressure across the blade. Depending on which knife you are sharpening the angle at which you hold your blade will vary. 20 degrees is suitable for chefs knives and other similar blades. You will want to decrease the angle for finer blades such as carving or paring knives and increase the angle for thick blades like the cleaver.
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6. To ensure the edge of the blades is even and in alignment, always sharpen the blade in the same direction.
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7. Be careful not to over sharpen the blade on the coarse stones. Use an equal amount of strokes and pressure on each side of the blade. After about 10 strokes on each side switch the wet stone for a finer grit.
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8. Use the finest stone to finish sharpening. After sharpening wash and dry the knife thoroughly before storing or using.

If you stick to these guidelines you should be able to keep the edges of all of your knives nice and sharp. In terms of how often you should be sharpening them, once a month or so should suffice, unless you are using them heavily in which case once a week might be better. If you enjoyed this article and are interested in learning a bit more about when to use different knives in a kitchen, we highly recommend checking our our chef’s knives explain post.