Do-it-yourself sharpener. How to sharpen a knife yourself to a razor sharpness

It was based on the material at hand - old ceramic tiles that have served their time.

I decided to describe the experience gained, and since I didn't have a camera with me, the next day I made a new sharpening stone with step-by-step photographs of the entire manufacturing process.

Thus, I prepared practical advice for a home craftsman explaining how to make a grindstone from ceramic tiles with your own hands and sharpen a knife on it with explanatory diagrams, pictures and a video. They complement

The whole work of creating the second bar and photographing it took me about half an hour. You will need the same time, and possibly faster, when making it yourself. Although, I am not urging you to do it yourself: you can just go to the store and buy a whetstone for money.

However, I hope that there are people who will find my information useful.

About the geometry of shapes when sharpening

The sharpening bar, due to frictional forces, changes the shape of the blade and wears out itself. This means that two contacting surfaces work at once on both objects, influencing each other.

If the sharpening knife gets in a blunt state and should acquire the shape of the cutting edge close to ideal, then the whetstone works the other way around: its normal state is violated.

Knife blade shape

I will repeat the cross-sectional diagram of the blade from the previous article, where all its angles and planes are described in detail.

Let us consider in more detail the role of the leads for the formation of the cutting edge in different designs of knife blades. In all models, it should be created by a single very thin line without depressions, protrusions and notches.

The word blade has a root - a wedge that defines its cross-section. The shape of the knife can be:

1. straightforward;
2. curved.

Straight knife cutting edge

The shape of the straight blade is the simplest.

In ideal condition, the cutting edge is a pronounced straight and very thin line. However, there are “masters” who simply apply the blade to the edge on the emery wheel and grind it from both sides according to the “How it works” principle, bending the feeds. This disrupts the work of the blade and its sharpening.

Curved knife cutting edge

In such a blade, the cutting edge is created as a line of conjugation of two curved surfaces of the same type. Both types of blades, convex and concave, require much more attention from the sharpener.

Grindstone surfaces

For the correct sharpening of the blade, the working planes must be kept in perfect condition and be free of depressions and bumps.

A good whetstone placed on a table has a flat surface located.

If it is broken, then the stone will bend the geometry of the cutting edge of the blade. This often happens when the sharpener is using excessive force or driving the knife over one point on the work surface. Defects will appear on it immediately due to uneven wear.

It is unlikely that you can sharpen a knife well with such a tool.

Bar manufacturing technology

Material selection

I made my first homemade whetstone from ceramic tiles 15 by 15 cm, about 6 cm. I don't know the type of ceramic material. I had to grind down a layer of construction glue and ribs of the corrugated surface from the back side to a single level.

To write the article, the next day I took a ready-made piece of Sacmi ceramics from Italy, which remained after the renovation of the bathroom. It has already been cut to a size of 30 by 8 cm. These dimensions allow the blade to be guided along a path that is twice as long: it is easier to sharpen the knife this way.

On the back of the tile there was only a corrugated surface without any foreign mortar. It needed to be ground down and leveled to a single baseline.

Processing tools

Its length is 25 cm longer than the diameter of my emery wheel, and the outer and side surfaces are relatively flat, although far from ideal. The grain size of the stone is quite high.

I saw a similar work several decades ago, when the hostess corrected the blade on the brick of the hearth of the Russian stove.

Grinding Stone Manufacturing Process

The work boiled down to:

• elimination of relief;
• fixing on a wooden base;
• tests.

Removal of relief

He laid the tiles on the brick and manually began to grind the edges of the corrugation.

However, the length of the brick is shorter than my tile. This created some difficulties. I tried to work on two bricks of the same size.

The work goes faster, but it is necessary to control the joint of the ends of both stones and the position of the ceramics.

Since the processing of tiles occurs on random surfaces from scrap materials, the condition of the ground surface should be periodically assessed. Places of different heights are formed on it. This requires adjustments in effort and direction of movement.

The rubbing surfaces of bricks and tiles create abrasive dust. It must be removed.

I tried to wash it off with water, but came to the conclusion that for my conditions it is enough just to sweep one edge of the bar off the brick and shake it off the tile with a sharp motion.

It is necessary to finish this work when zones free from the relief are formed on the surface being created and only separate very thin areas with it remain.

At this stage, you can stop, but it is better to take a strip of sandpaper, wrap it around a flat wooden board or metal plate and use this tool to bring the plane of the grinding stone being created to an ideal state.

After sanding, you will need to wash off the abrasive dust from the new grindstone with ordinary water.

The result is a homemade sharpening block from available tools with a flat ceramic grinding surface.

For the convenience of further work with him, I make an additional base in different places.

Improvement of the design

It took the simplest set that every home master has:

• a piece of board is slightly wider than a whetstone;
• hacksaw;
• awl;
• screwdriver;
• screws.

Fastening process

I put the sharpening block on the edge of the board, as shown in the photo above and use an awl to make markings for screwing in the mounting screws from the opposite side.

For this purpose, I used not modern, but old Soviet-made screws.

They must be screwed in so that the caps hold the end of the ceramic and are sunk one third below its height. This will allow you to sharpen the knife without the possibility of hitting the fasteners.

In the same way, I make the attachment from the sides of the bar.

On the remaining fourth side, I fix the ceramics with screws and corners.

The bottom holes of the corners will allow you to attach the entire structure to the prepared nails without a head on the workbench. At the same time, they will not interfere with the work of this device on a regular table.

It remains to choose a convenient length of the handle of the sharpening bar and cut off the excess board with a hacksaw.

The knife sharpening tool is made by hand. It remains to evaluate it at work.

Testing

To test how such a sharpening block works, an old knife from a cutlery set with a curved blade was taken.

Literally after several sharpening movements, clearly visible traces of metal filings appeared on the grinding surface, remaining from the processing of the blade.

They must be washed off periodically with water.

To sharpen the knife correctly, the surface of the whetstone must be kept clean. Then she will begin to work with the maximum effect of her capabilities.

The cutting edge of the knife formed very quickly.

I didn't finish it on the skin with GOI paste, but just checked how it works on paper and hair of the hand. The blade coped with the paper by a C, but as a razor it turned out to be unsuitable: processing was performed too quickly, and polishing was not carried out.

Yes, in everyday life, this is usually not necessary. After all, an elite tool can always be brought to a shaving condition. The main thing is that a well-working sharpening block can be quite simply made from ceramic tiles by any home craftsman with his own hands.

Features of creating a cutting edge on a bar

I will add and remind you of the basic sharpening rules that require compliance:

• it is necessary to work carefully and carefully, without the application of significant efforts: one careless movement can spoil the approach plane with the cutting edge;
• when sharpening the knife, they constantly monitor the stability of the angle of inclination to the bar and the width of the feeds;
• the blade should always be guided along the movement with a sharp edge, and not from the butt side.

If the blade is severely bent by improper sharpening, then it is permissible to grind off all the protruding parts on emery to the general level, and then process it on a bar.

Using a sharpening stone, the angle of sharpening is created by controlling the inclination of the blade, which is half its value. For this, the approach plane must be exactly on the surface of the bar.

Sharpening curved blades

Convex knives

When sharpening, such a blade is applied to the surface of the grindstone and it is made not straight, but curvilinear movement, which repeats the shape of the cutting edge. It should always be located perpendicular to the movement being made.

Concave knives

This blade design is not often found in household use, for example, among gardeners in a grafting tool. Their processing is very complex and requires special skills and tools.

It is easy to ruin a concave blade without proper preparation with a regular bar. Such sharpening must be studied separately or entrusted to an experienced master. Therefore, I will not consider its features here.

The service life of any knife directly depends on the methods of its operation and the procedure for sharpening the blade. Devices for sharpening knives are so diverse that they allow a modern person not to resort to the work of specialists, but to do all the work on their own at home. For sharpening knives, you can use either a special industrial-made device or any device made by yourself. It is important to know that simple elements for sharpening knives (for example, a touchstone), which are at hand, can do a bad job and the sharpness of the product will not only not return, but gradually the product will become completely unusable. In this case, any home-made device for sharpening knives can be based on the use of these very simple sharpening devices. Detailed information on how to make a do-it-yourself sharpener can be found below.

A home-made manual knife sharpening machine, provided that all the requirements for its creation are met, will simplify the sharpening of knives and its performance will be no worse than a professional one. Correct sharpening includes the following rule: each type of cutting product has a certain angle of sharpening of the edge, which must be constant along the entire length of the blade (see table No. 1). The sharpening device, which will initially be based on this principle, will give the master a sharp edge of the knife for a long time.

Table No. 1. Grinding angle in parallel with the type of cutting device

Edging during sharpening should be uniform. To fulfill this condition, the following rules must be observed:

• the blade must be fixed in the vice of the device reliably and efficiently, without damaging the metal of the blade;
• the movement of the donkey along the axis of the knife edge must be uniform and strictly at a certain angle;
• the point of contact of the blade must be strictly perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the sharpening device;
• the pressure on the knife blade should change smoothly depending on the change in the contact area between the blade and the sharpener.

Simple device for sharpening knives

The simplest device for sharpening knives is based on the use of an angle frame and a donkey. The price of such a primitive factory-made device is quite high, just as the price of replaceable whetstones is high, while making such a device for sharpening knives at home will not be the slightest difficulty for the master. You will need the following inventory:

1. Wooden blocks of the same size - 4 pcs.
2. Drill (or any other drilling tool).
3. Bolts and nuts (approx. 4 pcs.).
4. Touchstone.
5. Protractor.

First, you need to make a pair of wooden corners, placing the bars to each other strictly at an angle of 90º (Fig. 1). Close the resulting wooden corners with each other in parallel as a whole and drill through the holes along the diameter of the bolts. Insert the bolts into the holes, and tighten the corners slightly to each other with nuts.

The point of this invention is that it is possible to sharpen simply by holding the knife vertically in relation to the sharpening surface located at a given angle.

The most important thing is to properly fix the whetstone between the wooden corners of the fixture. To do this, using a protractor, you need to set the desired angle of inclination of the donkey and tighten the bolts tightly to clearly fix the position of the donkey.

With some modification of the device, you can also fix the position of the knife relative to the sharpening stone. A significant disadvantage of such a machine for manual sharpening is the impossibility of smooth adjustment of the angle of inclination of the sharpening stone.

Device for sharpening from mounting angles

The diagram and drawings of a homemade knife sharpener from the mounting corners, based on the Lansky device, are clearly shown below.

To assemble this device you will need:

1. Metal corners 90 * 90 mm with a wall thickness of 6 mm.
2. Stud with M6 thread and 160 mm length.
3. Thin rod (electrode, spoke, etc.).
4. Touchstone.
5. 2 rectangular pieces of metal (sponges for clamping the touchstone).
6. Pliers.
7. Hacksaw for metal.
8. A file (or any other tool for working on sharp corners).
9. A set of hardware (nuts and bolts).

In both metal jaws, intended for fixing the donkey, you need to drill under the connecting bolt. Fix the touchstone. A thin, smooth needle, pre-bent at an angle of 90 º, must be inserted and secured in the hole of one of the jaws. In the future, with the help of this latch in the form of a spoke, a certain angle of inclination of the donkey will be set. Such a device for sharpening knives is characterized by an extensive coverage of the sharpening angle, which, undoubtedly, will interest most craftsmen.

Fixed blade machines

Knife sharpening machines with fixed blades will attract the attention of those people who want to sharpen a knife not only efficiently, but also quickly. The design, which rigidly fixes the knife blade relative to the grinding stone moving at a set angle, allows you to precisely set the angle of inclination.

To create such a homemade machine tool with your own hands you will need:

1. The base is a rectangular wooden plate with dimensions 440 * 92 mm and a thickness of 18 mm.
2. Wooden plate 92 * 45 * 45 mm (for fixing the vertical threaded rod).
3. Wooden block 245 * 92 mm and 18 mm thick (the plate to which the knife will be attached).
4. Iron plate 200 * 65 mm and metal thickness 4 mm.
5. Piano hinge, 92 mm long.
6. Hairpin М8, 325 mm long.
7. Nuts and bolts with M8 thread.
8. Drill 6.5 mm.
9. Tap М8.
10. Self-tapping screws 50 mm, 4 pcs.

The die for fixing the vertical threaded rod must be drilled through with a 6.5 mm drill. The hole should be located 15 mm from the edge of the die, approximately in the center.

Next, in the resulting hole, you need to cut the thread for the M8 stud. A wooden block prepared in this way must be screwed to the base at a distance of 265 mm from the edge using ordinary self-tapping screws 50 mm long, screwed into the back of the base.

After securing the wooden part of the holding device, you can start attaching the iron plate. In the center of the plate 200 * 65 mm, you need to drill an oblong groove, 90 mm long and about 1 cm wide. The groove should be located from the edge of the clamping plate at a distance of 60 mm. Additionally, it is required to drill a hole at a distance of 20 mm from the opposite edge and cut a thread in it for an M8 bolt. Then you need to attach the clamping plate with this bolt to the previously prepared wooden base. Using another bolt and a suitable washer, fix the clamping plate in the center of the cut out groove. The fixation should be clear, but neat, so as not to damage the surface of the blade.

The most difficult part of assembling this device is to prepare an adjustment device that will set the knife sharpening angle. For this you will need:

• metal square profile 40 × 40 mm;
• furniture bracket, 40 mm wide;
• a pair of rivets;
• plywood block 42 × 25 and 18 mm thick;
• bolt and nut M5;
• a pair of wing nuts M8;
• touchstone;
• steel bar with a diameter of 0.8 cm and a length of 40 cm.

A pair of holes must be drilled on a plywood block: a through hole with a diameter of 8 mm along a cross section of 42 × 18 mm (set the distance from the edge along the 42 mm side to 15 mm) and a through hole with a diameter of 5 mm on the side with a cross section of 42 × 25 mm (distance from edge 10 mm). The square pipe should be cut in half so that you get a "P" -shaped bracket with a width of 40 * 15 mm and 20 mm ears. You need to drill 8 mm holes in the ears, into which an M8 hairpin will be inserted in the future. Connect the resulting bracket to the furniture hinge using rivets. To the resulting structure, using the second part of the furniture bracket, pull the plywood block with the M5 bolt.

Connect the touchstone to the guide rod, which is a steel rod with a cross section of 8 mm. When connecting the donkey and the guide rod, make sure that their center lines coincide. If desired, for the convenience of using the sharpener, a handle-holder can be adapted to the donkey on the back side. It remains to fix the touchstone in the guide mechanism, fix it with a lamb and the homemade knife sharpening device is ready.

Machines with fixed sharpening surfaces

Machines with fixed, sharpened surfaces are a simple modification of the tool for processing household knives. In such a device, there is no possibility of adjusting the sharpening angle, while you can preset several different angles for sharpening different types of knives. Sharpening the blades with such machines is not difficult, you just need to drive the blade over abrasive surfaces in the recess.

The device consists of a pair of planes inclined to each other at a certain angle, one of which is a grindstone.

Electric knife sharpeners

The procedure for creating an electric sharpening machine is simple: it is enough to equip almost any device for sharpening knives and scissors with an electric drive. Such a sharpening machine allows you to quickly and efficiently sharpen the product and at the same time provides a higher-quality concave shelf at the edge of the blade.

The mechanism of an electric sharpener for sharpening knives contains a guide, which is placed along the axis of rotation of the sharpening bar, and with which the blade is adjusted at a given angle. The sharpening angle is set and set by the guide, and the clamping force is determined by the master.

Particular attention must be paid to the sharpening speed, because the electric drive allows you to sharpen the product at high speed, as a result of which the surface of the knife heats up. Such surface heating leads to tempering of the hardened steel, as a result of which the knife can quickly lose its hardness and its service life will be significantly reduced. To prevent steel tempering, sharpening on a high-speed electric grinder should be performed in short intervals and with sufficient breaks to allow the knife to cool down.

Making sharpening stones

It will not be difficult for a modern master to make stones for sharpening with his own hands. For this you will need:

• a wooden die in the size of the future sharpener;
• epoxy resin;
• cardboard box according to the size of the bar;
• abrasive;
• protective rubber gloves.

As an abrasive, you can use a ready-made powder, or you can prepare an abrasive of your own production, for example, from an old green bar of Soviet production. A similar block can be ground into powder and used in the future as an abrasive.

A wooden block needs to be processed on one side with sandpaper and a saw to make frequent notches. Mix epoxy with abrasive grit. Having previously placed the block in a cardboard box glued to the size of the block, cover the prepared surface of the wooden block with a mixture of epoxy resin and abrasive. Once the resin has completely cured, the bar is ready to use.

Another option for making stones for sharpening with your own hands is to create a whetstone from small rectangular glass plates about 5 mm thick. Using double-sided adhesive tape, sandpaper is glued to the surface of the glass plate. The sharpening block is ready for use.

Tool for sharpening from wooden blocks

A simple tool for sharpening knives is a tool consisting of a pair of wooden slats and a pair of abrasive bars with the same geometric dimensions.

Wooden slats should be carefully sanded with abrasive paper. Then, after applying the auxiliary marking, depending on the sharpening angle of the knife, make cuts to a depth of 15 mm. Insert emery bars into the resulting holes so that each groove coincides, and then fasten them with bolts. To give the sharpener more stability, the lower part of the surface can be padded with a piece of rubber.

The types of tools for sharpening the cutting tool are different and each master will be able to opt for that manual machine that will fully satisfy his needs.

The advent of the Edge Pro grinding machines revolutionized without exaggeration. The prices are really high, but no one bothers to copy the principle and create such a device yourself. We offer the design of a simple machine for sharpening knives, chisels and any other blades that you can make with your own hands.

Machine base

Most parts for a sharpening machine can be made from literally anything, following the general principle of the device. As an example, let us take laminated or polished box plywood with a thickness of 8-12 mm, which was widely used in the manufacture of cases of Soviet radio engineering.

The base must be heavy - about 3.5-5 kg ​​- otherwise the machine will be unstable and unsuitable for sharpening heavy chopping tools. Therefore, the inclusion of steel elements in the design is encouraged, for example, the base of the case can be “shod” with a 20x20 mm corner.

Two pieces in the shape of a rectangular trapezoid with bases of 170 and 60 mm and a height of 230 mm must be cut out of plywood with a jigsaw. When cutting, leave a 0.5-0.7 mm allowance for machining the ends: they should be straight and exactly correspond to the markings.

The third part is an inclined plane made of a plywood board with dimensions of 230x150 mm. It is installed between the inclined sides of the side walls, with the trapeziums of the side walls resting on the rectangular side.

In other words, the base of the machine is a kind of wedge, but the ramp should protrude 40 mm at the front. At the ends of the side walls, use a thickness gauge to set two lines indented by half the thickness of the plywood. Drill three holes in each plank to secure the parts with screws. Transfer the drilling to the ends of the inclined part, temporarily connect the base parts.

At the rear, the side walls are connected with a 60x60 mm bar, which is attached to the end with two screws on each side. A 10 mm vertical hole must be made in the bar with an indentation of 50 mm from the center, that is, 25 mm from the edge. To be sure of verticality, it is best to first drill with a thin drill on both sides and then widen. From the top and bottom, screw into the hole two sleeves with an internal thread M10, and in them - a 10 mm hairpin 250 mm long. Here it may be necessary to slightly adjust the bottom sleeve if its threads are not aligned with the stud.

Assistant device

Remove the flat inclined part from the base - it needs to be modified, equipped with a device for fixing and clamping the tool being processed.

First, set aside 40 mm from the front edge and along this line with a hacksaw, saw down a groove about 2 mm deep. Using a sectional knife or a boot knife from the end of the board, split the two top layers of veneer to form a sample into which you can insert a 2 mm steel plate flush with the common plane.

The handrail consists of two steel slats 170x60 mm and 150x40 mm. They need to be folded together along the long end with even indents along the edges and make three 6 mm through holes. The strips along these holes must be tightened with bolts, placing the caps on the side of the upper, larger plate. Arc welding bake each head, welding it to the plate, then remove the beads of metal and grind the plate until a perfectly flat plane is obtained.

Attach a narrower striker to the notch on the edge and relocate the holes with a drill, then bolt the handlebar. Before installation, it can also be magnetised with direct current, this will help in sharpening small blades.

Latching mechanism

The second part of the handcuff is the clamping bar. It also comes in two pieces:

1. The upper L-shaped strip is 150x180 mm with a shelf width of about 45-50 mm.
2. The bottom striker is rectangular 50x100 mm.

The details need to be folded in the same way as the parts of the handcuff were folded, placing the striker at the far edge of the upper clamp. In the center we make two holes with an indent of 25 mm from the edges of the small part, through them we tighten the parts with two 8 mm bolts. They need to be started in opposite directions, while the head of the upper (near) bolt is located on the side of the clamping bar. The bolt heads are also welded to the plates and pre-grinded to neat rounds.

On an inclined board with an indent of 40 mm from the edge, draw a line with a thickness gauge, and make one 8 mm hole 25 mm from the top and bottom edges. Connect the edges of the holes with a marking and with a jigsaw make a cut with an allowance. Bring the resulting groove with a file to a width of 8.2-8.5 mm.

Fasten the hold-down and striker plate through the groove in the plank. Tighten the bolt protruding from the top with a nut so that the bar retains minimum movement, then lock the connection with the second nut. To press or release the strap from the bottom (in the base niche), screw the wing nut onto the second bolt.

Sharpening angle adjustment

Throw a wide washer onto the pin screwed into the base block and tighten the nut so that the rod does not rotate in the sleeves.

The adjusting shoe must be made from a small block of solid material with dimensions of about 20x40x80 mm. Take carbolite, textolite or hardwood.

At 15 mm from the edge, the block is drilled into a 20 mm end on both sides, the hole expands to 9 mm, then we cut a thread inside. With an offset of 50 mm from the axis of the hole made, the second is drilled, but in the flat part of the part, that is, perpendicular to the previous one. This hole should have a diameter of about 14 mm, and it should be flared strongly with a round rasp.

The block is screwed onto a pin, so it is possible to relatively accurately adjust the height of the eyelet without a complex system of screw locks, as in the original machine, which is a little more difficult to implement in practice. In order for the block to be motionless during operation, it must be countered on both sides with M10 wing nuts.

Carriage and replacement blocks

For a sharpening carriage, you will need to coaxially weld 30 cm pieces of an M10 hairpin and a smooth, even bar 10 mm thick. You also need two solid blocks with dimensions of approximately 50x80 mm and a thickness of up to 20 mm. A 10 mm hole should be made in each bar in the center and at a distance of 20 mm from the top edge.

A wing nut is first screwed onto the bar, then a wide washer and two bars, again a washer and a nut. Rectangular sharpening stones can be clamped between the blocks, but it is better to make several replaceable whetstones.

As a basis for them, take a light aluminum profile with a flat part 40-50 mm wide. It can be a rectangular profile pipe or pieces of an old eaves profile.

We skin the flat part and degrease it, "Moment" stick on it strips of sandpaper of different grain size from 400 to 1200 grit. Choose a fabric-backed sandpaper, and glue a strip of suede leather on one of the blocks to straighten the blades with an abrasive paste.

How to sharpen correctly

For correct sharpening, make several templates from plywood with angles of 14-20º for cutting edges and 30-37º for cutting edges, the exact angle depends on the grade of steel. Lock the blade parallel to the edge of the handrail and press down with a bar. Using the template, adjust the angle between the planes of the sharpening block and the tilted tabletop.

Start sharpening with a coarse (P400) bar if the edge does not have the correct angle. Make sure that the descent strip takes the form of a straight strip without convolutions and waves. Reduce grit and work on both sides of the blade with a P800 bar and then a P1000 or P1200 bar. When sharpening the blade, slide the bar lightly in both directions.

After sharpening, the blade needs to be corrected with a "leather" bar, on which a small amount of GOI paste has been applied. When dressing the blades, the working movement is directed only towards the edge (towards itself), but not against it. And finally, a little tip: if you sharpen knives with polished blades and engraving, cover them with masking tape so that the crumbling abrasive does not leave scratches. It also does not hurt to paste over the surface of the handcuff with vinyl self-adhesive.

It is quite difficult to sharpen a knife correctly by hand. It will take some time to develop the habit of maintaining a constant sharpening angle, which is not easy at all. A knife sharpening device can make the task easier. There are factory options. But for good copies you have to pay off a couple of hundred dollars, and this is clearly a lot. The good news is that these devices are easy to make with your own hands. Moreover, many homemade knife sharpeners are not worse in terms of functionality than from well-known manufacturers, but they cost many times cheaper.

Knife sharpening basics

Knives have different uses, and even in an ordinary kitchen there are several of them. There is for cutting bread and other soft foods, there is for cutting meat, chopping bones, and other hard objects. And these are only household ones. But there are still those who take on hunting and fishing. If you look closely, you will see that they all have a different sharpening angle (this is if they were not sharpened at home). It is the sharpening angle that is the most important characteristic, which is determined by the purpose of the given blade.

At what angle

The sharpening angle is determined based on the main field of application of a particular blade:

These are general guidelines based on years of experience. There are, however, options: some blades have several zones with different sharpening. This wishes them to be more versatile, but the complexity of sharpening increases many times over.

From the above it follows that the device for sharpening knives should be able to set the required sharpening angle. And this is the main difficulty in its design and manufacture.

How to sharpen

Sharpening stones of various grain sizes are used to sharpen knives. They are conventionally divided into coarse, medium and small. Why conditionally? Because different countries have their own designation of grain size. The most convenient classification is by the number of grains per unit area. It is expressed in numbers: 300, 600, 1000, etc. Some firms also duplicate in English terms. Here is an approximate division:

In addition to the grain size, whetstones are distinguished by their origin: they are of natural origin (shale, corundum, etc.), there are ceramic and diamond. Which is better? It is difficult to say - a matter of taste, but natural ones grind off faster and are rarely fine-grained.

Natural ones are soaked in water before use or simply moistened with it. They absorb water and, during sharpening, an abrasive paste is formed on the surface from the water and separated abrasive particles, which increases the sharpening efficiency. For the same purposes, you can use a special little (honing oil) or a mixture of water and soap (whichever you prefer). In general, with each of the sharpening stones, you need to try all these options and choose the best one.

The shape of the sharpening stone for sharpening knives is a bar, and it is desirable that its length be much longer than the length of the blade - it is easier to sharpen. Convenient bars with double grain - on the one hand, larger, on the other - finer. For sharpening knives for ordinary purposes, it is enough to have two bars with medium grain (different) and two small ones (one can be very small).

Manual sharpening procedure

The device for sharpening knives only facilitates the process of guiding the edge, therefore, knowledge of manual sharpening techniques is required. It is impossible to sharpen the knife correctly without them.

The order of sharpening knives is as follows:

On this we can assume that the sharpening of the knife is finished. Some are still finishing the edge on the old belt. A piece of belt can be fixed on a wooden block (glue, not nailed), rub with goyi paste. Then carry out several times alternately with one or the other side, but with the cutting edge turned back. So the last grooves left by the abrasive are polished and the belt is not "cut" at the same time.

How to make a homemade knife sharpener

All homemade knife sharpeners solve the main problem - they allow you to accurately maintain a given angle of inclination of the bar to the blade, which is very important for obtaining a good cutting edge. There are very simple devices, there are a little more complicated ones, but they allow you to work with greater comfort. Choose according to your taste.

Some of the options are from improvised means

Simple device for sharpening knives

Basically it is a sharpening stone holder. Everything is elementary: two triangles made of wood, which are connected with pins with "lambs". A bar is clamped between the corners at the required angle. You can set the angle using a protractor, a special program on a smartphone, or using the rules of trigonometry (right-angled triangle).

Knife sharpener - abrasive holder

When sharpening on such a device, the knife must be kept strictly vertical at all times. This is much easier than holding it at a certain angle.

The same idea has another embodiment: on a reliable base, make movable holders, into which the bars are inserted and fixed in the desired position. The corporate prototype is in the photo below.

This homemade knife sharpener is made of wooden blocks. It turns out that it is light, so that it does not move from its place, it must be fixed with something. To avoid holding it with your hand, you can use clamps.

Swivel holders allow you to set a predetermined angle, and then fix it with the help of "lambs"

Such a device for sharpening knives, of course, makes it easier to work, but it is still quite difficult to maintain an angle: you have to control the verticality of the blade all the time. This habit develops over time, but it's difficult to get started.

The device on wheels

An interesting version of a manual knife sharpener with a fixed bar and a trolley on wheels, on which the knife is fixed. It is made on the basis of knife sharpeners, chisels and planers. Such a device also works well with a knife, but it is necessary to adapt to sharpening a rounded edge.

In this embodiment, as in manual sharpening, the bar is stationary, and the blade of a knife fixed on a movable cart moves. The angle is set by the height of the bar relative to the platform on which the blade is mounted. The peculiarity of this device is that the table must be flat. It can be a table top made of natural stone, you can put glass on a regular table.

In the above version, the angle changes slightly, which is usually enough for sharpening the same type of knives, for example, kitchen ones. If necessary, the design can be improved by adding holders (pictured below).

All this is implemented very simply, as it resembles an ordinary constructor: strips, holes in them, everything is assembled on bolts and screws.

To ensure the immobility of the bar, there is also a device.

The plus of this whole design is that it is easy to unfold the knife while maintaining perpendicularity in the rounded area, and also very easy to process from the other side: you need to turn the cart over. For this, four pairs of wheels are made.

Homemade manual knife sharpening machine

Slightly more complex and much more convenient home-made devices that are made on the basis of well-known proprietary devices. They have an adjustable platform on which the knife is fixed. The platform is exposed at a given angle. The block is mounted on a movable bar attached to the rack.

Hand-made devices are somewhat similar to the design presented above, but there are some differences. There are many options. Here are some.

Option one: a fixed platform on which the blade is fixed

This fixture is made from remnants of laminate (can be used), two steel rods with a diameter of 8 mm and a movable fixture.

This design has a fixed base, to which a platform with a knife holder is attached to ordinary hinges. The near edge of the platform can be raised at some angle that is convenient for work. But otherwise she is motionless.

On the vertically mounted steel bar, there is a movably mounted retainer, in which a loop is attached to the side. A rod is inserted into it, on which the bar is fixed. This loop is a simple, but not the best solution: there is no rigid fixation, which means that the corner will "walk".

Particular attention should be paid to the block retainer. An emphasis is made on the rod at some distance from the edge (about 30-35 cm). This will be a fixed retainer. The second is made movable, it is fixed after installing the bar with a screw and a thread cut in the body of the holder. The second option is to cut a thread on the rod and tighten the installed bar with a nut.

Knife holder - one or two steel plates fixed on a movable platform. They are fixed movably - with screws and "thumbs". Having loosened the fasteners, insert the knife blade, clamp it. It is very difficult to move it. Then, having installed a pin with a fixed bar in the loop, adjust its height so that the required angle is set.

You can, as in the photo, make templates with the desired angles and achieve the coincidence of the planes. After the transverse bar is fixed, you can work - hold the bar in the desired direction.

This device for sharpening knives works well, but you can only move the abrasive along the blade when sharpening a kitchen knife. Classic sharpening - movement perpendicular to the cutting edge. This can be achieved on the straight edge of the blade. If the blade is short, it will be almost perpendicular, but this will not be done on the rounded part on the fixed holder. And all such devices "suffer" from this drawback. Once again: they are a great option for sharpening kitchen knives (below is another good option from the same series).

Option two: with a movable platform and a magnetic holder

In this version of a homemade knife sharpening device, the problem of previous sharpening is solved. Here the frame remains motionless, which sets the angle of movement of the bar. The bar holder moves freely along a guide set at the desired angle. The knife is mounted on a movable table. You can, as in the presented version, make a magnetic holder, you can - the usual one from a metal plate and "lambs". Move the table so that the movement of the abrasive is perpendicular. Actually, everything is in the video.

One clarification: in this case, it is very important that the surface on which the table with the fixed knife moves is horizontal and even. You can put glass or use a polymer countertop (marble will work too).

Every housewife at least once in her life has come across the fact that her knives in her kitchen are dull, with which she usually cuts bread, butches meat or chops vegetables. Using such knives is not only inconvenient, but also dangerous, because the blade can break off the product and injure you. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically sharpen the tool using special devices. In stores, such devices are presented in a huge assortment, but for some reason they do not suit consumers. In such a situation, a do-it-yourself knife sharpener can be made. In principle, it is not difficult to find drawings and diagrams for work, and we will give detailed master classes in this article.

What conditions must be observed when sharpening knives?

Do you know how to sharpen knives correctly? In fact, there are a number of rules that can be followed to achieve the perfect result.

The necessary conditions look like this:

• For a long and effective operation of knives when sharpening them, it is necessary to pay maximum attention to the angle between the edges of the blade. During sharpening, it is imperative to restore the initially set angle so that it meets technological standards, allows you to cut products quickly, efficiently, freely.
• It is necessary to find the optimal angle for each blade. So, for example, a scalpel or razor should have an angle of 10-15 degrees, devices for cutting fruits, bread and vegetables - 15-20 degrees. Knives for working with hard materials need to be sharpened at an angle of 30-40 degrees.
• It is quite difficult to sharpen the blade without a special device. Holding the knife only with your hands, it is difficult to achieve the desired angle of inclination. So it is to facilitate this process that there are sharpeners.

In fact, a do-it-yourself knife is made as easy as shelling pears, because all such devices have a simple design and it won't take you a lot of time to create them.

Varieties and manufacture of sharpening stones

There are a large number of stones on the market for turning knives, but the most popular of them are the following types:

• Water tools. Working with them necessarily involves the use of water, thereby saving the surface of the stones.
• Oil stone. It is very similar in shape and structure to water, the only difference is that its surface is a little oily.
• Natural stones. They are made from natural materials that have previously undergone industrial processing.
• Artificial instruments. They are made from non-natural components.
• Rubber devices. They are no less common on the market, but it is extremely inconvenient to work with them.

Before making a knife in the form of an abrasive bar, you need to purchase several rectangular glass plates 4-5 mm thick.

Then make the sharpener according to the scheme:

1. Using double-sided tape, glue sandpaper of different grain sizes to the surface of the plates.
2. Tighten the nuts carefully to avoid cracking the glass.

Important! During the operation of such a device, water is not used, which is why the abrasive wears out quickly enough.

When sharpening knives with an abrasive bar, too sharp movements should be avoided, otherwise it will overheat and the blade will lose its useful properties.

Products for sharpening knives from wooden bars

It is quite simple to make a sharpener from two abrasive and two wooden blocks, the main thing is that the starting materials are of the same size.

You will need to perform the following actions:

• Sand the wooden blocks thoroughly with sandpaper, remove any burrs.
• Pre-mark the bars, taking into account the required angle of inclination.
• Attach a stone to the resulting line, mark its width on both sides of the wooden block.
• Make cuts along the markings on the piece of wood.

Important! Make sure that their depth does not exceed 1.5 cm.

• Insert the abrasive stones into the grooves so that they line up with the grooves.
• Bolt the sharpening stones, attach a piece of rubber from the bottom.

Do-it-yourself knife-edge from the mounting corners

Use this master class so that you get a high-quality do-it-yourself knife. You can get the drawings on the Internet.

Tools and materials required for work:

• Metal plates 4 by 11 cm.
• Standard size aluminum corners.
• Metal rods 15 cm long.
• Sharpening machine with a vice.
• File.
• A set of bolts and nuts.
• File.

Make a sharpener according to these instructions:

1. Make a marking according to the drawing for the holes in the plates.
2. Drill holes, cut threads.
3. Round off sharp edges and corners with a file.
4. Make holes in the corner according to the diagram.
5. Expand the needle support file with a file.
6. Thread the stud holes.
7. Insert the rods into the outer holes, fix them with nuts.
8. Screw the bolt into the widest hole with the nut pre-screwed onto it.
9. Insert the bolts into the remaining holes to clamp the knife.
10. Screw nuts on the ends of the rods, lay a corner on top to fix the nuts.
11. Assemble a device to hold the sharpening stone from a thin metal rod, a wing nut and two holders.

Important! Such a sharpener can have the widest range of degrees of pressure angle, it is incredibly convenient in terms of operation.

Making an electric knife sharpener at home

Do-it-yourself electric knife-knife is made a little more complicated, because the device itself has a complex design.

Prepare the following materials and devices:

• Vacuum cleaner.
• Washer plan.
• Electrical engine.
• Stanin.
• Fencing.

Complete the work, clearly following the diagram.