Sharpening Belts: Grits, Materials, and What to Run on a Knife Grinder

The belt on the grinder is glazed and brown. It came with the machine, did forty knives, and now leaves an edge that looks polished but will not slice paper. That is when most people discover that sharpening belts are the real tool, and the motor just spins them. A belt is a consumable. Grain […]

Pampered Chef Knife Sharpener: What the Consultant Tool Really Is

The Pampered Chef knife sharpener is a consultant sold accessory, not a specialist sharpening tool. Pampered Chef currently lists a Multi-Blade Sharpener (item 1135) and a ceramic rod Honing Tool (item 1057). Older knife sets also shipped with self sharpening storage cases, and many people mean those when they search for a pampered chef knife […]

AccuSharp ShearSharp Scissor Sharpener: What It Does to Scissors

One blade, one stage, one fixed angle. That is the whole AccuSharp ShearSharp scissor sharpener, and it explains every review it has ever earned. A single diamond honed tungsten carbide edge scrapes metal off one scissor blade at a time, at an angle the tool decides for you. That makes the AccuSharp ShearSharp scissor sharpener […]

Sharpening a Karambit: Working the Inside Curve Without Wrecking It

Sharpening a karambit means working the inside of the curve with a round or tapered rod, not a flat stone. A flat stone only touches the tip and the heel of a concave edge. The belly in between never meets the abrasive, so the blade dulls exactly where it does its cutting. The fix is […]

3 Stage Knife Sharpener: What Each Stage Does and Which Ones Are Worth It

Three slots, three abrasives, and roughly one minute per knife. That is the whole pitch behind a 3 stage knife sharpener, and it is a good one when the stages are actually different from each other. On the best machines the first stage shapes the bevel, the second refines it, and the third polishes it […]

Williams Sonoma Knife Sharpening: In Store Service, Cost, and Alternatives

Two different things get lumped together as Williams Sonoma knife sharpening. One is the in store service, where a trained employee runs your knives through a machine on select days. The other is the Knife Aid mail in program, which Williams Sonoma sells on its website but a third party actually performs. The in store […]

Sharpening Scissors With Aluminum Foil: Why the Trick Does Not Work

Sharpening scissors with aluminum foil means folding a sheet into several layers and cutting through it repeatedly, on the theory that the foil grinds the blades sharp. It is not sharpening. Sharpening removes steel to form a fresh edge, and foil is far too soft to remove any steel from a scissor blade. What the […]