Losing The Edge: Common Knife Sharpening Mistakes

Sharpening Bowie knives, and other fine blades, is truly an art. While there is a bit of engineering involved where maintaining the bevel is concerned, most of the task revolves around the precision and care usually associated with arts. Maintaining a blade, in fact, is a foundational element of any martial art that makes use of edged weaponry. Sharpening a knife is not difficult but it takes time to learn and time to do. Without investing both, you'll end up ruining your knife.

Bowie knives come in all different edge grinds. How you sharpen your knife will depend upon the grind and the quality of the steel. If you have a cheap, soft knife with a chisel point, a few strokes along a sharpening stone will do the trick. If you have the more common double bevel or saber ground blade, you'll need to be precise and patient about getting the best edge on your knife.

Mistake #2 - Uncontrolled Angles: When you sharpen a knife, you are essentially putting a new edge on it. That edge will be at an angle based on the angle at which you hold the knife. However, if you fail to hold the knife at a consistent angle, you will have uncontrolled edges. The problem here is that while those edges might be sharp, the fact that they are uneven will reduce the quality of your cuts. In addition, it can be easier to injure yourself with this type of blade.

Never sharpen your blade on the stainless steel rods that come with kitchen knives. Those are made, not surprisingly, for kitchen knives, not for Bowie knives. Your Bowie is no common ham slicer. Always use a high-quality sharpening stone and oil to sharpen your Bowie. It will reward you with many years-and, in some cases, generations, of reliable service. Remember to clean your sharpening stone after you're done. Dirty stones are a major mistake.

Where Bowie knives are concerned, a razor edge is possible, provided the steel is good. Remember to use a reliable means of testing your edge. You can try to cut paper via the blade weight or run your finger across the blade opposite the direction of the edge to test for friction. If your knife doesn't seem sharp, give your hands a rest before testing it so the sensitivity in your fingers is restored.