As knives are vital and one of the most used tools by chefs, it is important that they are kept honed or they will face difficulty creating their culinary art. Instead of changing the knives often, they can be honed using a whetstone to keep it in good shape. A whetstone is a type of stone that is used for grinding and honing the edges of tools like scissors, knives, razors, blades, and chisels. They can come in either a flat shape or three dimensional, is natural or artificial, and can come as the oil or water type. The difference between the two types of whetstones is in its preparation; whereby with the oil whetstone, the surface of the stone is greased with a few drops of oil and then smoothened out across its surface, meanwhile, with the water whetstone, the stone is soaked into water for 10 to 15 minutes. To learn how to use a whetstone, read on.
First of all, you should prepare the knife you want to sharpen, the whetstone, a cutting board, and honing steel. Then, you should put the whetstone on the cutting board with the coarse grit side facing upwards. The cutting board is used to keep the whetstone from sliding, preventing the knife to slip as well. Then, hold the knife with the cutting edge of the blade against the whetstone at a 20 degree angle. With your free hand, guide and balance the tip of the knife across the whetstone, and with moderate pressure, slide the blade forward so that the entire length of the knife slides across the whetstone at the 20 degree angle. Only slide them in one direction, and not back and forth. Do this 10 times, and repeat on the other side. Then, turn the whetstone to the fine grit side and repeat the same process 10 times on each side of the knife. Then, to finish up, use a honing steel to hone the blade to smoothen out any jagged edges. The process is similar with the whetstone, holding the knife at a 20 degree angle while drawing it against the honing steel. Repeat this 5 to 6 times, and repeat on the other side. Then, rinse the knife and whetstone, and then wipe them dry to remove any excess metal particles.
For chefs, or anyone who uses sharp tools in their profession like doctors and butchers, knowing how to use a whetstone helps them work efficiently with the tools they use.
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