Sharpening Your Knives - The Tojiro Method
How to re-sharpen your Tojiro knife (applies to most others, depending on angle required)
If your handling of the knife is not correct, the bite of the knife and brilliance and etc, will be lost.
This is an easy introduction to the necessary care and re-sharpening method to keep your high quality knife sharp.
A sharpening steel is mainly used in areas like meat processing etc. It is a professional tool to be used only when the blade is blunted or bent and to take fat off the blade.
It is difficult to use a sharpening steel and there is a knack to using it.
It is not effective if used very often and unless you know how to use it correctly, you can do more harm than good to your Tojiro blade, or any other blade.
The correct angle is more important than the speed you perform the task at.
It looks good on cooking shows, but rarely gives a proper edge to your blade. Be warned.
Please hold knife securely
and hold down with your thumb
to keep knife in a constant angle.
The Whetstone should
absorb enough water until
the air bubbles stop.
Re-sharpen your knife from the
top with the blade towards you.
Keep around a 60 degree angle
between the whetstone and blade
Your aim here is to create a burr,
which indicates that you're
sharpening the blade.
It should be constant along
the blade length.
Gently does it.
Make sure that you
have a burr along the
whole length of the blade.
Only a little one though.
Keep sharpening until
you have a constant
burr on the blade on the edge
which is off the stone.
Turn the knife over.
Start sharpening the other
side of the blade, which will
take off the burr in the process
Finally, take off the burr
by gently stroking the blade
against the finest stone, or
stropping the blade against
a leather belt or piece of
leather glued to a board.
You have only to take off
the burr, not re-sharpen
On single sided blades, sharpen only one side until
you get a small burr and then strop the back of the
blade to take the burr off. Don't be too enthusiastic.
The knife should be kept at around a
20 degrees constant angle
to the steel.
Your left hand holds the steel and your right hand holds the knife.
(Depending on your "handedness")
Then, the knife should touch the steel and you pull it from
the tang of the blade to the top of the blade and then move the
blade from the top of the steel to underneath and repeat this
sequence until you feel it is enough.
Be very careful, very accurate and very scared.
There is a very simple solution to maintaining a constant angle - The Tojiro Blade Holder.
