Whetstone Sharpening | Beginner’s Guide + 5 Mistakes to Avoid 🔪

Whether you're a total beginner with whetstone sharpening or you've already given it a try, I'm going to share with you 5 common sharpening mistakes to avoid, and what to do instead. Before you know it your knife will be razor sharp and ready to handle all of your slicing and dicing with ease.

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Whetstone Grits:
Low Grit - Coarse: 200 - 600 grit - Used on extremely dull knives and to repair nicks and chips in the blade. This helps to remove old, worn metal quickly.
Medium Grit: 800 - 2000 grit - Generally a good place to start, especially for beginners. A medium grit stone will smooth out the knife bevel and will help to refine the edge.
High Grit - Fine: 3000 - 8000 or more - These stones are used to smooth, polish and refine the blade, ensuring that your knife keeps a sharp edge.

The Whetstone Grit Progression I used in this video: 400 to 1000 to 3000 to 8000

Note: Only finish with an 8,000 grit on a Japanese knife if you cut a lot of fruits and vegetables.

German Knives and French Knives:
Finish with a 2,000 to 4,000 grit
Generally use a 20 degree angle, but always check your knife’s manufacturer’s instructions.
Will feel heavier in your hand

Japanese Knives:
Made of harder steel
Generally use a 15 degree angle, but always check your knife’s manufacturer’s instructions.
Finish with a 6,000 to 8,000 grit stone
Tend to feel lighter in your hand

Splash-n-go Stones:
Do not require soaking, just a splash of water
Tend to be more expensive
Not as beginner-friendly

How Long to Soak the Whetstone:
Low and Medium Grit Stones: About 5 to 10 minutes. When the air bubbles stop getting released the stone is ready.
Fine Stones: Only a few minutes at the most. Some fine stones are delicate and will become easily broken if soaked at all. Check your whetstone’s instructions. Some only require a splash of water, similar to a splash stone.

What is a “Burr?”
A burr is the curved lip of waste metal that forms on the edge of the blade as you are sharpening with a whetstone. The act of creating a burr is referred to as “raising a burr.” You will feel a slight catch as you move over the edge, indicating the presence of a burr. This is a good thing! But at the end of the sharpening process we can “de-burr” the edge and smooth it down using a fine stone to smooth the burr.

RECOMMENDED GEAR:
- Vessel to soak your whetstone
- Old towel or paper towels
- Something to raise your stone (either a bamboo tray that accompanies some whetstones or a stone holder)
- Paper to test your knife’s sharpness
- An apron to keep your clothes clean

OPTIONAL:
- Angle guide + Scotch tape or painter’s tape to protect the back of your knife if you attach an angle guide to it.

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Christine's Natural Kitchen participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, which means I may make a small commission on purchases using my links. Thank you for your support!

#beginnersguide #mistakes #whetstone

[Forevertheillst]

Thank you for this video. Clear and informative. Exactly what i needed. Plus a calm and soothing vibe. Thanks!

[zionpsyfer]

Clear and informative. Bonus points for the chill vibe.🙂

[righttouchentertainment-go]

Very clear and precise presentation. Great video. I had no idea about so much of this. I had sharpened my knives incorrectly in the past. This helped me understand a lot. It seems to be a highly technical topic with many variables. Thanks for a great video - once again!

[kenmunroe]

Thank you for the video - I recently ordered a sharpening set similar to yours, but was afraid I'd ruin my knives. Ive only ever used one stone or my chef's choice sharpener.
Another detail you might add is that before sharpening a Japanese knife, check to see whether the blade is single or double-beveled. A double-beveled blade ( I believe nearly all Santokus are such) would be sharpened just as you expertly showed. A single- beveled blade is sharpened differently, although I dont know what the procedure is. I ruined a very nice Sushi knife because I was not aware.
If you are familiar with that technique, I would love to learn how it is done!

[jasoncampbell]

A result that could be achieved with a single 1000 grit diamond stone (which would be cheaper, quicker and less mess)

[lemonsniffs]

These stones are usually of extremely poor quality though. They have very uneven surfaces, at least after a few uses, as the material is too soft usually. The fact you have to submerge them for several minutes is tedious as well. I recommend you really just use one diamond sharpening stone, and no, it's not expensive. I don't want to advertise, but there are legitimate stones for less than 40$ which do a great job, especially since you already promote the strap too, which is great. I have upgraded myself from one of these cheap stones to a diamond one and it's like night and day! You'll see comparison photos of the knives close up too on YouTube, which shows that you actually get great edges for much LONGER than with these, and also WHY that is.

[janstafford]

you confused me with your 45 and 90 both to me look like 20 isch, 90 is perpendicular which would give you a flat edge