Will using a knife sharpener reduce the lifetime of my knife?

Will using a knife sharpener reduce the lifetime of my knife? - Crop craftsman grinding knife in workshop

In the long run, is it better to regularly use a knife honer instead of a knife sharpener once in a while to keep the edge sharp?



Best Answer

You should use both. Knives have a very thin ragged edge (the burr) that is too small to see, which gets pushed over from use, and which makes the knife seem dull. A honing steel straightens this burr out. I use a honing steel before I cook every day.

Over time, the burr wears down, or can no longer be straightened. At this point, you will need to use the sharpener, which actually removes metal from the blade. One metaphor would be that if your knife was carpet, honing is like vacuuming, and sharpening is like steam cleaning.




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Will using a knife sharpener reduce the lifetime of my knife? - Close-Up Shot of a Person Slicing Cooked Meat
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Will using a knife sharpener reduce the lifetime of my knife? - Close-Up Shot of a Person Slicing Cooked Meat



Quick Answer about "Will using a knife sharpener reduce the lifetime of my knife?"

Absolutely. A honer, or even better a sharpening steel removes a minuscule amount of material. Or knife will last a lifetime. The honer only realigns the blade, it doesn't remove material and reestablish a true bevel.

Does sharpening a knife wear it down?

You won't wear down your blade if you sharpen a knife only when necessary. And if you use a honing steel regularly on your quality knives, it'll be less often than you think.

What happens if you keep sharpening a knife?

The edge gets thicker. Each time you sharpen a knife, a bit of the edge gets worn away. Eventually, the edge will become thick and wedge-like behind the main bevel.

How many times should you run a knife through a sharpener?

You should generally sharpen your knives at least every two weeks, though it depends on how often you use them. Your daily, go-to knives should definitely get a sharpening, but for those that you only use once in a while, that's up to you.

How can I make my knife last longer?

5 ways to make your knives last longer
  • 1 \u2013 Store them separately. Keep knives in a divided cutlery tray or a knife block away from other cutlery. ...
  • 2 \u2013 Wash quickly. ...
  • 3 \u2013 Dry immediately after washing them. ...
  • 4 \u2013 Use a wooden chopping board. ...
  • 5 \u2013 Use separate boards and knives for preparing raw and cooked foods.




  • I Bought The Most Reviewed Knife Sharpener On Amazon




    More answers regarding will using a knife sharpener reduce the lifetime of my knife?

    Answer 2

    I worked with a 60+ year old chef who had been using the same knife since he started his apprenticeship at age 15 (no exaggeration). Over the decades he had worn away at least 1cm of blade width by sharpening and honing but it was still completely functional.

    Answer 3

    Absolutely. A honer, or even better a sharpening steel removes a minuscule amount of material. Or knife will last a lifetime.

    The honer only realigns the blade, it doesn't remove material and reestablish a true bevel.

    Eventually, you'll use the honer and it won't do anything, thats when you use the sharpener.

    Realize though, that the electric sharpeners often have a rough sharpening disk, and that will remove a lot of material. You want to use that sparingly.

    Other than that, you can sharpen every few weeks and your knives should last years and years.

    Answer 4

    The heart of the matter is that you can

    • end up "thick behind the edge" if you overuse a sharpening device that imposes a fixed angle (that means anything guided). Since most blades become gradually thicker towards the spine, the width at the end of the primary bevel increases with each use - leading to a knife that is still sharp but does not cut harder foodstuffs fluidly any more. This can be repaired, but is nontrivial work (on whetstones, assume you will spend 1 to 2 hours. And you need to know what you are doing.).

    • lose blade height. There are many anecdotes around about some chef's filet knives having started out as chef knives.

    There is another problem with some ill advised sharpening devices:

    • anything that uses powered sharpening wheels without a coolant (water) can easily overheat and permanently damage the metal.

    Answer 5

    I'm 72 been doing it a while. Buff shooting Skinning. Deer. Roos Cattle etc down to bunnies.

    My main knives are Wustof Which I bought b4 coming to this country 40 yrs ago last month. Three are still ok. My favourite one. a 15cm Utility I've stoned\honed it down to the main body thickness of the blade. STill does the drop Tomato trick easily. But. Time to retire. I replaced with a nice little Damascus Japanese one. Standard handle. What the heck. At my age.. Spoil myself...

    So Moral of story.
    YES. You will wear out even good\best quality. Eventually. But most won't live long enuff to see it. Mine took not much less than 50 yrs to do so. and the primary ones still good for another ten at least. Keep stropping. That's the secret of the extra edge. Strop, strop, the knife. 10 times a side Alternate for five minutes.on GOOD leather belt..NOT oiled. Have fun

    Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

    Images: Himesh Mehta, Los Muertos Crew, ROMAN ODINTSOV, Los Muertos Crew