Everyone knows that working with a dull knife is not only difficult, but also dangerous. Due to the slowdown in the work process, tension in the muscles increases and the blade, just like that, will come off, causing serious injury. Alternatively, you can use the services of a workshop, but this will take some time, which is often not enough and will require financial costs. But if you have a knife sharpening machine at home, the process will speed up significantly.
Cutting products, no matter what their quality, become dull over time. This occurs due to the blades changing shape as a result of the loss of microscopic particles of the material from which the blade is made when interacting with the object being cut. In addition, under pressure, which is sometimes quite strong, the cutting edge is deformed as a result of deflection in any direction.
In addition, the cutting direction is not always maintained, which causes curvature of the very edge of the knife surface and makes it difficult to pass along the cut line. This is especially evident in blades made from low-grade raw materials.
Many people think that in hot water knives get dull much faster. This assumption is partly correct, although it is not decisive. Such tap liquid is saturated with salts and metals much more strongly than cold liquid, therefore their interaction with the cutting surface has a negative, although not decisive, effect.
Household cutting accessories are made from special and powder grades of steel. The structure of their sharpening resembles the teeth of rodents: the further from the edge, the less hardness of the cutting layer.
Therefore, ideal manual sharpening of knives occurs according to the push-pull principle or the push-pull method (from English push-pull sharpening):
This technique requires certain skills from the sharpener, as well as careful treatment of the blade itself. This method requires:
It is difficult to carry out the process, observing all the rules when moving the blade in both directions, and an incorrect result renders the blade unusable. To relieve the sharpener from constantly monitoring the sharpening process, they came up with machines for sharpening knives.
Maintaining the angle between the edges of the blade when sharpening it is the key to effective use and long service life of household accessories. It must be restored in accordance with technological standards, then there will be no problems with cutting. For knives for various purposes there is a sharpening angle:
It is difficult to maintain the required parameters without using a special device. Therefore, there are many ways to make them yourself. It’s easy to do, and you won’t have to spend much time at all.
No matter how many such devices are invented, they have the same common features. The main and constant parts of any sharpening tool are;
All sharpening components that are used at home and at work are presented in stores. Here are the main ones:
The most popular and affordable abrasive is a ceramic stone, which is most common in retail outlets. Most often this is an ordinary boat for rough sharpening the blade. There are double-sided bars, which are preferable for household. This is an inexpensive device, the replacement of which as it wears out will not bring large financial costs.
Grinding using diamond stones is more complex and expensive. In addition to the high price, such sharpeners quickly wear out the working part of the blade.
The best whetstones for sharpening are natural and Japanese stones. However, their price is very high and they are not produced in our country.
In order to make sharpening machine For knives with your own hands, the first thing you need to do is find a suitable drawing. There are many modifications for its production.
This option does not require special skill or the use of expensive components. To make it you will need:
To make it, you need to mark the corners and drill 3-4 holes at identical points. Place a block between them at the desired angle and secure with bolts.
To sharpen a knife or scissors, you simply need to run the blade along the surface of the block, holding it strictly vertically.
To change the sharpening angle, you simply need to loosen the fasteners and modify the position of the abrasive part. In order not to pick up a protractor every time, it is recommended to put marks on the base, marking the main positions of the block.
The ability to change the sharpening angle is the only advantage of this manual machine for sharpening knives. In terms of convenience, it is not far from an ordinary bar.
For more comfortable work a more complex device will be required . To make it, you need the following parts and tools:
First you need to make a knife holder. To do this, from a piece of plywood, or whatever is available, you need to cut a rectangle measuring 10 by 4 centimeters (dimensions are approximate). The wide part needs to be ground down acute angle to prevent the block from touching its edge when sharpening.
For the base, you need to cut out another piece of plywood with dimensions of 30 by 25 centimeters.
At a distance of 1-2 centimeters from its edge, a holder is placed with the cut outward and secured with bolts. The blade will be located between them.
The next stage is the manufacture of a stand from a long rail, along which the bar moves at a fixed angle. It needs to be installed vertically on the base and the angle measured in relation to the holder. The upper part is cut at the appropriate angle. The second post is cut in a similar way and connected with the rest of the rail on top, so that the result is a U-shaped part.
The assembled structure is attached to the base on the side opposite to the holder. This can be done using screws or wood glue.
All that remains is to make the base for the abrasive part. To do this, stick sandpaper with a grit from P600 to P2000 onto a short strip.
To work with such a sharpener, it is better to place it on the edge of the table in such a way that the protruding bolts connecting the base and the blade holder rest against it, thus preventing the device from sliding.
These are the most versatile devices. When using them, the sharpening angle is selected independently; just select the desired position of the blade. Main part electric machine for sharpening knives - sanding wheels with different grain sizes and slopes. The discs are driven by an electric motor. Therefore, energy dependence is a disadvantage, although not the main one in the use of such equipment.
The main disadvantage of this method of sharpening is the inability to visually control the process, since to ensure safety during sharpening, all rotating mechanisms are completely closed.
It is impossible to make such a device at home. Therefore, it is simpler: a disk or belt abrasive is attached to a conventional electric motor. When using a round stone, a stop is installed with the ability to change the inclination of the blade. On such a machine, any cutting tools can be restored.
Not every family has professional specialists to do this kind of work. In order to properly sharpen a blade, you need to avoid typical mistakes that beginners do:
Except homemade devices for sharpening, there are many similar devices available in the factory. The most popular of them are:
These are the most well-known brand names, and cheaper and simpler devices can be purchased for 20-30 dollars.
Much more convenient, but also more expensive electrical installations. Small Chief’s Choice devices of various modifications cost from 120 to 250-300 dollars. Their sharpening angle is fixed, 20 degrees, and is used for sharpening flat knives in cafes and restaurants.
The same company offers a large number of mechanical devices, which are an abrasive bar in a housing, installed at a certain angle. For them you will have to pay from 40 to 50 dollars.
With repeated use of knives, every housewife faces a problem when they begin to become dull and it becomes simply impossible to work with them. In addition, this is unsafe, since the knife can slip while cutting and injure you. To prevent this from happening, knives should be sharpened in a timely manner using a special sharpening device.
You can buy a knife sharpener at your nearest hardware store or at the market, where they will offer you different kinds devices. You will have to choose yourself. But in order not to make a mistake, you need to know how to correctly evaluate them in terms of convenience and quality of use.
The offered options do not always satisfy consumers, so many make sharpeners with their own hands, using special stones, tools and drawing sketches with dimensions. The photo shows options for homemade knife sharpeners.
When sharpening knives, the main thing to do is correct angle contact between the edges of the blades so that they serve you long and efficiently. Therefore, when sharpening knives yourself, it is necessary to maintain the existing angle of the blades.
Each knife blade has its own optimal angles:
To sharpen the correct angle of the blade, you cannot do without special tools, since it is difficult to do this manually.
The design of such devices is not complicated, so it is easy and quick to make it yourself, and detailed instructions for making sharpeners you can borrow from the Internet.
From a large assortment of different types of knife sharpeners, choosing the right option for yourself is quite simple.
The main elements of the sharpening device are a stop for fixing the knife and an abrasive stone, which is used as ready-made abrasive materials (stones) or self-made. But before you get to work, you need to learn how to properly make a knife sharpener with your own hands.
There are several types of whetstones:
To make a whetstone with your own hands, you can use the most in a simple way. Take a small glass plate rectangular shape about 5 mm thick. Using double-sided tape, attach strips of coarse and medium-grit sandpaper to it on both sides.
The block is ready for use; if necessary, worn sandpaper can be easily replaced with a new one. This method is the most budget-friendly.
The disadvantages of this device include:
You can find the best ideas for knife sharpeners on their respective websites.
This method of making a tool for sharpening knives is also simple and accessible to everyone. You will need four identical bars: two abrasive and two wooden.
Before starting work, sand the wood blocks with sandpaper so that their surface becomes smooth without burrs. Mark the block according to the required angle of inclination. Apply a whetstone and mark its width on a block of wood.
Note! 
Make cuts 1.5 cm deep according to the mark and insert abrasives into the grooves. Secure the stones with bolts. A piece of rubber attached to the bottom will give the structure stability.
In addition, you can make an adjustable sharpener with your own hands, but the next article will tell you how to do this.
Note! 
Note! 
General issues
Any cutting tools require proper care, as they gradually begin to lose their former sharpness, and working with such products becomes painful, almost unbearable. The biggest irritant is a dull knife, which turns into an absolutely useless object. To avoid similar situations, it needs to be sharpened periodically, and sharpeners help a lot with this, buying which is not at all a problem. However, not all owners are inspired by this option, because quality devices they cost a lot. An elegant and logical way out of the situation is a device for sharpening knives with your own hands. Functionally homemade tools They are in no way inferior to their competitors - factory models, but they allow you to achieve significant savings.
The purpose of the process is known to everyone - to give the blade sharpness. However, this operation is slightly different for each type of instrument. The reason is the purpose of the knife - household, hunting, fishing. The difference between them is not at all visible at first glance, but it is precisely this that determines what the tools are used for. This is the sharpening angle, but it can only be seen and compared for those knives that have not yet been sharpened at home. The following values are accepted:
Smaller angles are designed to work with soft materials, large - with solid substances.
There is no single standard for all instruments. Some Western manufacturers of hunting weapons consider a sharpening angle of 23° to be ideal. There are companies in America that sharpen similar and combat knives at 40°. There are tools with different sharpening angles for parts of the blade. A serious military example is the Russian saber (40 and 30°). Such weapons become universal, but for home handyman There is a drawback to this sharpening - the work is much more difficult.
In order to be able to sharpen knives correctly, making an almost professional device for sharpening knives with your own hands, you need to provide for the possibility of changing its angle. This task is the most difficult: both during design and during manufacturing.
Abrasive whetstones differ in grain size. There is a conditional division: small stones, medium stones and coarse stones. The accepted classification is numbers - the number of grains located in a unit area. Some manufacturers (for example, Chinese) make duplicate inscriptions in English for the convenience of customers.
Sharpening stones should have a convenient shape. It is optimal if the length of the stone significantly (1.5-2 times) exceeds this parameter of the blade. The most practical products are those that have different grain sizes: coarse on one side, fine on the other. For ordinary household knives, a modest set of sharpening stones will suffice. It consists of 2 medium-grain bars (different) and the same number of small-grain stones, one of them can be ultra-fine.
The bars differ in origin. Natural sharpening stones (corundum, slate) have several disadvantages - quick grinding and, as a rule, the absence of fine-grained products. These materials are soaked (or just wetted) in water before work. After this procedure, an abrasive paste is formed on the surface, which guarantees greater sharpening efficiency.
Without mastering the techniques manual sharpening A craftsman will not be able to sharpen a knife correctly, since any device for sharpening knives with your own hands will only make his work a little easier when sharpening the edge of the tool. The process looks like this:
The remaining mini-defects are dealt with using a belt glued to the beam, rubbed with GOI paste. They do this by alternating sides, turning the edge back. Many people saw such a simple process in old Soviet films.
A device for sharpening knives with your own hands makes it relatively easy to solve the main task - to guarantee constant angle inclination of the blade relative to the block. Some simple devices It's easy to do. Those sharpeners that provide greater comfort are already more demanding of the master.
It consists of a corner frame and a keystone. Despite the primitive design, the prices for these store-bought goods are quite high, and replacement sharpening stones have to be purchased separately. Any craftsman who has the following on his farm can make this device for sharpening knives with his own hands:
This sharpening device allows you to hold the knife strictly vertically, which will greatly facilitate the work with the cutting tool. The process goes like this:
The device is ready for use. The most important thing in it is the correct determination of the required angle for sharpening the blade. This is done using a protractor. After setting the angle of inclination, the block is inserted and the nuts are tightened until the stone is securely fixed. If you modify the tool a little, the sharpening stone and knife can be swapped. The device has one downside: it is impossible to smoothly adjust the angle of the whetstone.
To make this sharpening device you need to prepare:
The work itself is performed according to the following algorithm:
This spoke part will play the role of fixing the angle of inclination of the sharpening stone. The advantage of this model is the ability to change the angle of inclination over a wide range, which will be an additional advantage for processing various knives, as well as other cutting tools.
Most parts of this device can be made from scrap materials, but in this case plywood was used for its manufacture. The master is free to take polished or laminated material. You will need:
Plywood - light material. In order for the base to be stable, it is better to make it heavy enough. “Horseshoes” made of metal corner 20x20 mm.
The work is carried out according to the following scheme:
Filming top part base, since it is necessary to build a device for pressing and fixing on it cutting tool. The support is assembled from 2 steel strips: 60x170 and 40x150 mm.
The fixation mechanism also consists of 2 parts: the upper bar has L-shape(80x150 mm, width 45-50 mm), bottom - rectangle (50x100 mm).
To secure it, place a washer on the stud and screw on a nut, which is tightened so that the rod cannot turn.
It is made from a 30 cm pin and a rod, the thickness of which is the same 10 mm. They are welded together. To fix the block, 2 elements (20x50x80 mm) are cut out of solid material. A hole is made in the central part of each of them, the distance from the top edge is 20 mm, the diameter is 10 mm.
First, a wing is screwed onto the carriage, then a washer, bars, again a washer, and then a nut. In such a bar you can easily fix sharpening stones, but craftsmen strongly recommend making your own set of replacement whetstones.
The basis for them will be a rectangular aluminum profile, the width of the flat side of which is 40-50 mm. It is sanded, degreased, then Moment is applied to the surface, then sandpaper of different grain sizes is glued on. It is better to take the material on a fabric basis. You can glue suede fabric to one element from the set to be able to straighten the blades with GOI paste.
It’s not difficult to make a device for sharpening knives with your own hands, especially if you choose a very simple model. More advanced devices will take much longer, but they are certainly worth every minute spent, because the savings are serious. What models you can create on your own can be seen in the photos and videos. One of them is here:
I wanted to learn how to sharpen knives, but I won’t say that I didn’t know how to do it at all. Of course, I sharpened it with my hands on the stones, and tried to maintain the angle, but it seemed to work—the knives shredded the paper.
I decided to take this process more seriously. And, as is usual here in Russia, do everything yourself from what is at hand, and even for free. We have such lovers and I am like that. For such people, in fact, this article is.
I looked at sharpening machines on the Internet and settled on Apex. The first thing I did was look for it on Chinese sites, there are, of course, copies and they were inexpensive (before the dollar exchange rate changed), now even Chinese ones are a bit expensive for us. I looked at how it works, what the nuances are. Yes, it looks like it can be repeated.
Looking ahead, I will say that it was not possible to do it completely for free; I still had to spend money, but quite a bit. About 150 rubles.
Instead of a base, I took a 2 mm galvanized sheet. I bent it by eye (for some reason I guessed exactly 20 degrees in the corner). Fixed it on a sheet of chipboard. I quickly glued magnets from old hard drives, it took 3 magnets. 
I looked at the knife rests on the Internet, they are convenient and a great idea. I found a support for the hinge in the garage, it has an 8mm thread.
At first I thought about changing the angle with nuts, but I decided that the angle changes often and it would be inconvenient to move the nuts back and forth and tighten the locknuts each time so that there is no play.
Where can I get a stone guide? An old bed, or rather a headboard, caught my eye; you probably remember what they had during the USSR. Why not a barbell from the back? I attached a 25x25 mm square profile to the rod (after sanding it first). Remember there are curly bushings. With their help (it took three pieces), in one you need to drill a hole to 11 mm (rod diameter). I added a nut for 10 and a pin with a ball from the same bed, and it turned out to be a comfortable handle.
I decided to sharpen it with sandpaper, there is such a method, it seems to work out very inexpensively and quite well. I bought several sheets of sandpaper of different grain sizes. To avoid any sandpaper residue, the length of the square profile was made to match the width of the sandpaper sheet to 230 mm. I made a cut on the rod and drove an engraving washer there suitable size. Everything came together perfectly, as if it was intended for this.
I was afraid it would be difficult to center the profile, but in this way, the profile fell into place on its own. I glue the sandpaper onto the pencil with stationery glue.
I thought for a long time about this unit, how to make it so that there was no backlash. I thought of doing this. I went to a bearing store and it turned out that there are such bearings as SHS (in my opinion, the sliding ball stands for). There are sizes 10, 12, 15 according to the inner diameter of the hole. But the rod is 11 mm. It's hard without a turner. But a way out was found. In the store across the road they sold spare parts for KAMAZ trucks, and there I found a brass bushing for 10mm brake pipes. I bought ShS-12 (65 rubles) and a bushing (8 rubles). At home I drove the bushing onto the rod, with a hammer it expanded remarkably, I ground it a little to the rod, which is what happened here. I inserted it into the joint (with glue, just in case, to eliminate play) and flared it. Everything has grown together again. There is still a little play left in the ShS itself, it is made in Russia and is a little loose (I went through about a dozen in the store - all of them are the same). I wanted to weld the welding joint to the nut for fastening, but another idea came to mind, how to do without welding. I went to a plumbing store and bought pipe fasteners. It says 3/8” costs 27 rubles. I sanded it a little so that the working angle of the joint did not decrease. Next, using a pin with an 8 mm thread, I connected the clamp with a long nut and in the right place I drilled a 9 mm hole using a long nut. The lamb was made from a purchased lamb for 5 rubles. Nuts and studs are the same at 8 mm.
When I assembled it (clamped the joint into the clamp), the play disappeared, the bolts of the clamp compress the joint and the play goes away completely. It turned out better than welding. And when worn out it is easy to replace.
Oddly enough, all the details fell perfectly into place. I had to do a minimum of alterations. There is no backlash. Everything turned out to be very simple, I even made a second rod to polish the cutting edge.
According to what I've learned, it took about half an hour on the second barbell. I glued it on the edge:
I use them in different sequences.
I want to say that the idea was a success, in two days I sharpened all the knives I could find. Angles can be measured using a household inclinometer, or a telephone with an installed program for measuring angles
Compared with manual method on stones, sharpens much easier and sharper. The paper is planed, the hair is shaved. I haven’t tried trimming my hair, I think it’s too sharp and has no use in life, although with due diligence you can achieve it.
Total: 134 rubles. The rest was found in the garage for nothing. And plus work with your hands and head.
Who is too lazy to tinker, I found an inexpensive sharpener of the same type, the reviews are good, you can buy it.
Also made by hand.
Sharp knives for you.
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Sharpening video.
Every housewife at least once in her life has encountered the fact that the knives with which she usually cuts bread, butchers meat or chops vegetables become dull in her kitchen. Using such knives is not only inconvenient, but also dangerous, because the blade can fall off the product and injure you. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically sharpen the tool using special devices. In stores, such devices are presented in a huge assortment, but for certain reasons they do not suit consumers. In such a situation, you can make a knife sharpener with your own hands. In principle, it is not difficult to find drawings and diagrams for work, but detailed master classes we will present in this article.
Do you know how to sharpen knives correctly? In fact, there are a number of rules, following which you can achieve an ideal result.
The necessary conditions look like this:
In fact, making a knife with your own hands is as easy as shelling pears, because all such devices have simple design and it won’t take you much time to create them.
There are a large number of stones available for sale for sharpening knives, but the most popular types are the following:
Before you make a knife in the form of an abrasive bar, you need to purchase several glass plates 4-5 mm thick, rectangular in shape.
Then make a sharpener according to the scheme:
Important! During the operation of such a device, water is not used, which is why the abrasive wears out quite quickly.
When sharpening knives with an abrasive stone, you should avoid too sudden movements, otherwise it will overheat and the blade will lose its useful properties.
Making a sharpener from two abrasive and two wooden blocks is quite simple, the main thing is that starting materials were the same size.
You will need to do the following:
Important! Make sure that their depth does not exceed 1.5 cm.
Use this master class to make a high-quality knife with your own hands. You can get the drawings on the Internet.
Tools and materials required for work:
Make a sharpener according to these instructions:
Important! Such a sharpener can have widest range degrees of clamping angle, it is incredibly convenient to use.
Making an electric knife with your own hands is a little more complicated, because the device itself has a complex design.
Prepare the following materials and devices:
Complete the work strictly following the diagram.
