Sharpening with benchstones

[CAlife]

Well i think they're benchstones. I found a stone that probbaly is a benchstone and i wanted to use it to sharpen my knives. What techniques and helpful hints can you guys share with me? Thanks for your help.

 

[yoda4561]

Lots of practice, use a consistant and comfortable hold on the knife. I like to apply very light pressure with a few fingers on the blade and use the other hand to hold the handle. I don't hold the handle like you would when using the knife, I prefer to "pinch" the grip with my thumb and forefinger, and wrap the rest of the fingers around the grip to maintain stability. Try to start off using smooth sweeps across the stone, don't try to apply too much pressure or go fast. Once you get the proper motion down pat that works for you then you can work faster in sections and apply more pressure, and your body will naturally maintain the proper angle.

Edit: one more thing. It's easy to get frustrated by a knife that just doesn't seem to be sharpening, even though you can see the edge being polished. This is usually because you're using a stone that's too fine a grit or not agressive enough for modern steel. Arkansas stones for example will take a very very long time to sharpen up the harder wear resistant alloys. So if you find this to be the case pick up a cheap ~5 dollar or so Silicon Carbide or Carborundum stone to give you the fast cutting ability, and finish up on the finer stones.