Professional knife sharpener is the best. How to make a manual sharpening machine for knives with your own hands

It is quite difficult to sharpen a knife by hand. It will take some time to develop the habit of maintaining a constant sharpening angle, which is not at all easy. A tool for sharpening knives can make the task easier. There are factory options. But for good copies you have to fork off a couple of hundred dollars, and this is clearly a lot. The good news is that these devices are easy to make with your own hands. And many homemade sharpeners for knives no worse in functionality than from eminent manufacturers, but they cost many times cheaper.

Knife sharpening basics

Knives have various uses and not even an ordinary kitchen there are several of them. There is for slicing bread, other soft foods, there is for cutting meat, chopping bones, and other hard objects. And that's just household items. But there are still those who take hunting and fishing. If you look closely, you will see that they all have a different sharpening angle (this is if they have not been sharpened at home already). It is the sharpening angle that is the most important characteristic, which is determined by the purpose of this blade.

At what angle

The sharpening angle is determined based on the main field of application of a particular blade:

This general recommendations, introduced on the basis years of experience. There are, however, options: some blades have several zones with different sharpening. This makes them more versatile, but the complexity of sharpening increases many times over.

It follows from the foregoing that the device for sharpening knives should be able to set the required sharpening angle. And this is the main difficulty in its design and manufacture.

How to sharpen

For sharpening knives, sharpening stones of various grain sizes are used. They are conditionally divided into coarse, medium and small. Why conditionally? Because in different countries adopted its own designation of granularity. The most convenient classification is according to the number of grains per unit area. It is expressed in numbers: 300, 600, 1000, etc. Some firms duplicate even English terms. Here is an example division:

In addition to grit, grindstones are also distinguished by origin: they are of natural origin (shale, corundum, etc.), there are ceramic and diamond ones. Which ones are better? It's hard to say - a matter of taste, but natural ones wear off faster and are rarely fine-grained.

Natural ones are soaked in water before use or simply moistened with it. They absorb water and, during sharpening, an abrasive paste is formed on the surface from water and separated abrasive particles, which increases the efficiency of sharpening. For the same purposes, you can use a special little (honing oil) or a mixture of water and soap (whatever you like). In general, with each of the grindstones, you need to try all these options and choose the best one.

The shape of the grindstone for sharpening knives is a bar, and it is desirable that its length be much longer than the length of the blade - it is easier to sharpen. Convenient bars with double grain - on the one hand larger, on the other - smaller. To sharpen knives for general use, it is enough to have two bars with a medium grain (different) and two small ones (one can be very fine).

Manual sharpening procedure

The device for sharpening knives only facilitates the process of pointing the edge, therefore, knowledge of manual sharpening techniques is necessary. Without them, it is impossible to sharpen the knife correctly.

The procedure for sharpening knives is as follows:

On this we can assume that the sharpening of the knife is completed. Some still bring the edge on the old belt. A piece of strap can be attached to wooden bar(glue, do not nail), rub goyim with paste. Then several times alternately hold one or the other side, but turning the cutting edge back. So the last grooves left by the abrasive are polished and the belt is not “cut” at the same time.

How to make a homemade knife sharpener

All homemade knife sharpeners solve the main problem - they allow you to accurately maintain a given angle of inclination of the bar to the blade, which is very important for obtaining a good cutting edge. There are very simple fixtures, there is a little more complicated, but allowing you to work with great comfort. Choose to your taste.

One of the options - from improvised means

Simple knife sharpener

In fact, this is a holder for whetstones. Everything is elementary: two triangles of wood, which are connected with studs with “lambs”. A bar is clamped between the corners at the required angle. You can set the angle using a protractor, a special program on your smartphone, or using the rules of trigonometry (right triangle).

Knife sharpener - abrasive holder

When sharpening on such a device, the knife must be kept strictly vertical at all times. It's much easier than holding it at a certain angle.

The same idea has a different embodiment: on a reliable basis, make movable holders into which bars are inserted and fixed in the desired position. Corporate prototype in the photo below.

Homemade tool for sharpening knives made of wooden bars. It turns out that it is light so that it does not move from its place, it must be fixed with something. In order not to hold by hand, you can use clamps.

Swivel holders allow you to set a given angle, and then fix it with the help of "lambs"

Such a device for sharpening knives, of course, facilitates the work, but it is still quite difficult to maintain the angle: you must constantly control the verticality of the blade. Such a habit develops over time, but it is difficult to start.

Fittings on wheels

An interesting variant of a manual knife sharpener with a fixed bar and a trolley on wheels, on which the knife is fixed. It is made on the basis of sharpeners for knives, chisels and planes. With a knife, such a device also works well, but you need to adapt to sharpening the rounded edge.

In this version, as in manual sharpening, the bar is stationary, and the blade of the knife, mounted on a movable cart, moves. The angle is set by the height of the bar relative to the platform on which the blade is attached. Peculiarity this device- The table needs to be level. It could be a table natural stone, you can on regular table put glass.

In the embodiment presented above, the angle changes slightly, which is usually sufficient for sharpening the same type of kitchen knives, for example. If necessary, the design can be improved by adding holders (pictured below).

All this is implemented very simply, as it resembles an ordinary constructor: strips, there are holes in them, everything is assembled on bolts and screws.

To ensure the immobility of the bar, there is also a device.

The advantage of this whole design is that it is easy to unfold the knife while maintaining perpendicularity in the rounded area, and it is also very easy to process on the other side: you need to turn the trolley over. For this, four pairs of wheels are made.

Homemade manual knife sharpening machine

Slightly more complex and much more comfortable homemade devices, which are made on the basis of well-known branded devices. They have an adjustable platform on which the knife is fixed. The site is set at a given angle. The bar is mounted on a movable bar attached to the rack.

Do-it-yourself devices somewhat repeat the design presented above, but there are some differences. There are many options. Let's bring some.

Option one: a fixed platform on which the blade is fixed

This fixture is made from the remnants of a laminate (can be used), two steel rods with a diameter of 8 mm and a movable mount.

This design has a fixed base, to which a platform with a knife lock is attached on ordinary hinges. The near edge of the platform can be raised at some angle convenient for work. But other than that, she's immobile.

On a vertically mounted steel bar, there is a movably mounted latch in which a loop is attached to the side. A rod is inserted into it, on which a bar is fixed. This loop is simple, but not the most The best decision: there is no rigid fixation, which means that the corner will “walk”.

Particular attention should be paid to the latch of the bar. Emphasis is placed on the rod at some distance from the edge (about 30-35 cm). This will be the fixed anchor. The second is made movable, it is fixed after installing the bar with a screw and a thread cut into the body of the holder. The second option is to cut a thread on the rod and press the installed bar with a nut.

Knife holder - one or two steel plates fixed on a movable platform. They are fixed movably - with the help of screws and "lambs". After loosening the fasteners, insert the knife blade, clamp it. It is very difficult to move it. Then, having installed a hairpin with a fixed bar in the loop, its height is adjusted so that the required angle is set.

You can, as in the photo, make templates with the desired angles and achieve the coincidence of the planes. After the transverse bar is fixed, you can work - hold the bar in the right direction.

This tool for sharpening knives works well, but you can only move the abrasive along the blade when sharpening a kitchen knife. Classic sharpening - perpendicular movement cutting edge. On the straight part of the blade, this can be achieved. If the blade is short, it will be almost perpendicular, but on the rounded part on the fixed holder, this cannot be done. And all such devices "suffer" from this shortcoming. Once again: they are a great option for sharpening kitchen knives(below is another good option from the same series).

Option two: with a movable platform and a magnetic holder

In this variant homemade device for sharpening knives, the problem of previous sharpenings is solved. Here the frame remains motionless, which sets the angle of movement of the bar. The bar holder moves freely along the guide, set at the desired angle. The knife is mounted on a movable table. It is possible, as in the presented version, to do magnetic holder, you can - the usual one from a metal plate and "lambs". Move the table so that the movement of the abrasive is perpendicular. Actually, everything is in the video.

One clarification: in this case it is very important that the surface on which the table with the fixed knife moves is horizontal and even. You can put glass or use a polymer countertop (marble will do too).

IN household there are always cutting, sawing and planing tools. In the course of work, the sharpness is lost, and the blades have to be restored. You can give knives - planes to the workshop, but money is spent on this, and extra time is wasted. Therefore, home craftsmen prefer to sharpen the tool.

Important! Only blades with a certain degree of hardening can be sharpened. If the cutting part has a hardness higher than 55 HRC, it cannot be sharpened with improvised tools.

You can buy a tool for sharpening knives or other household utensils in the store. Save time, but spend a lot of money - good sharpening is expensive.

By the way, there are different opinions about the name of the device for sharpening knives. Emery, touchstone, whetstone, whetstone, musat ...

These definitions may refer to the same subject, or miscellaneous products? About this, and how to make such a device yourself, we will tell in the article.

Since the advent of cutting objects (weapons, knives, axes), people have been looking for a way to restore the sharpness of the edge. In the Bronze and Copper Ages, it was easy.

Necessary condition safe use knives is their high-quality sharpening. If the blade is processed incorrectly, then it can bring a lot of trouble to the owner, ranging from irritation to injury, so it is important to always keep tools in working order using quality care.

Types of knife sharpeners

Depending on the scope and principle of operation, professional sharpening tools are divided into mechanical and electrical. Also on the abrasive surface sharpeners are:

• natural;
• ceramic;
• with diamond coating.

A tool for sharpening knives is also chosen by price, scope of use and blade material. So, for ceramic, only the same abrasives are used, for restaurants they often choose electric tools, because They can easily save you time and effort. A professional knife sharpener can also be used at home, and choosing it is easy thanks to modern assortment sharpening tools.

Electric knife sharpener

Easy to use is an electric knife sharpener. It is a small machine with gaps in which abrasive discs are placed. The angle of the sharpener with gaps can be different, set by the manufacturer. So kitchen appliance You can sharpen not only kitchen utensils, but also scissors. A professional knife sharpener with ceramic discs is used in the restaurant business, although often chefs use hand sharpeners to work with personal tools in order not to ruin them.

Mechanical knife sharpener

The concept of a mechanical blade dresser includes different kind instruments, ranging from musatov, ending with special installations. main feature- during work, the application of effort is required. Most of The range is represented by mechanical knives with different types of abrasive surface:

• grindstone;
• musat;
• mechanical sharpener.

The whetstone can be of any size and origin: Japanese water stone, Arkansas, novoculite. Musat is a metal rod with an abrasive coating and a wooden or plastic handle, a very simple tool used more often at home. It is important to use the fastener correctly: the movement of the handle must occur along the tool at an angle of 20-25 ° so that it becomes sharp.

How to choose

A professional knife sharpener is chosen according to the type and grit of the abrasive material, which can be natural (for example, diamond), or a granular coating of synthetic origin. By particle size, abrasives are:

• coarse (with large grains) - used for regrinding;
• medium and fine-grained - ordinary sharpeners;
• especially fine-grained - blade polishing.

Next - the choice of sharpener design. For home use often choose musat or small whetstones. On trips, you can take special pocket sharpeners with you, which have a convenient size, folding design. The mechanical sharpener has become popular in Lately thanks to a range of sharpening options different types tools. This setup has the following features:

• selection of the desired abrasive stone;
• fixation in the required position of the blade;
• installation desired angle sharpeners, etc.

A mechanical installation can be called a professional knife sharpener. To operate it, you first need to understand the features of the work, having studied the instructions, then practice sharpening. An inexperienced user can ruin a blade by choosing the wrong force, angle, and sharpening material. The easiest device to use is electric sharpening, since everyone can use a sharpener by setting the necessary settings in advance.

How to use

To understand how to sharpen a knife correctly, you must first figure out what the correct blade should be. The blunt surface of the cutting part of the blade under the microscope looks loose, not even. Before using the tool, it is necessary to assess the degree of damage to the cutting part in order to select an abrasive material: strongly blunt devices must first be ruled with a coarse abrasive, and only then polished. On different knives, the way of working is different:

• musat - the movement of the blade is made along the rod at a small angle without strong pressure, which can allow a minimum application of effort;
• whetstone - you need to sharpen, starting from the area near the handle, gradually moving to the tip of the blade, applying force with the handle at an angle;
• mechanical knife sharpener - with sharp movements, the blade is held between the stones.

Overview of popular manufacturers

1. Apex edge pro is a professional knife sharpening united in a tool in the form of a machine. Made in the USA, this tool is designed to work with a wide range of blades. Widespread thanks to high quality and reasonable price.
2. Ganzo is a Chinese manufacturer of knives, sharpening systems, whose product is popular due to its low price and decent quality products.
3. Lansky is a popular American manufacturer of sharpening systems that compare favorably with quality, as well as simple sharpening technology.
4. Ruixin is a manufacturer from China. The systems of this company are cheaper than those of the competitor Ganzo, but differ in that the stones must be leveled before using the grinder.
5. Abrasive stones, manual, mechanical knife sharpeners for professional work and home use are produced by Gerber, Wenger, whose products occupy an expensive segment in the market.

Where to buy and how much does a knife sharpener cost

You can buy professional sharpening systems and machines in offline stores such as Eldorado. Easier to find at specialized points of sale in Moscow and others big cities or buy using the Internet, in specialized online stores and on the websites of official dealers of manufacturers. The cost of such systems ranges from 900 to 3000 rubles. depending on the manufacturer:

• Gerber - 2000-2500 rubles;
• Wenger - 1000-1500 rubles;
• Ganzo - 2500-3000 rubles;
• Lansky - 3000-9000 rubles;
• Ruixin - 2000-2500 r.

How to make a do-it-yourself knife sharpening machine

For those who want to build a professional sharpening system with their own hands, it is easy to fulfill their dream without using a drawing. From improvised means, having a manual device with an abrasive coating for sharpening, you can build it at home. The main thing is to find a basis for fastening, to build a hinge system with adjustable height and tilt. Additionally, you can add polishing surfaces to the base for professional blade work.

How to make a do-it-yourself knife sharpening machine at home and what materials / tools will help in this matter?

Knives in everyday life should always be sharp enough to comfortably perform their functions. When cooking and cutting food, they constantly become dull, as a result of which they need to be sharpened.

To perform this work, many different machines and devices have been invented, ranging from the usual whetstone to complex electric grinders. Usage simple timber rather inconvenient and takes a long period of time. There are manual machines for doing this work.

Manual knife sharpeners

The grinding machines of the American company Lansky have slightly improved the usual sharpening with a bar. With the help of such a device, you can quite accurately adjust the angle of work with the blade, from 17 to 30 degrees.

Lansky sharpener during operation

A similar do-it-yourself knife sharpening machine can be made by any craftsman due to the simplicity of its design, as demonstrated in the video below.

Machines with fixed blades

These devices allow you to sharpen the knife much faster, because they allow you to apply more effort. Moreover, the efficiency due to the presence of a hard stop in the form of a table also rises several times.

SpitJack knife sharpening machine

As can be seen in the figure, in machines of this type the sharpening beam moves along the fixed blade at a set angle. The sharpening angle is adjusted by changing the height of the bar attachment. Among the domestic analogues of such machines, one can mention the machine manufactured by the Ermak company.

Ermak sharpener

Machine tools with fixed sharpening surfaces

In devices of this type, there is no way to adjust the angle of sharpening yourself. Most often, several different angles for work are already installed on such a device. Using such machines, you just need to run the blade along the sharpening recess.

This recess consists of two planes, one or two of which is a sharpening bar. So in order to sharpen a kitchen appliance, it is enough just to run the knife over the sharpened surface several times.

Mechanical sharpener Chief's Choice

Electrical Devices for Knife Point

You can also mention professional tools that are used by most chefs, and it takes only a few seconds for the knife to become as sharp as possible again. These devices have an electric motor that rotates the grinding blades.


Such canvases are often made with diamond abrasives, and the engine power does not exceed 100-150 kW. Although, of course, there are more powerful machines for sharpening blades that are used in production.

We make a device for sharpening with our own hands

To make a machine for sharpening knives with your own hands, you will need: a piece of laminate, wooden lath, sandpaper, and two bots with lambs. Instead of laminate, you can use chipboard or plywood.

To make a knife holder, you need to cut off a piece of laminate. So that the bar does not touch the holder when sharpening, you need to clean off its edge at an angle, using emery.

1. Marking and cutting upper part vertical rack on which the bar will rest when sharpening. We choose an angle half that with which the knife will be sharpened, in our case it is 30 °. For kitchen appliances it is better to use 10–15°. In total, 2 such parts will be needed.
2. In order to correctly calculate the length of the base and the height of the racks, you need to approximately make a design and markup. It should be borne in mind that the further installation of the transverse support will affect the height. After that, we cut off all the details, and clean their edges.
3. Now we outline and drill holes in the base and the pressure plate at the same time for the bolts that fix the knife blade. When marking, it is important to maintain the distance of the holes from the edge of the base. This is necessary to ensure the versatility of the installation, since the knives have different blade widths. We fix the pressure plate with bolts.
4. Vertical racks can be fixed with screws, but given that the load on them is small, it is better to use hot melt adhesive. In the same way we fix the horizontal crossbar. At this stage, the sharpener is already ready, it remains only to make a bar.
5. To make a bar, cut a rail of suitable length. On one of its edges we glue emery with required size abrasive, in our case it is P1200. To improve the result, you can make several bars, with different grain sizes. The range P600 - P2000 is considered more optimal. To protect your hands from cuts, it is advisable to screw the handle on the top side of the rail.
6. As a result, we get a functional and practical machine for sharpening kitchen knives. During operation, it rests with bolts on the edge of the table, which increases the comfort of use.

Video: how to make a knife sharpener from a piece of laminate?

The simplest variation of sharpening is a home-made device made of wooden and abrasive bars. To make it, you will need two bars of each type - they must be strictly the same size. Wooden products must be pre-treated sandpaper to remove all burrs from their surface.

The actual manufacturing procedure will not cause difficulties. First, mark the wooden blocks: taking into account the required angle of sharpening the knives, draw lines for future attachments of abrasive blanks. Then attach whetstones to the resulting lines and mark their width on the wood. The next step is cuts: according to the markup, make on both wooden products cuts of the required slope and depth of 1-1.5 cm. Insert abrasive bars into the recesses and secure them with bolts.

Advice. So that the resulting device does not slip on the surface during the maintenance of the knives, fasten to it from below rubber gasket- it will give the device the necessary stability.

Massive sharpener on a stand

A more complex variation of the knife sharpener is a stand with a separate support and a sharpening rod attachment. For its manufacture you will need:

• chipboard sheet;
• wood block 8 cm long and 2x4 cm in section;
• steel rod M6 or M8;
• plexiglass 6x12 cm;
• magnet with holes for fasteners;
• self-tapping screws, bolts, wing nuts;
• wooden clamps;
• rubber feet;
• saw and drill.

Sharpener construction scheme:

1. Cut three blanks from a chipboard sheet: 7x8 cm, 8x30 cm and 12x37 cm.
2. On the oblong side of the workpiece 8x30 cm, stepping back 6 cm from the edge, make a hole.
3. In the corners of the workpiece 12x37 cm, drill holes for the legs.
4. Drill two through perpendicular holes in a wooden block: the first - 3 cm from the edge, the second - 3 cm from the first. From the edge of the product to the first hole, cut out a recess 1 cm thick.
5. Make a cut in the center of the plexiglass strip.
6. On a workpiece 12x37 cm, stepping back 4 cm from the edge, fix the workpiece 7x8 cm perpendicularly with two screws. Fix the workpiece 8x30 cm from above with self-tapping screws.
7. At the highest point of the installed workpiece 8x30 cm, drill a small recess and fix the magnet in it with self-tapping screws. Put plexiglass on the same workpiece - fasten the products with a bolt through the previously made hole and slot.
8. On any edge of the workpiece 12x37 cm, drill a hole for a steel sharpening rod and fix it there with a wing nut.
9. Put a bar on the rod, securing it with a bolt and nut.
10. From the rod, nuts and two clips, assemble a knife holder.
11. Screw the legs to the finished stand.

How to sharpen a knife?

For quality, it is not enough to build one of the above devices - you also need to master the rules of manual sharpening, and figure out the order of work.

First, the required sharpening angle of the tool is calculated - it must be maintained throughout the entire sharpening process. Then, with smooth movements, alternately “away from you” and “towards you”, begin to drive the blade along the grinding element - an abrasive or a rod. In one movement, it should go along the sharpener from edge to edge. In this case, the movements are performed perpendicular to the edge of the blade.

Important! At the end of each pass, the blade must remain on the sharpener, and not fall off it, otherwise you can not only dull the knife even more, but also deform its side surface.

Drive the blade along the sharpener with one side until it reverse side a burr does not appear - then turn the knife over and start sharpening the second side of the blade in the same way. Continue sharpening with alternating sides until the burrs are completely gone. Gradually reduce the pressure of the knife.

How to determine the angle of sharpening?

The most important parameter for sharpening a knife is the required angle of inclination of the blades. It depends on the scope of a particular tool and the range of tasks that are assigned to it:

• Razor of any type - an angle of 10-15 degrees.
• Fillet knife - 15 degrees.
• Knife for fruits, bread and vegetables - 15-20 degrees.
• Multifunctional tools for cutting food - 20-25 degrees.
• Hunting knives - 25 degrees. Such blades are designed for cutting not only soft products, but also wood, bones, and tissues.

• Household knives general purpose- 25-30 degrees.
• Tourist and camping knives- 30-35 degrees.
• Cutting knives hard materials- 30-50 degrees. The larger the sharpening angle, the worse such a knife cuts food, but the better it copes with wood, trunks, and plastic.

Please note that there are also combination knives: they are divided into several zones with different angles sharpening. The advantage of such tools is versatility, the disadvantage is the complexity of maintenance.

So, assembling a knife sharpener with your own hands is an excellent way out of a situation where there is no desire to buy a professional device or regularly contact the craftsmen for tool maintenance. Here are two options for making sharpeners different levels complexity - choose what you can do, and use it strictly according to the indicated rules, so that sharpening is not only of high quality, but also safe.

DIY knife sharpener: video