Super-Simple Whetstone Knife Sharpening Techniques 

Best. Explanation. Ever. Seriously, this was the best demonstration of how to use a whetstone I've ever seen. Thank you.

I don't comment on much but when I did the newspaper test at the end, I let out a "woooo". Thank you.

This was hands down the best whetstone knifesharping video I have seen so far. You did a wonderful job explaining it in simple effective way for a beginner

I've watched a number of knife sharpening videos to figure out how to do it right. This video is the best hands down. Tells you everything you need to know on how to sharpen with a whetstone and why. Comprehensive yet concise. Excellent work. Save yourself a ton of time looking at other videos and just watch this. I have no affiliation to knifewear. I'm just genuinely impressed. What I have learned over months of studying and practicing was explained perfectly in this one video.

This was one of the best instructional videos I've ever watched on knife sharpening, now my knives are razor sharp!

Funny how this video popped up on my phone after me saying out loud last night how I need to sharpen my chef's knife. No conspiracy theories...fact. 🙄

Point of information: a Canadian Nickel is 1.76mm thick. According to the Royal Mint, here in the UK a 50p is 1.78mm. So three of those will be 0.06mm out. Close enough!

After watching your videos I bit the bullet and bought everything in the video. My first attempt was a success. I know I have a long ways to go. Thank you for building my confidence!

Thank you Knifewear!

Excellent display of technique and skill. Thank you for such a quality video.

This video is the best sharpening video I’ve seen on RU-vid. So many new bits of info that most other videos don’t mention!

I am a North Sea fisherman and a knife is your best friend. I find circular motion is far better when sharpening and most fisherman do it circular 😊

One of the best sharpening tutorials I have seen. Well done.

Good refresher video. I was able to effortlessly shave arm hair with my pocket knife. Now that’s a sharpness test. 👍🏼

Thank you so much .appreciate the time and effort you put in to the video's. Respect. New to Japanese knives and your video has now educated me more on care and sharpening. Thank you .

Great video, but the background music was irritating, especially when you were saying you could hear the burrs, and cutting the paper.

Things clicked after this video...thank you so much :)

Thank you very much for the main steps & all the small details, it really let you understand each step in the most safeties way

“If you’re sweaty or frustrated... you’re doin something wrong” I can not tell you the amount of times I’ve been there and only made my blades worse hahaha, being calm and having that zen and focus is really important.

I was gifted a used knife set; one of those that comes in a block. Most knives seemed fine, except for the chef’s knife; which is extremely dull and had a jagged edge. I bought a wet stone set (1000/6000) and was able to reduce the jagged edge. But the knife was still very much dull. Of all the videos I’ve seen this one has been the most informative and now I know what I did wrong. So thank you for putting out this content. I really needed the step by step. Awesome video!!

This is the best sharpening video out there! Really detailed, including having a calm state of mind and not rushing( I do that!) Thanks for sharing Bro, excellent piece of work!🏆🍾💥🏆

Soooo satisfying! Thank you!

Its amazing how techniques differ from culture to culture. U use the knife on the honing rod and we use the rod on the knife so the knife is the tool that stays put. We dont use whetstones we just use the wall and that way the entire length of the knife gets sharpned with every pull vs u going in sections. We have block homes smooth over with a layer of cement so its very much like a whetstone. We just sharpen on the wall & move to honing rod to finish up. When there isnt much rain and the ground is firm we just stoop outside and use the hardened surface of the dirt like a honing rod to maintain knives untill we need to do a full sharpening.

I love how you broke it down and made it simple, now it feels so much less daunting. Thank you!

Simply amazing! Thanks for sharing! 👌🏻

Excellent! Very specific and clear!

I love the way you explained what was happening to the knife at each stage. It really helped me visualize what I need to do and how it works. Knowing the “why” is so important! Thanks for the video, I feel way more ready to sharpen my knives.

Very good tutorial. Thanks. You could also get into the question of whether to sharpen your knife toward the blade, away from the blade, or both, as you do. I've seen videos (and my own experience) which shows that putting pressure on the knife as you pull away from the blade and releasing finger pressure while pushing it blade first (as if you were slicing the stone) produces burr more quickly than the back & forth method or blade first method. It's also kinder to soak stones, taking longer to dish the stone. You also might talk about Splash & Go ceramic stones. I have soak stones in 240, 1000 & 5000 grit, ceramic Shapton ceramicss in similar ranges (with 8000 for my Japanese hard-steel & one-side-bevel knives at 14 or 13 degrees) grit &, more recently, I tend to use 400 & 1200 diamond stones before stropping. That is a good combination for beginners because it uses no water, can be used pushing blade-forward or pulling back & isn't going to need a truing stone. I don't like the ceramic rod, so I use either a fine grit green compound on the rough side of the strop or extra fine grit (either black or white, depending on the manufacturer, usually white) as a polisher. Lately I've changed to diamond-infused extra-fine compound with a finish strop on the clean smooth leather. BTW, if you don't want to buy a new strop every time you decide to change compounds, mineral spirits are the best for removing all of the compound so you don't contaminate the new compound's grit from leftover older compound). You can whittle a hair with my Henckel & Japanese kitchen knives & my favorite folders. I totally agree that freehand sharpening is a Zen meditative experience & if you are a knife fancier, brings you a closer bond to your steel. One non-assist way to easily find the angle of the edge is to lay the knife flat & begin to lift the spine, watching the edge. When there is no longer any clearance between the edge and the stone you are at the angle it was set at by the factory (or by your re-profiling). You can see it and feel it when you hit the right angle. I always put on light pressure when sliding the blade spine-first and let off the pressure when I slide the knife blade-first (a holdover from using softer soak stones that dish or gouge too easily).

Great video! Love the instructions and the way you show us what to do.

I'm figuring out the proper method to sharpen knives, and I'm seeing alot of new and useful info (I didn't know whetstones are supposed to be wet). Thanks for making this vid, 'ppreciate it.

Excellent explanations!! Cleared up a few questions I’ve had since forever!! Thank you very much Sir

Your video was super helpful for me. Just purchased a whetstone and wanted to figure out what to do with it. Your techniques work well. Thank you!

Awesome work! thank you!

Today was the day I planned on learning how to sharpen my knives. Thank you!

Thank you so much!! I have really sensitive hearing so I can hear the sound of the blade on the stone. I also have really sensitive fingertips. But in the past I was pressing down to hard so I was not feeling it right. I was also going to fast. When I watched your video and you talked about going slow and not moving your wrist, the light went on! Sounds stupid, But I kind of zoned out and went really slow, light pressure and let my fingers feel. WOW! What a difference. Thank you again for this video.

An excellent knife sharpening video .The best one I’ve ever seen ! Thanks

Fantastic video, finally been able to use my block correctly!! Thank you!!

Nice! I sharpen my knifes the same way!!! I got 400-600 and 1000 grid diamant blocks with 3 holders. I although sharpen my chisels on those.great results !

Very nice explanation and directions .

Just started, and this video is exactly what I needed. Thank you, dude!

Great info presented in an easy to follw manner. Thank you very much.

your knife holder/reck is awesome, great idea!!!!!

Very Nice, I will have to give it a go!

Great video, thank you.

Thanks mate very informative

Finally sharpened my first knife using this video side by side and it really helped! Didn’t get it as sharp as the video but I get the feeling I’ll improve over time.

I don't think I have ever commented on a video/tutorial before. This video was a huge help. I had always ground too hard and didn't learn how to finesse the blade. And my husband grinds the knife blades into the plate when he "cuts" - ouch. I followed along with this video step by step while I did my own knife and it turned out really nice! Thank you for a straight-forward process and a great tutorial. Wow. Now I have more knives to sharpen correctly!

Where was all this good information when I really needed it back in high school,,,the bad guy allways had the razor sharp blades!!

Thanks for sharing Bro, excellent piece of work!

Great video, just got Damascus set of knives so will need this in the future. Also learnt about a truing stone for the first time. Thank you for the professional and friendly presentation, excellent😊

Thank you for the video really helpful. Love the process and the explanations.

That was an excellent tutorial my friend. Everything you said was 100 facts!

Excellent tutorial. Thank you.

Awesome stuff.

Pro tutorial. Thanks!!

Very nice video. It opened my eyes to the ease of doing it properly. Thanks

Thanks so much. Love your approach.

Began my cooking journey and realized 1 my knives are beyond simple and 2 my new knives will need love and attention. Thank you for this video.

Excellent Video!! Best explanation ever! I'm the guy who sharpens knives for extended family and friends, but could never explain how it's done. From now on, I will steer people over to your video!

Hiya pal ! Followed your video instructions regarding kitchen knives sharpening with wet stones ! I'm a beginner but my knives are easier to use and the knives maintain a great sharp edge. Thanks for your video help ! Take care out there m8 ! Regards ... Mark Bailey

thank you for the excellent tutorial!

Brilliant video and instructions!

alright, time to get these stones, i feel confident i can learn it now, thanks

man, I wish I had watched your videos 1st! You are a very good teacher, sir. Many thanks for the terrific tips and techniques.

Good tips 👍 thank you

Excellent video, very informative and useful.

I watch 5 videos on the topic before I got here an I wasted my time with the others this was the most informative by far an the way you walked through it was great

Thanks

Excellent

Great video

Thank you

Thank you very much! Great job!!!

Love this video Its well explain Easy to understand

That was a great episode, I dont have a 220 grit as i believe that my knives are not totally dull. I have a 4000 and a 8000 which address's my attention span and just to tighten up the edge on my Masakage knives, i have several as i dont want to be doing this all day. The ceramic rod showed me that I have been doing it right. The clip interesting as i never know if i have a consistant angle as it seems to change, ( body language) I use the nickel approach, you also told me a bit of info on stropping which i was unsure of ie(leather side vs swede side) thanks

Thanks! very interesting and good for me to see before I buy a Japanese blade for the kitchen. I'll be buying the stuff you showed here to make it a lifetime purchase

First, a GREAT video. Thanks for a great tutorial, and a commonsense approach. I had to freehand the angle since I didn't have any guides, and didn't heed your warning about protecting my thumbs -- regretting that now. I did okay, but I'm not comfortable that I did a very good job of keeping the angle constant. I'll probably but into some of the guides you suggested. Anyway, thanks again!

Ty bro! Brilliant video!

awesome guide. thank you! (:

You the man, can't wait to become great at it👍🏻

Thank you! Very good information!👋

Excellent video!

This is the exact video I needed. 😂😂😂😂I used to deliver phone books. Part time gig that lasted 1 time.

Love your shirt my guy

Excellent video.

Did i do a great job? No. Is it sharper than before? You better believe it is. Thanks for this video.

Hey thanks, very helpful 😊

Excellent educational demo. Thank you sir.❤❤❤❤😂😂😂😂

The student was ready, the teacher appear. Thank you.

Awesome video, very easy to approach! Your way of deburring with an edge leading stroke is really effective for finishing on a medium stone! If there's anything that I can add to this is that a ceramic rod isn't really necessary to deburr or strop if you don't already have one and you can honestly use almost anything from your jeans to a roll of newspaper to a tightly pulled towel to cork to the rough side of a non-scratch sponge or even the palm of your hand (this can be a bit dangerous if you're not experienced)

nicely explained details, if my technique was good enough to get a paper cutting edge with the rough grit id be hella happy

Great to see people take the mystery of the process, the thing that I cant do despite trying a lot is not ruin a convex when using stones. If you do a follow up would love to see how you maintain the geometry of the fine convex on a lot of knives.

Great video!!thank you

Wewll Done! Sir!

this might be the most well made video on the internet.

Love this video!!! My grandfather taught me wrong on how to sharpen ge always said do small circles which doesnt really do anything and takes away your edge and your point. Mabie he did that on purpose so i didn't cut myself haha this man is the best shapening video out there.. thanks heaps my man ❤;!!

Most helpful, cheers, 😎👍👍

Just commenting to say thank you for the tutorial.

Dude that palm tatt looks cool. Im going all on the top of my hand & fingers slowly & really considering the palm at least like how much you have done. Ive been told that its a crapshoot as to if the ink will stay. Thanks for the nice video👍🏼

Thank you mysterious internet manbun. You have improved my quality of life

Just got my knives sharp after watching this, thanks. Have had several previous failed attempts !