How to sharpen a razor blade: proven and effective methods. How to sharpen a razor jacket on jeans How to sharpen razor blades

Numerous manufacturers of men's accessories and shaving accessories offer disposable and reusable razors with blades made from quality materials. But sooner or later, any blade will begin to lose its properties, especially if you do not provide the machine with decent care, proper operation and storage. In this regard, experts offer many methods for sharpening machine blades, many of which can be used at home.

Many men know how to sharpen a razor at home, as several old methods have been practiced for many years. To date, many new ideas have been invented that also quickly and smoothly sharpen blades, extending their life. It is only important to follow all the subtleties and instructions, otherwise the sharp cutting surface may be damaged.

Razor sharpening at home: what is important to know

Many men believe that sharpening blades for a machine tool is an unlikely or completely useless task. Especially considering the fact that there is a huge assortment of new blades and cartridges on sale in stores. In fact, razors High Quality cost a lot of money, as do blades for such models. Therefore, experts recommend saving money and sharpening blades, unless, of course, you use a cheap disposable razor.

Have you ever sharpened a razor?

YesNo

Only a few types of razors can be sharpened in this way:

disposable machine;
reusable razors with cassettes;
T-shaped machines.

If, in addition to proper use and care, sharpening of blades is carried out, a man will be able to provide himself with a high-quality wet shave and save money on buying a machine or blades. Otherwise, the blades will not only cut the hairs badly and pull them out, but also scrape off the top layer of the skin. An important condition for sharpening is to follow the instructions for all stages, otherwise you can dull the cutting surface even more.

For reference! If a man does not have the skills and knowledge of how to sharpen razor blades, you can contact a specialist who has a razor blade sharpening machine and other tools for professional sharpening in his arsenal.

Step by step guide

To date, the most relevant request from men in forums and communities is as follows - how to sharpen razor blades Vest. This manufacturer offers quality machines with interchangeable cassettes, which you can easily extend the shelf life yourself, without the help of a specialist. Most often, two devices for such an action are practiced - this is a pyramid sharpener for razor blades or a regular one. denim.

The pyramid can be made independently from a material that is unable to magnetize, such as plexiglass or cardboard. It is fixed with glue or adhesive tape; metal fasteners are prohibited. Further sharpening is carried out as follows:

mark the pyramid on a hard, straight surface;
then the pyramid is oriented to the cardinal points;
razor blades should be placed along the pyramid in the north-south direction;
the blades should lie in this state under the pyramid for 6-8 hours.

In the same way, you can sharpen blades for cassette razors, such as Gillette and other brands.

Many men have been successfully practicing the technique for many years, noting its ease of use and high efficiency. Using a special device from RazorPit or Zattoch, blades on a cassette or removable blades are sharpened as follows:

a little shaving gel is applied to the surface of the device;
further along the abrasive surface, but in the opposite direction, as during shaving, machine movements are performed;
do 25-30 such movements at a time;
at the end, the machine and working attachment will need to be rinsed with water.

Only 5-10 minutes of such manipulations will be enough to reanimate the blades of the machine and give the shaving tool a second life. This will not only save money, but also provide a man with a high-quality and effective shave of stubble and mustache without irritation and other consequences.

Handy tools to help

If a device such as a razor sharpener is not suitable for a man, you can use improvised tools, such as denim. This is one of the first methods that was invented by men many years ago. It is enough just to turn the fabric inside out, and then run the loom with the blades inside against the line of direction of the fabric threads 30-40 times, but without pressure.

Another handy way is a leather belt, and the blades are sharpened in the same way as with denim. You need to choose a belt that does not have frayed areas and creases, otherwise the surface of the blades will be broken. You need to move the blades along the belt with it wrong side. This will preserve the integrity of the painted side of the belt while improving the functionality of the machine.

Is it important to use special devices?

In fact, any selected razor sharpener must be approved by specialists, since leather belt, pyramid or denim. Other unfamiliar techniques and untested tools at hand can easily damage the integrity of the blades, since we are talking about a metal plate with a thickness of 0.5 mm or less. Despite the fact that there are many razor sharpeners for sale on the Internet, only a few really do it.

Conclusion

Shaving accessories all have their own service life, which depends on the materials of production of the machine itself and the quality of the blades in it. Disposable machines are used no more than 1-3 times, but T-shaped razors and reusable machines will last longer if the cutting parts are changed in time. And in order not to spend money on buying new "feathers", you can sharpen them in a timely manner. To do this, you may need a special device, as well as a pyramid of improvised means, a leather strap or denim.

The ability to sharpen knives is useful to most modern housewives, because the thickness of the cut and the mood with which you start cooking depend on the sharpness of the blade. How to sharpen knives so that this tool is always perfectly sharp? You can apply several fixtures. Let's consider each of them.

This is a rod with a handle that will sharpen the knife to absolute sharpness. Musat can be divided into several different types- metal, diamond or ceramic. Musat made of metal has notches that align the deformed edge of the blade. The last two options have a fine structure and are used for grinding and fitting the surface and the point.

The shape of the musat can also be different, but it does not affect the result. You need to use it like this:

Take a knife in one hand, hold the musat in the other. Musat is held with the rod down, resting on the table with its end.
Move the knife along the musat either with one side or the other, without changing the angle of inclination.
Move in an arc, sharpening the knives from handle to point. Do not apply special efforts - the blade should slide.

Musat is perfect for frequent use, therefore it is included in knife sets. Another advantage is the magnetized surface, thanks to which all the ground elements simply stick to the rod, leaving the knife clean.

whetstones

Sharpening knives with a bar is within the power of each of you. This is a well-known method that allows you to complete sharpening.

Grinding stones are made from artificial and natural materials. The surface of each of them has a different grain size. Grindstones with coarse grit are suitable for grinding large pieces of metal, while fine-grained whetstones are more useful for grinding and sharpening.

The bars are also divided according to the method of processing - water or oil. Depending on it, the surface of the grindstones should be soaked in water or smeared with special oil (machine or vegetable oil is prohibited!). This will not allow metal filings to clog the surface of the abrasive and reduce the quality of the sharpener.

For high-quality sharpening in the house, you should have several types of bars. Now let's move on to the process:

Fix a coarse-grained bar on the table. During operation, it should not move.
Place the blade on the stone near the handle, choosing the desired angle.
Make a smooth movement on the stone with the blade of the knife, shifting the tip to the side.
At the bend of the blade, slightly raise the handle of the knife so that the edge of the blade is sharpened evenly.
Repeat several times, swiping the knife in the same direction.
Now turn the knife over and sharpen from the back.
Install another stone - with a medium grain size. It will remove the "burrs" on the metal and make the blade sharp.
Grind a kitchen knife on a fine-grained stone.
At the end of the process, rinse the stone with water to wash out the remnants of chips that clog into the pores.

The whetstone can be replaced with sandpaper with varying degrees of grit. It is firmly fixed and the same manipulations are carried out as when working with a bar.

Sharpening set

Sharpening knives at home is impossible without a set. It consists of a bed with clamps for blades, as well as whetstones. The kit is easy to use:

Attach the blade to the clip. The cutting edge should "look" up.
Insert a whetstone into the hole.
Make several running movements from the handle to the tip of the knife. We hold the knife perpendicular to ensure the desired sharpening angle.

The sharpening set includes several different whetstones for sharpening and straightening.

Mechanical sharpener

A sharpener of this type is a body with a very comfortable handle, in which several special discs are placed. You can sharpen knives with a knife sharpener not only on the first, but also on last step when editing is needed. Most devices have a sharpening angle that is perfect for a kitchen knife. The use of the sharpener is also simple and convenient:

Immerse the knife in the cell between the discs.
Swipe firmly from the handle to the point.
Repeat several times.
Rinse the sharpener with water and let it dry completely.

electric sharpener

One of the most convenient, efficient and safe ways knife sharpening. An electric sharpener can make a knife perfectly sharp in a couple of minutes. This sharpener consists of several different holes with diamond discs for sharpening, finishing and polishing the blade. Expensive tools are also suitable for sharpening serrated knives.

How to sharpen knives with an electric sharpener?

Insert the knife into the desired hole.
Pass it between the discs from the handle to the tip, applying light pressure.
Repeat several times.

Grinder

The sharpening machine is able to sharpen a dull blade to razor sharpness and retain its cutting properties for a long time. But lack of experience and inability to use this complex unit can lead to the fact that the blade will be damaged. The grinder is only suitable for professionals.

It is equipped with two fast-rotating discs that perform knife sharpening and grinding. The machine can sharpen any kind of blade, but you need to choose the sharpening angle yourself. The main thing is to monitor the heating of the steel so that it does not overheat.

We sharpen a ceramic knife

Recently, ceramic knives have become more and more popular, because the stores claim that they are not dull at all. Still how stupid, you understand after 3 weeks! How to sharpen a ceramic knife at home and can it be done?

You can sharpen ceramics only on a machine - the material transfers high temperatures. For these purposes, a diamond or corundum disk is useful. The regular one won't work! Sharpening should be done at the lowest possible speed to minimize tool runout. You need to press the knife gently, without making any effort.

At the end of the process, rinse the knife with water to wash off the remaining chips. Be very careful - you can cut yourself quickly!

How to check the result...

Now everyone knows how to sharpen knives properly. It remains only to check the result of your work. This is very easy to do - cut a fresh tomato. If the blade does not crush, but quickly cuts through the skin, the knife is sharpened well.

Another interesting and non-standard method:

…and keep the knife sharp?

In this case, proven tips will help you:

Do not store knives together with other cutlery (forks, spoons, etc.) - the blade will rub against the surface of other objects, microscopic nicks will appear on it, which will dull the blade. The best place for a knife is a wooden stand, a magnetic strip, or a special case;
Do not leave the appliance dirty - it takes a lot of effort to wash dried food. This may scratch the cutting edge of the knife. In addition, many products contain acid, which will lead to metal corrosion;
Control the duration of contact of the knife blade with water. Long lying in a bowl of water has a bad effect on the metal, as well as the material of the handle;
To keep your knife sharp longer, wash it only with cold water and try to cut very hot food less often.

After a long use in the kitchen, any knife needs to be sharpened. Many, in order to do this quickly, resort to using a special grinding wheel, which is driven by an electric motor. In the absence of it, the most desperate try to sharpen knives with a file, and even But few people know how to sharpen knives with a bar.

This process is simple, but rather painstaking, it requires perseverance and a little skill that comes with experience. Before that bar, you need to correctly select the bars. In total, you will need two bars for sharpening: one coarse-grained, and the second fine-grained. In the process, you must constantly keep the knife blade wet. It's best to lubricate mineral oil, but in the absence of one at hand, you can use ordinary water.

Also, in front of that stone, look for a piece of leather. In this case, you can use old belt. More precisely, you only need its back side, which is not processed and resembles suede.

Choice of sharpening angle

Before getting down to business, it is necessary to determine at what angle we will sharpen the knife. The range is quite wide and ranges from 15 to 45 degrees. The choice is made depending on the quality of the steel from which the knife is made, and on the purpose for which it will be used in the future.

It is also necessary to take into account the following feature. The smaller the angle at which you sharpen a knife, the faster it will dull. This can be explained by the fact that the edge of a sharp knife quickly rounds off, or, even worse, crumbles.

How to keep the same angle all the time?

Now let's figure out how to sharpen knives with a bar. First, place the bar on the table and fix it motionless. Then position the knife blade in relation to the bar at the angle you need. Move the blade along the bar in only one direction, for example away from you, trying to maintain a given angle. It can be noted right away that this is difficult. Therefore, it is better not to rush, but to do everything smoothly.

The inexperienced can give this advice. Make a blade from the angle of which would correspond to the required sharpening angle. Put the blade on the wooden wedge and move the knife along the bar with it.

sharpening

First you need to take a bar with a large grain. Before work, moisten it with water or oil, as mentioned above. Sharpen the blade until the so-called burr appears along the entire length. In order to determine its presence, simply run your fingernail along the reverse side, which has not been sharpened, from the butt to the edge. Also sharpen from the reverse side, after which the burr should bend in the other direction. Repeat the same with a fine-grained bar. After that, the burr will become a little smaller.

For the third time, repeat the manipulation with the bar, which has a fine grain. As a result, the burr will decrease even more. To finally get rid of it, use the skin on the back.

Thus, after reading this article, you already know how to sharpen knives with a bar. However, there are many other ways to make a knife sharper. It can also be special sharpeners that are sold in any underground passage. But what is better to sharpen knives, a person understands only with experience, having tried a whole arsenal of devices.

Household knives require sharpening from time to time. Especially quickly they begin to become dull under increased side load, when pieces of metal come off the edge, or when cutting solid objects at right angles. The main goal of sharpening household knives is to keep the sharpness of the cutting edge as long as possible, removing as little metal as possible from it when sharpening. To achieve this, you need to know how to properly sharpen knives with a bar, because this is the most common sharpening option at home.

Grinding stones come in several varieties: diamond, ceramic, natural, Japanese water. In addition, grinding devices are also of the electric type. Without the skills of sharpening knives at home, it is better to use an ordinary abrasive or ceramic whetstone. Electric sharpeners can ruin the blade in the absence of the necessary skills or low-quality tools. In order to straighten the blade, you should use the musat.

To sharpen a knife well, you must use at least two abrasive bars, one of which has a large grain size, the second - a smaller one. The blade is sharpened with one whetstone, and polished with the second.

The correct bar should have a length 1.5-2 times the length of the knife, its surface should be even, without chips. To begin with, it is better to purchase a stone of medium hardness, and when the necessary skill appears, purchase several different stones for different degrees of sharpening and type of steel. best quality sharpening is still characterized by Soviet-made stones, if you managed to find such a bar somewhere at a flea market, then you are lucky, and the quality of sharpening with a long service life is guaranteed.

In addition to sharpening knives with bars, you can use goy paste to form a sharp cutting edge. In order to have not only a theoretical idea, but also a practical one, it is better to watch a video on how to properly sharpen knives with a bar.

How to sharpen knives with a bar by hand

When sharpening knives by hand, it is necessary to start with an abrasive with a large grain and finish with a fine grain. In doing so, the following principles are recommended:

Knives are sharpened with smooth movements, without pressure on the cutting edge.
It is necessary to choose the optimal sharpening angle and observe it throughout the entire process of sliding along the bar.
Before sharpening, during the process itself and as it ends, it is necessary to moisten the whetstones with water or soapy water. This is necessary for better glide of the blade, to avoid clogging of the pores of the stone with metal dust, as well as to get rid of the dirt that appears during the process and clean the stone after sharpening.
The first attempt at sharpening an edge is best done on a knife that you won't mind ruining.
The sharpening pass is made with the cutting edge forward, “away from you”. Sharpening starts from the location of the handle. As the blade moves along the bar, the knife is pulled towards itself so that, reaching the end of the grindstone, it simultaneously reaches the end of the point.
Ceramic knives are hard and retain their sharpness well after sharpening, but they are very fragile, unlike steel ones. Sharpening of this type of blades is carried out only with diamond wheels.

The process of sharpening home knives can be described step by step:

The bar is wetted with soapy water (you can use dishwashing liquid).
The stone is placed on a flat surface - a table, a cutting board in a position convenient for you.
The desired sharpening angle is selected to fix the position of the knife. When sharpening it at a certain angle, it is worth remembering: the smaller it is, the sharper the cutting edge is, and the larger it is, the longer it will remain sharp.
For different types of kitchen knives, a different angle is chosen: for a regular knife it is 40-45 degrees, for a sirloin knife, designed for thinly slicing fish, poultry or meat, the sharpening angle should be 30-40 degrees. Other tools have their own values: 10-15 degrees for razors and scalpels; 15-20 - for cutting vegetables, bread; 25-30 - angle for sharpening hunting knives. To get the correct angle that must be observed between the blade and the bar, it is necessary to divide these recommended values \u200b\u200bby two. Thus, to sharpen a 45-degree edge, each side of the blade must be sharpened at 22.5 degrees relative to the grinding surface.
The knife is placed in such a position that top part the handle was under the lower edge of the bar. One hand holds the handle, the other - the cutting edge, then you need to start sliding the blade away from you from the bottom of the knife to the tip in the direction of travel.
The cutting edge must be perpendicular to the direction of travel.
The angle is maintained throughout the movement, with the knife handle lifted on the curve of the blade to maintain a certain angle.
You will need to make at least 40-50 sliding movements on one side, then turn the knife over and repeat the same steps on the other side. A sign that the edge has begun to sharpen will be the appearance of characteristic "burrs" on the blade. As you sharpen, metal dust will appear, which must be removed from the surface of the grindstone.
When the point is sharpened, it is necessary to start finishing the blade. To do this, you need to perform the same steps as described above, but on a stone with a smaller grain size. Musat will act as an alternative to such a bar. This is a steel round rod with longitudinal notches for straightening the edge. It is not suitable for sharpening, and it is useless for a knife that is too dull, but it will help to edit the knife before and after working with it. To use the musat correctly, it should be held strictly vertically. The blade moves along the musat at an inclination of 20-25 degrees no more than 4-5 times on each side of the blade.
If you need to achieve a high degree of sharpness of the blade, like a razor, you can use goy paste. She needs to process the entire edge of the knife and repeat all the sharpening steps described above with the only difference that sharpening is done in the direction from the cutting edge.

To simplify the process of sharpening at the right angle, special templates can be made. To do this, on thick paper with the help of a protractor, an angle of 30, 40, 45, 22.5 degrees is marked. A corner is formed from it in accordance with the desired value, and the position of the blade relative to the surface of the whetstone during sharpening is measured from this corner.

How to sharpen knives with a bar: an alternative

If there is no desire or opportunity to use a whetstone, you can sharpen the blade in alternative ways:

The easiest way is to sharpen on the rough edge of a ceramic saucer located below it. The principle of sharpening is the same as described above, the main thing is to observe the angle of inclination, direction and smoothness of movement.
Electric sharpener - convenient and fast way blade sharpening, can work even with very dull blades, including ceramic knives. Often used in catering places to work with a large number of tools. But the catch in its use lies in the fact that it will remove too much metal from the blade, which causes the knife to wear out quickly. In addition, an electric sharpener is not the cheapest way to sharpen a blade.
Roller sharpener for knives. This is an inexpensive and easy way, but far from the most effective, because the sharpness of the blade does not last long. A mechanical V-sharpener is also cheap and quick to sharpen, but damages the blade a lot.
Sharpening systems allow you to precisely adjust and maintain the required angle. Sharpening systems come with the ability to fix the blade and the grindstones themselves at a certain angle. The main disadvantage of these systems is that not every type of kitchen knife can be sharpened with them.

Sharpening the blade using an emery machine. It is effective but inconvenient for home use, and even more so, for a beginner, a way. Blade sharpening is carried out using several types of wheels: abrasive, felt, grinding. This method is often used to sharpen large hunting blades.

The knife is one of the most ancient tools, which has not lost its relevance for many centuries. good knife has always been considered one of the most important attributes that a real man should own. In this regard, he must know how to sharpen a knife so that it is like a razor. Moreover, if earlier only warriors and hunters should have had such a skill, now every representative of the stronger sex should be able to do this.

Knife sharpening should be done every few months.

Is not very tricky business, it is not necessary to entrust it to specialists. If you make some effort and follow the instructions clearly, then any knife will become razor sharp. A variety of tools can be used for sharpening:

Electric sharpener.
Bars, but you need to choose a few, the grain size should be different.
Skin.

To sharpen knives, you can use a special sharpening tool.

An experienced person can sharpen a tool even in such conditions when none of the above is at hand, with which sharpening can be done. He can even use a stone that is harder than the knife itself. You can, of course, use special sharpeners, which are offered in large quantities on the modern market and whose price range is very different, which allows everyone to make a choice. However, such devices are far from always at hand, so manual shaving sharpening at home does not lose its relevance.

How is such a process carried out?

Before sharpening a knife, you need to properly inspect it.

This must be done in order to be able to determine the state of its initial sharpness and the presence of notches on the blade. If the blade is in a completely unusable condition, then you need to use an electric sharpener, but it is recommended that professionals work with such a tool. If sharpening is carried out at home, then for this you can completely use a whetstone. This method is reliable and proven, but you should immediately be prepared for the fact that it takes a lot of time. In order to save time, it is recommended that you do not sharpen the entire knife in this way, but only the part that is dull. If there are teeth on one side, then the part of the tool where there are no teeth and the chamfer is removed should be sharpened. Razor sharpening can be done like this: the whetstone is placed on the base (it can be anything). It is necessary to use the base so that the countertop is not damaged during sharpening.

As a base, you can use a variety of things: a cutting board, an ordinary newspaper or a piece of linoleum. The knife is taken in the right hand by the handle, then the tool is placed on the bar with a cloth, you need to do this at a slight angle. As for the choice of angle, it is necessary to focus on the angle of the previous sharpening. For reliability, the bar should be held with the left hand, and the right hand performs translational movements. In this case, the knife blade should be pressed as tightly as possible to the bar. As for the range of motion, everything here depends on the length of the blade; the size of the blunt part of the knife blade can also be taken into account. Such an operation must be carried out on both sides of the knife blade. It is in this way that the main, as they say, rough sharpening of the knife is carried out, which helps to give the blade an acute angle.

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Fine-grained skin will help to complete the process of sharpening the knife.

After the knife has been sharpened to a fairly tolerable state, it is necessary to proceed to another stage of work, which is called “editing”. In order to carry out such a process with maximum efficiency, you need to use a tool that has more delicate qualities. In this regard, it is appropriate to use a fine-grained skin, a whetstone will also work. In order to effectively edit the knife, it should be quickly drawn along the bar, while both sides of the blade should be substituted alternately. And you can just run a bar several times on the blade on both sides, also very effective. The matter continues with the point being perpendicularly applied to the finger after the sharpening process. If the knife is indeed razor-sharpened, the blade pulls on the skin somewhat when the tool is slid in a direction perpendicular to the blade.

If the question arises, how to sharpen a knife to the state of a razor on an electric machine, it is necessary to carry out such a process in special gloves. This is done for safety reasons, and this is especially true for those who work with an electric machine for the first time. In order for the knife to really be sharpened like a razor (which is especially important if, for example, we are talking about a tool that is designed for woodcarving), then after the sharpening is completed, you need to go over it with a sandpaper several more times, and you need to use different skins, each time decreasing its number until it is brought to zero.

At the end, the tool can be edited on a belt that is made of leather. It must first be nailed to a bar, which is made of wood. To achieve a greater effect, a grinding paste is applied to the leather belt. When sharpening a knife with a block, you can moisten the blade from time to time with water or vegetable oil. Thus, the process runs with greater convenience and greater efficiency. Everything, now with such a tool you can cut meat and other products, carve wood and even use it as a razor.