On the Cutting Edge

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My favorite stones are quarried from natural beds of novaculite in Arkansas. The coarsest, thus fastest cutting grade, is called washita, or soft Arkansas. It is light gray to tan with beautiful striations of color that mark its sedimentary beginnings. A washita stone will hone as fine an edge as most people want. For finer polishing and greater sharpness, a hard Arkansas stone the color and texture of fine white marble can be used.

I admit I'm a romantic; sharpening on a beautifully colored rock is the chief advantage of novaculite. There are also many excellent — though less pretty — synthetic stones. The local hardware store will likely skip the romance and carry only these. They are often available as a "combination" stone that sandwiches medium grit for beveling on one side, fine grit for honing on the other. Get the largest one you can. Trying to sharpen a long knife on a small stone is like trying to park a Cadillac in Manhattan.

Use water, kerosene, or special sharpening oil as a lubricant on the stone. I keep the surface of my stone almost submerged while sharpening. It's impossible to use too much. Avoid the temptation to use your favorite 10W-30 or other motor oil; it is too viscous and will make it difficult to feel the stone under the steel, a bit like washing your feet with your socks on. Also avoid dry sharpening. The stone will quickly clog. I periodically use a vegetable brush and hot soapy water to clean the metal particles out of the stone's pores.

Before beginning to sharpen, I use a bright light to sight along the knife's edge. If there is any hint of light reflected from the cutting edge itself, the knife must be rebeveled. For general use, this means honing a constant 24-degree angle along the entire cutting edge — 12 degrees per side. For heavy-duty cutting, increase the angle slightly. I use a medium-grit stone for the initial beveling to make things go faster.

There is one and only one skill in sharpening — finding and maintaining the aforementioned angle as the knife is drawn across the stone. Luckily for me, there is a simple and honorable way to cheat.

Put a stack of pennies on one end of the stone, two for every half inch of blade width. If you start the knife with its back edge on the pennies, this will place the blade at the correct angle. Then, bearing down hard, draw the knife across the stone and down its length as if slicing a firm cheese — an aged cheddar, perhaps. Concentrate. Watch closely to make sure the knife-to-stone angle remains constant. To maintain the correct bevel around the tip of the knife, pivot the handle of the knife upward at the end of each slice. Take an equal number of strokes on each side and go slowly. This will take some patience.

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