Mandrel for sharpening knives on a sharpener. Devices for sharpening knives with your own hands: types and drawings

In this video tutorial, blogger Mr_Beaver presented improved versions of his bottle cutters made from pencil sharpeners.

Why do you need a bottle cutter?

A cutter is needed to plastic bottle get rope, or rather PET tape. It is used as a household rope or in decorative items. The advantages of this tape are that it is free and has heat-shrink properties. And its main advantage is that it can be done in conditions where there is no strong rope, but in this place there is such a common plastic vessel. This method is useful in field conditions, fishing, hiking, etc.
At the same time, having received the tape, it can be applied directly on site. To cut the bottles into ribbons, the author uses pencil sharpeners. A sharpener with aluminum body, slot, rounded on the blade.

Converting the sharpener itself into a bottle cutter takes a few seconds. We unscrew it, take it out, turn it over, insert it with the angle inward and place it at an angle. We twist it. The blade has three fixation points. The body does not allow the blade to rise, the edge rests against the body from rotation, and the screw secures everything. The device is ready.

How to use a bottle cutter?

You need to work with gloves; if you don’t have them, use cloth or clothing. You may cut yourself when cutting the tape. The bottle is inserted into the bottle cutter and begins to grip. In the video, the author works without gloves for clarity. The workpiece is leveled.

About the cutting itself. Here everyone is looking for what is more convenient for them. The master rests the bottle on himself, slightly pressing the bottle with a cutter. And he begins to pull out the tape, trying to place the sharpener on the body. Gradually leveling, the bottle cutter enters operating mode and begins to cut the tape evenly. You still need to get used to the device. But after doing it once and getting used to it, you can cut a ribbon from one piece in a minute.

This is an aluminum pencil sharpener. What to do if it is plastic with a rectangular blade? The author remade the plastic one, took a lighter and a paper clip, made holes and tightened the screws - rotation stops. But the plastic is fragile and the bottle begins to cut through it. Therefore, plastic ones should not be used. But it is possible to dissolve a dozen bottles. The author of this development uses aluminum sharpeners. They are more convenient and durable.

About improvements to these bottle cutters

To cut a bottle, you need a knife; it is advisable to have it on the device itself, and not separately. We no longer need a knife and a screwdriver. Having made a notch on the screw itself, it can be unscrewed with keys, a coin, etc. Here we unscrew it with a coin and take out the blade.

The master soldered a nut onto the screw, and it became very convenient to unscrew it with your fingers. He unscrewed it, took out the blade, cut the workpiece, and twisted it. Depending on your purposes, you can set it to bottle cutter or sharpener mode. The latter provides valuable material during a camping trip as shavings from dry wood - kindling or tinder for a fire.

Here are two bottle cutters, a keychain and a travel one. Here I soldered a piece to the screw copper wire. The blade is easy to unscrew. But since you have to unscrew everything and there are a lot of small parts that can be lost. I made an additional knife on the body itself. Two screws, a knife axle and a stop. This is a piece of blade from a small utility knife. Very convenient, took it out, cut the bottle, folded it.

The knife can also be used for other purposes. The changes also affected the sharpener body itself. I made two cuts to obtain ribbons different widths, starting with the fishing line. big fish You can’t stretch it, but you can hem something, etc. And get ribbons of different widths. When hiking there is a need to get wider bands. So I added a mini bottle cutter made from a straw. Watch on the Mr_Beaver channel for more detailed videos about miniature devices of this kind. The resulting wide ribbons can be used in structures such as stools, chairs, and loungers.

The next changes are the hanging holes. This is a keychain. In the traveling one, I inserted paper clips and hung an additional one. The paper clips themselves good material, from them you can make a needle, pin, fishhook, etc. Simple improvements, significantly expanded the functionality of the pencil sharpener.

About further improvements. Can be supplemented with an eternal match, lighter, flashlight, etc. There will be more improvements, a lot of ideas. The result is such a convenient compact multifunctional hiking device. That's all. Available for cutting ribbons. Thank you for your attention.

With the help of a knife we cook food, cut food and do other housework. Therefore, it is very important that the knife blade always remains sharp. Theoretically, there is nothing difficult in sharpening knives, but in practice it turns out that not everyone can sharpen a blade well. To have an idea of what to sharpen knives with and how to do it correctly, we recommend reading our article.

Before you start sharpening a knife, you need to find out what material it is made of. There are several types of knives:

- Carbon steel knives are the most affordable, made from an alloy of iron and carbon, easy to sharpen and remain sharp for a long time. Among the disadvantages, it can be noted that the knife blade oxidizes from interaction with food or an acidic environment, due to this, rust and stains appear on the knife, and food acquires a metallic taste. Over time, after plaque forms on the blade, oxidation stops.

- Low carbon knives of stainless steel- made from an alloy of iron, chromium, carbon and in some cases nickel or molybdenum. Stainless steel knives are inferior in hardness to carbon steel, so they quickly become dull and require regular sharpening. The advantages include corrosion resistance.

- High carbon stainless steel knives – more high class knives with a high carbon content and additions of cobalt or vanadium. Due to the higher quality alloy, this type knives do not require frequent sharpening and are not subject to corrosion.

- Damascus steel knives are mainly made as edged weapons, but there are also kitchen options. Damascus steel knife is a multi-layer blade made of different alloys High Quality. The disadvantages include the high cost of knives.

Ceramic knives have gained popularity due to their sharpness and ability to long time don't be dumb. But in addition to their advantages, ceramic knives have a significant disadvantage, which is their fragility when dropped from a height and poor resistance to fracture.

Sharpening tools

Touchstone (sharpening stone)

Sharpening stones are available with different amounts abrasive grains per square millimeter. Therefore, for rough sharpening and finishing grinding, you need to use bars with a minimum and maximum abrasive content. In foreign-made whetstones, information about the number of abrasive grains is on their labeling. Sharpening stones domestic production you have to choose “by eye” or ask the seller which whetstone to use for initial sharpening and which for final sharpening.

Mechanical sharpener

Mechanical sharpeners are mainly used for sharpening kitchen knives. Although the sharpening process is quick, the quality leaves much to be desired. For this reason, for hunting and sporting knives, it is recommended to use other sharpening methods.

Electric sharpener

Modern models electric sharpeners allow you to achieve high quality sharpening due to the built-in function, automatic detection blade angle. The electric sharpener is great for both household use, and for sharpening knives in catering establishments. The lineup There is a wide range of electric sharpeners, so the price may vary, but if you want your knives to always remain sharp, then buy more “advanced” and expensive models.

Musat

Musat - designed to maintain the sharpness of the knife edge. In shape, the musat resembles a round file with a handle. Musats are included in knife sets, and many owners often confuse them with a tool for fully sharpening a blade. Please note that with the help of musat you can maintain the sharpness of a sharpened knife, but if the knife has become completely dull, you will not be able to sharpen it with musat.

Sharpener "Lansky"

This sharpener is used for sharpening small and medium-sized knives. The design of the sharpener allows you to sharpen the blade at the angle you choose. The Lansky sharpener consists of a rod with a removable touchstone and two corners connected to each other. The corners simultaneously serve as a vice for the knife and a scale for selecting the sharpening angle. The sharpener kit also includes sharpening stones of different grits with ANSI markings.

Sharpening and grinding machines

Sharpening machines are used mainly in production for high-precision sharpening of rotating shaft blades. In addition to high-precision machines, there are abrasive wheels with electric drive and rotating discs for grinding. Sharpening knives on such machines should only be done by an experienced craftsman, because due to the speed of rotation of the circle or disk and high temperature heating, with any unsuccessful movement, the knife blade will become unusable.

Do-it-yourself blade sharpening

Sharpening a knife using a whetstone

Sharpening of a blade made with a sharpening stone is considered to be of the highest quality, of course, provided that it was carried out by experienced master. To sharpen a knife about whetstone do the following:

1. Place a low abrasive grit sandstone on a stationary surface. If the block is small, it can be clamped in a vice.

1. Holding the knife at an angle of 20-25 degrees relative to the surface of the block, begin moving the knife along the whetstone with the cutting edge forward.

Move the blade along the block so that during movement it touches the surface of the whetstone along its entire length.
As you move, try to maintain the same blade angle.
After making 2-3 movements, turn the knife over and repeat the sharpening process on the other side of the blade.
Thus, alternating sides, sharpen the knife until an edge (burr) appears along the edge of the blade.
Swap the coarse whetstone for a grinding stone.
Sand the knife blade until the edge disappears.
Test the sharpness of the knife by cutting a hemp rope folded several times, or try cutting a sheet of paper.

How to sharpen a knife using a sharpening stone, see also in the video:

Sharpening a hunting knife on a Lansky sharpener

Hunting knives are made of hard steel, so their initial sharpening requires sharpening stones with a low content of abrasive grains.

Clamp the knife in a sharpener vice.
Place a sharpening stone with a low content of abrasive grains on the rod.
Select the angle of the block (for hunting knives it is usually from 20 to 30 degrees).
Insert the rod into the desired hole.
Lubricate the whetstone with the special oil included in the sharpener kit.
Start moving the block along the knife blade, from the base to the tip.
Flip the sharpener over and repeat the process on the other side of the knife.
Once the edge is formed, change the stone and do the final sanding.
Because the Hunter knives are mainly made with a double-sided blade, then after finishing sharpening on one side, change the position of the knife in the vice and begin the sharpening process on the other side.
Once you've finished sharpening, polish the knife blade with felt.

How to sharpen knives in a Lansky sharpener, watch the video:

Sharpening scissors

Sharpening of scissors must be done on a special sharpening machine. Sharpening blades using improvised tools ( sandpaper, edges of the glass, etc.) can temporarily improve the sharpness of the scissors, but not for long. If you do not have the opportunity to have your scissors sharpened by a professional, you can try to sharpen them yourself on an abrasive stone. When sharpening you need to follow a few simple rules:

The sharpening stone should be fine-grained.
The blade is sharpened over the entire surface of the edge at the same time.
The angle of the blade should match the factory edge.
The movement of the blade along the stone should be from the screw to the tip.
Scissors need to be sharpened disassembled.

When sharpening scissors, do not rush; patience will be your ally in this matter.

You can also watch the video on how to quickly sharpen scissors:

Sharpening plane and chisel blades

Sharpening the blade of a plane and a chisel are practically no different from each other. Therefore, the sharpening process described below applies to both tools:

Place the chisel on the whetstone at an angle of 30-40 degrees.
Holding the chisel with your hand, use the fingers of your free hand to press the bevel onto the whetstone.
Start moving the chisel along the whetstone until smooth side chisels do not form a burr.
Change the whetstone to a fine-grained one and do the final grinding of the chisel.
Check the sharpness of the chisel blade by removing shavings from the corner of the block.

Besides manual sharpening, the chisel can be sharpened on a machine with a rotating abrasive disk:

Turn on the machine and let the disc reach full speed.
Holding the chisel with both hands, place its bevel against the sharpening wheel.
Be sure to maintain the angle of the chisel, otherwise you will damage the blade of the tool.
Do not press the chisel with great force and do not hold it on the blade for too long, this will lead to overheating of the metal and destruction of the blade.
While sharpening, wet the blade with water.
The final grinding of the chisel blade is best done by hand, using a fine-grained stone or sandpaper.

Do not forget that when sharpening products on a machine, a lot of sparks and small particles are generated that can get into your eyes, so be sure to wear safety glasses. To avoid damaging your hands on the rotating disk, wear gloves.

You can also learn how to sharpen tools from the video:

Tips for quickly sharpening a blade using improvised tools

Stone

You can quickly sharpen a knife on a hike or on a picnic using an ordinary cobblestone. Use any stone lying on the ground instead of a whetstone and run the knife blade along its surface. You won't achieve razor sharpness, but you will return the knife to working condition.

Second knife

Sharpen two knives at once, without sharpening stones and devices, it is quite possible. To do this, you need to take a knife in both hands and begin to sharpen the blade of one knife on the blade of the other. After 5-10 minutes of this work, the knives will become sharper than before.

Glass objects

The knife blade can be slightly sharpened on the rough edge of glass or ceramic objects. For example, about the bottom of a glass or the edge tiles. The main thing is that the surface is rough.

Leather belt

A leather belt is more suitable for finishing and shaping a knife blade razor sharp than for rough sharpening. But if there is nothing at hand except a belt, then you can try to sharpen the knife on it. To do this, you need to tighten the belt and start moving the blade along it; you may not achieve strong sharpness, but you will polish the knife to a shine.

By learning to sharpen knives and tools yourself, you will acquire a skill that will be useful to you throughout your life!

They say that “the need for invention is cunning.” But we in the editorial office love people who know how to see simple things hidden potential and come up with more and more new purposes for them. And not even for the sake of wanting to save money, but just because. To entertain the mind. For example, like the hero of today’s review, who was able turn ordinary clothespins into a mini-set of useful household tools.

Popular life hacker ShakeTheFuture clearly the type of person who can think outside the box. After all, how else could one make a pair of clothespins and an old pencil sharpener such unexpected things? For example:

1. Wire cutter

Need to strip a wire? The simplest will help you do this simply and safely homemade instrument. Unscrew the blade from the pencil sharpener and screw it into the center of any wooden clothespin, as in the photo. Now you can easily, literally in one movement, remove the plastic insulation from the cable.

2. Stationery knife

We make another tool from the same components. Remove the blade from the sharpener and disassemble the clothespin. You will need two wooden halves. Just glue the blade to one of them and then glue it to the second. Stationery knife ready in three minutes!

3. Scraper or razor

All “spare parts” are exactly the same. But now you will need a blade and only one of the wooden halves from the clothespin. Cut it a little lengthwise at the top, insert the sharpener blade inside and glue it securely. Now you have a scraper or even a simple razor at your disposal.

Using a bar manually (with video without SMS and registration) and understand why do this at all. Professionals, of course, are knowledgeable about this topic, but there may be something for them as well. helpful information. Or this will be a reason to update your knowledge in order to “keep on your toes.”

If you have to do your best more effort for cutting, then this is a reason to think about sharpening the knife. Because using blunt weapons is dangerous. It can slip at any moment, and believe me, the sharpness of the blade will be enough to cause a serious wound to you or a person standing next to you.

Preparing for sharpening. What needs to be done before this?

Upon closer inspection, the knife blade looks like a saw, and the more often the teeth are located in it and the smoother the transition between them, the easier it is to use the tool. A dull knife loses these teeth, they wear out, bend and crumble.
There are many ways to sharpen a knife using mechanical and electric sharpeners, as well as special machines with sharpening wheels. But sharpeners do not give an ideal result, and easel sharpening requires considerable knowledge and skills. Therefore, we will look at how to properly sharpen knives with a whetstone, in step by step guide For independent work V at home. This method will give you two main advantages: considerable money savings and excellent results.

The first thing to do is determine the extent of damage to the blade. It's very easy to do. Place it at an angle to a beam of bright light. This method instantly identifies all the chips and irregularities that you need to eliminate. They will appear as dots or lines on the blade. If the boundary between the planes is uniform, sharply defined, without transitions, then the instrument is in excellent condition.
After this, the knife must be washed in water with added soap. This is done to facilitate subsequent work. It will become easier for the knife to slide along the sharpening stone, and it will be easier for you to maintain the required angle between the planes of the blade and the blade.

Choosing the right bar

The main tool in subsequent work will be a sharpening stone. To get the perfect result, you will need several stones of different grits. Minimal amount- two, but if you need a razor-sharp blade brought to perfection, then you can use up to five whetstones.

There are two types of bars. The first ones are artificial, used for primary metal processing, made from the following materials.

Synthetic gems(diamond, sapphire, etc.):

borazone;
silicon carbide;
elbor;
and others.

The second ones are natural. They are used for final sharpening of the knife:

diamond;
pomegranate;
corundum;
Japanese water stones.

It is clear that natural donkeys cost a lot of money, but if you really want to get good result, then you will have to fork out a little.
An important parameter is the choice of size suitable for the work of the bar. At a minimum, it should be the same length as the knife with which you will have to work. And ideally – one and a half to two times more. In this case, the width of the stone does not matter and is selected based on personal preferences. Although if you take a wider whetstone, it will be easier for even an inexperienced beginner to work on it.
Before starting, you need to soak the bar in water (artificial) or oil (natural). The liquid will nourish, close the pores in it, reduce subsequent contamination and make your work easier.

Correct sharpening angle

How to sharpen a kitchen knife with a whetstone? Holding it at the right angle. It is this parameter that will subsequently determine the length of the blade’s service life and the frequency of its sharpening. The larger the angle you get, the higher the resistance of the metal external influence, which means you need to update its sharpness less often. An acute angle makes cutting easier, but due to the thinness of the metal obtained at this point, it wears out faster.

The determining factor will be the purpose of the knife:

Japanese culinary blades sharpened at an angle of 10–20 degrees;
fillet knives and professional chef's knives require an angle of 25 degrees;
utility knives – 30 degrees;
hunting blades are processed at an angle of 35–40 degrees.

You will need to not only determine the angle of inclination, but also maintain it throughout the entire work.

Advice! To find and endure required quantity degrees, it is good to use a sheet of paper folded several times. It is a fast, cheap and accurate meter.

If, after reading the article, you still have questions about how to properly sharpen knives with a whetstone, the video attached to it will completely clarify them. It clearly shows the entire sequence of actions, which means it will be easier for you to repeat them, gaining your own experience.

It is simply impossible to describe all the nuances of how to properly sharpen knives in one article, but this is not always necessary. Especially if an ordinary kitchen knife needs sharpening or you are just a beginner who needs to start somewhere.

In fact, sharpening a kitchen knife to a sharp point at home can be done easily and quickly. But the difficulty is that this must be done in such a way that the sharpness of the blade is preserved for a long time, and at the same time too much steel is not removed from the blade.

In this material we will try to simply and clearly tell you how to properly sharpen a knife with a whetstone. After all, this method is not only basic and accessible to everyone, but also the most effective. Except step by step instructions on sharpening and finishing, here you will find a selection of training videos and a review alternative methods– from sharpening systems to the bottom of a ceramic plate.

A little about choosing stones

Sharpening stones come in the following types:

Ceramic;
Diamond;
Natural;
Japanese water stones.

If you wish, once you gain experience, you can buy some solid and expensive diamond stones or Japanese water stones. However, it is better to start with ordinary ceramic bars (such as “Boats”), which are sold in every household goods store. They are wear-resistant, durable and affordable. The only drawback is their uneven abrasion.

Here are tips to help you find the right assistant:

What size should the block be? Ideally, it is 1.5-2 times longer or at least not shorter than the knife blade. The width and shape of the bar is not important.
When purchasing a block, make sure it is flat and free of chips.
To start, you can buy one medium-hard all-purpose whetstone. But if you wish, buy one block with two sides of different grain sizes or two stones with a large and half the grain size. In the future, a couple more stones may be added to your collection.
It's best to try to get a couple of Soviet-made donkeys, say, at flea markets or from your grandfather. Bars marked “Made in the USSR” have uniform-sized grains and high-quality binding material.

To bring your knife to razor sharpness, in addition to sharpening stones, you can also buy GOI abrasive paste, which we will also talk about working with.

7-step instructions for sharpening and finishing a kitchen knife

So, in sharpening a knife, one goal is to remove enough metal from the blade so that the cutting edge becomes sharp again. You need to start work with a coarse-grained abrasive and finish with a fine-grained one.

It is important to remember the following principles of sharpening knives:

The most important thing is to choose optimal angle sharpening and hold it along the entire cutting edge while sliding along the block.
Movements should be smooth, without pressure.
All bars should be moistened with water, or better yet soap solution: before sharpening (so that the blade glides better and metal dust did not clog the pores), during the process (to remove the emerging suspension) and at the end to clean the bar.

And one more important advice– the first time it’s better to practice on a knife that you don’t mind ruining. Especially if your main knife is too good and expensive. Well, let's start practicing.

Step 1. Rinse the stone with water, and then run over it, say, with a sponge with a drop of dishwashing liquid.

Step 2. Next, sit down at the table and place the stone on wooden board, for example, a cutting room. You can place a towel under the stone. For some it is more convenient to place the block perpendicular to themselves, and for others at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. Over time, you will understand how it is more convenient for you to work.

Step 3. Now you need to decide on the sharpening angle and fix the position of the knife. What should the angle be? General principle– the smaller it is, the sharper the blade, and the larger it is, the longer the blade retains its sharpness.

Regular kitchen knives are sharpened to an angle of 40-45 degrees. If you are sharpening a fillet knife (designed for cutting thin pieces of fish, poultry and meat), then you should sharpen it sharper - at an angle of 30-40 degrees. The selected value must be divided by 2, and then we will get the angle that should be between the blade and the surface of the block. That is, to sharpen a blade at 45 degrees, you need to sharpen each side at 22.5 degrees to the sharpening surface.

A simple technique shown in the photo below will help you fix the knife at an angle of 22.5 degrees.

Remember, you should try to stick to the chosen angle throughout the entire work.

Step 4. Place the knife across the block so that the upper edge of the handle is above the lower edge of the stone. Holding the handle with one hand and the blade with the other, we begin to slide along the block away from ourselves along the trajectory shown in the picture below.

Watch a short and clear video:

The point is that the cutting edge sliding along the stone should always be perpendicular to the direction of movement.
At the bend of the blade, the knife handle needs to be slightly raised to maintain the selected angle.
Remember also that you can’t put pressure on the blade, but you shouldn’t give it any slack either.

Thus, you need to pass the blade along the stone about 40-50 times, namely until a “burr” (burr, microsaw) appears along the entire length of the cutting edge. Its appearance will tell you that the excess metal has worn out and there is no point in grinding further. Then you need to turn the blade over and repeat the same steps. Clearly in the video:

A burr is a small roughness that is difficult to see, but can be felt by carefully running your finger along the edge of the blade (but not along the edge, so as not to cut yourself).

During operation, a suspension will appear on the blade - metal dust, which must be periodically washed off with water.

Step 5. So, the burrs have appeared, now we proceed to finishing. To do this, we repeat the same manipulations on a stone with half the grain size. Alternative way finishing - with the help of musat.

Musat is a steel rod of oval or round section with longitudinal notches. It is only suitable for editing and maintaining sharpness, but not for sharpening a knife. It is recommended to edit the knife with musat every time before and after work.

How to sharpen a kitchen knife with musat can be seen in the following video master class from the respected knifemaker Gennady Prokopenkov, who, by the way, specializes in making kitchen knives.

Step 6. If desired, you can bring your knife to a razor sharpness. To do this, take any leather or leather belt, treat it with GOI, Dialux or any other abrasive paste, and then do the same steps, but only in the direction from the cutting edge.

Step 7. Finally, we check the quality of sharpening. This is done very simply. It is enough to cut a tomato or cut paper. If you wanted to achieve razor sharpness, then you should try to shave the hair on your arm. The sharpest knives can even cut hair, as shown in the photo below, but in the kitchen such sharpness is not required for the most ordinary knife.

Alternative sharpening methods

If your kitchen knife is a simple and inexpensive “hard worker” and/or you just don’t want to delve into the “knife culture”, then we recommend using an electric sharpener, a roller knife or a sharpening system for sharpening at home. What are their pros and cons?

An electric sharpener sharpens knives perfectly and quickly, but even the most quality models remove too much material from the blades, thereby reducing their service life. Another disadvantage of an electric sharpener is good device costs more than $200.
A roller knife is an inexpensive and easy-to-use option. With its help, you can quickly sharpen a kitchen knife, but, unfortunately, the sharpness of the blade will not last long and the knife will deteriorate over time. The most trusted tool among roller scissors is the one from Fiskaris (pictured). Do not confuse a roller blade with a V-shaped blade. The latter is an option for the most frugal.

Sharpening systems are good because they allow you to more accurately set and maintain an angle. There are different types of such sharpeners - with blade fixation (manufacturers DMT and Lanski) and with fixation of the stones themselves at a certain angle (Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker). Separately, we can highlight a sharpening system in which you can select the desired angle and control the position of the knife - this is the Edge Pro Apex Knife Sharpening System. Each system has its own pros and cons. For example, on sharpeners with a fixed blade it is inconvenient to sharpen wide chef knives, but on a triangle from Spyderco the knives are straightened rather than sharpened, and you can only choose an angle of 30 or 40 degrees. However, for kitchen knives these are the angles that are needed, and using a triangle is very simple. Detailed review and the operating instructions for the Spyderco sharpener can be seen in the following video.

What are the disadvantages of Apex Edge Pro? Perhaps this is just a high price - $245. However, to sharpen kitchen knives, you can buy a Chinese copy of this sharpener (for example, on Aliexpress).

There is another clever way to sharpen a knife at home - using a rough mark on the bottom of a ceramic mug or plate. The principle of operation is still the same - maintaining the angle, smooth movements, maintaining the cutting edge (cutting edge) perpendicular to the direction.