Knife sharpening

Knives , especially from damascus steel, which we offer in our shop www.dellinger.cz are characterized by high quality hand or industrial processing and very long service life. Care is very important to maintain the knife's top cutting performance. Knives must be sharpened as required, preferably on sharpening stones. Grinding stones are produced in many designs and grits (coarseness). The kitchen knives we all use most often require the most frequent care - namely sharpening. At dellinger.cz, choose from a range of both synthetic and natural sharpening stones to help you keep your knives sharp. Buy a sharpening stone and you will see that a sharp knife is much safer than a dull knife.

Choosing a grinding stone - differences in the materials used

There are three most common types of grinding stones in use today. These are oil grinding stones, water grinding stones and diamond grinding stones. Each of these sharpening stones has its own advantages that can help users achieve their goals and dream edge.

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A/ Oil grinding stones
These grinding stones are traditional in the western world and many professional and amateur grinders have grown up with them. These stones are made of one of three materials:

1/ Novaculite - also called Arkansas stone, is a microcrystalline to cryptocrystalline rock type that consists of silica in the form of chert or flint. It is mined in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, as well as in Japan and parts of the Middle East. The name novaculite is derived from the Latin word novacula, which means sharp knife, dagger or razor. These natural stones are divided into different classes according to their hardness and the surface they leave on the cut edge.
The softest of them is called Washita - it is hardly used nowadays. The next stage is the so-called Soft Arkansas, Hard Arkansas, Hard Black Arkansas and Hard Translucent Arkansas. These natural abrasive stones are mainly used as dressing and polishing stones. The wear of these grinding stones is minimal and the grinding is very slow compared to synthetic grinding stones. Approximate grit size is 6000 - 8000. Hard Black Arkansas and Hard Translucent are rarer and therefore more expensive.
2/ Aluminium oxide - Aluminium oxide grinding stones are now very popular and have good grinding performance. These oil abrasive stones are generally classified as fine, medium and coarse. These stones are often brown or orange in colour. Compared to natural grinding stones from Arkansas, alumina stones are coarser. These stones are used in conjunction with natural Arkansas stones to cover all levels of roughness.
3/ Silicon carbide - the fastest grinding stones are made of silicon carbide. These stones are also referred to as fine, medium and coarse. They are usually gray in color. Silicon carbide grinding stones do not polish the edge as well as alumina or Arkansas stone. They are designed for quick sharpening and initial rough edging. The grinding procedure and the use of oil grinding stones should be as follows - 1/ silicon carbide 2/ aluminium oxide and finish on Arkansas stone.


B / Water whetstones
These grinding stones are relatively new to the Western world and offer many advantages. As well as oil-based abrasive stones, it is possible to purchase natural water-based abrasive stones, synthetic abrasive stones with the addition of natural materials and synthetic abrasive stones. Due to availability and pricing, we will only discuss synthetic stones and synthetic stones with added crushed natural materials.

1/ Synthetic water abrasive stones
They are generally made of alumina. This is the same abrasive material used in oil grinding stones. The difference between the two, however, is the binder that holds the abrasive together in the stone. Water abrasive stones are softer than oil abrasive stones, allowing for faster grinding. The old abrasive material is broken off and replaced with fresh sharp material. Faster grinding is clearly an advantage of water grinding stones. Another obvious advantage is the use of water rather than oil to remove metal chips from the stone. However, the water stone is not perfect. The softness that promotes faster grinding results in faster wear of the water grinding stone. Wear is also uneven and requires frequent straightening of the grinding surface.
2/ Synthetic water abrasive stones with the addition of natural materials
These grinding stones are a combination of a certain amount of the best synthetic and natural materials. Thanks to several years of hard work and research by a Japanese craftsman named MORIHEI, these natural-synthetic stones with the best cutting properties have been created. Natural-synthetic water grinding stones are available in coarse grits of 1000, 4000, 6000 and 12000 - each of which is baked at a different and significantly lower temperature than conventional synthetic grinding stones. Resin is used as a bonding agent, as opposed to synthetic grinding stones, where mostly magnesium is used.


C / Diamond stones
Diamond grinding stones contain small diamonds attached to the surface of a metal plate. These small industrial diamonds are much harder than any of the other grinding stones. However, not all diamond stones have the same function and they are not always equal.
There are two main types of diamond grinding stones.
1/ Diamond grinding stone with holes on the surface to catch metal chips.
2/ Diamond grinding stone with continuous surface. These stones are preferred for tools with sharp points that could get caught in the surface depressions of a non-continuous diamond grinding stone. Both types of diamond stones are available in monocrystalline and polycrystalline variants. Monocrystalline diamonds are more desirable because they last longer. The two biggest advantages of a diamond stone are very fast sharpening and flatness that is consistent. The disadvantage is the high purchase price.

There are many reasons why a wide variety of different types of grinding stones are available. There is no universal type of stone that is best for every knife sharpener. Choosing the right grinding stone starts with testing and finding the best combinations for perfect grinding results.