What Honing Actually Is?
Honing is the process to smoothen out sharpened edges and aligning them. Honing is the after the process of sharpening. Honing is vital for refining the edge that has already been sharpened. Honing improves the sharpness of the edge and improves its ability to cut things finely.
The most frequently asked question is if honing removes the material during the process. The answer to this question is explainable. If you talk about honing compared to sharpening then the answer is no. If you talk about honing irrespective of any other process then yes. Honing eats up the littlest amount of material. This is done usually when the edges are refined, that is when smoothing out the roughened edges.
What Are The Types Of Honing Rods?
There are two basic types of honing rods;
- Course rod
The course rod is the one for the people who forget to hone their knives regularly. It s more abrasive and gives you a sharper edge. Its rough surface helps you get a refined edge in no time. - Fine rod
The fine rods are usually used by the people who hone their knives frequently and require the process to be done frequently. It gives a smoother surface and a better polish as well. It is not very abrasive and thus is goo for frequent use.
What Is The Difference Between Honing And Sharpening?
A lot of people think of sharpening and honing as similar things but there is a difference between them. Sharpening is a lot different from honing. In fact, the tools used to do both the job are also different. You cannot hone a thing with a similar thing you sharpen anything.
When you sharpen things, you usually peel material in order to make a sharp edge. Material is lost while you sharpen something and you use whetstones or sandpapers to sharpen.
Honing is defined as maintaining or refining a sharpened edge. You hone the materials after you sharpen them to maintain that edge. Honing aligns the sharpened edge and there is no loss of material. You use a honing rod to hone things.
What Are The Uses Of Honing?
Following are some of the uses of honing;
- Honing helps to improves the shape of the edge.
- Honing smoothens out the sharpened edges of knives.
- It aligns the edges of sharpened blades.
- It provides a scrubbing effect to the blade.
- It gives a nice finish at the end of the process.
- It is used to maintain the centreline.
- Honing is a process that can be done regardless of the hardness of the material.
- It has a high accuracy level.
- The process of honing is not complicated and is inexpensive.
What Angle To Maintain While You Hone Your Knives Or Other Things?
An angle of 15 degrees or around should be maintained while honing your knives. A perfect angle allows you to have a nice shape of the blade or knife being hones. If you mess up with the angle you hone at, you can end up having a blunt edge or having a tilted edge. You need to be precise to have the best results.
How To Use A Honing Rod?
To use a honing rod, you should follow the steps given below;
Step 1:
The very first step is to place the honing rod vertically on a stable surface to make sure that the rod does not fumble while working with it. A flat surface is always preferred.
Step 2:
The second step is to place the blade of the knife at the top of the honing rod making the angle of 15 degrees with a rod. The knife should be in such a position that the tip is slightly above the handle of the knife. You should place the part of the blade that is nearer to the handle with the honing rod first. That means you should start honing from that specific part of the blade.
Step 3:
The third step is to move the blade of the knife along the steel rod. You should start by applying a little pressure and moving the knife towards yourself. Move it in such a way that you start from the base of the blade of the knife and end at the tip of a knife. Do not apply too much pressure, you can end up having a tilted edge. The pressure should be neither too much nor too light.
Step 4:
The fourth step is about changing sides. Once you are done with one side, start honing the other side of the knife. You can do that one on every side again and again or you can count the number of times you do it on one side and then do it on the other side a similar number of times. Just make sure both the sides get an equal number of strokes or else one side may get more honed than the other one.
The total number of strokes that usually do the job:
A total of 8 to 10 strokes should be enough for a knife.
Time consumed during the process:
The whole process takes about 2 minutes if you are skilled. If you do it slow and steady, it may take you a maximum of 5 minutes. But the more you practice it, the better you get at honing with a rod. It is recommended to make slow and steady strokes to have a great finish. Try honing your knives regularly.
Should We Hone Knives After We Sharpen Them?
Honing is recommended to be done after every two weeks or so. It should be definitely done after you sharpen your knives to give them a nice finish and align their edges as well. It also helps to smooth out the roughened edges after you sharpen your knives. Usually, sharpeners that are used for sharpening knives and other substances have slots for honing as well or in either case provide honing to the knife as well. It is a process that is done prior to polishing the blade. Honing actually does make a difference.
