Repairing and honing a broken chef knife

I broke my knife. Five years of graft, not a single complaint. That is, until i made a Cheesecake.

Not the biggest knife wrecker out there, but the world works in mysterious ways, and regardless of the softness of the food, the floor’s always hard. I dropped the knife, nosedived flat against the tiles.

But that’s not quite the end of my stupidity. I also decided that to ‘save’ the knife, the best approach would be straighten it our, with pliers. You can imagine the results.

Crack.

The pliers moved, the knife didn’t and a tiny shard of steel, dropped down to the floor.

 

What to do with a headless knife

Rule 1: Don’t Panic!

Our phones might be goners these days if they meet the pavement, but our knives don’t have to be. This is how to mend, and hone knives, from broken to brilliant.

Read on for timestamps and a breakdown of all the techniques used.

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7 Principals for Honing Knives

I’m no expert, but for clarity, here are 7 principals to keep in mind when honing knives.

1. Organize. Gwnewch digon o le, llenwch bowlen o ddŵr, a daliwch liain i law. [0:46-0:52]
2. Start Rough. To undo damage, you’ll have to do some more damage. Moderation is key. [0:53-1:00]
3. Respect the Stone. Regardless of the damage to the knife, work the stone fairly. Keep the surface even, don’t wear it out. [1:01-1:22]
4. Keep the Whet Wet. Despite mess, watering the stone’s essential in preventing metal from clogging the stone’s pours.
5. Patients. Earning an edge is one thing, but only time will earn you a blade. There’s a reason they call it the grind. [1:28-1:45]
6. Be consistent. The grinding angle’s important, maintaining it more so. Keep your incident angle the same throughout honing. [1:45-1:58]
7. More than one way to skin a cat (100% idiomatic!). Honing is an art, but a diverse one. Keep the above principals in mind when honing knives of any kind and you will get results, regardless of your particular stile of honing.

More to read

There you go then, the techniques and principals for effectively, and efficiently honing knives. For more on why this piece came about, check out the Baked Cheesecake recipe and if you’ve enjoyed this technical post and want more like it, leave a comment below and join the mailing, to get more just like it in your inbox!