How do you use the Knivesandtools Snap Sharpener?
The Knivesandtools Snap Sharpener is your knife's new best friend. The sharpener with which Ruud Reinen won the sharpness test competition three times at the HaveAKnivesDay festival! Together with him, we developed his prototype into a compact, complete knife sharpener.
First determine: how blunt is your knife?
Before you start, it is useful to determine which sharpening step is needed. After all, you do not need to go through the entire process from grit size 360 every time.
Is your knife really blunt? Then start with the 360 grit diamond sharpening stone. This relatively coarse stone removes enough material to rebuild a blunt edge.
Is the edge still in reasonably good condition and do you mainly want to restore its sharpness? Then start straight away with the 600 grit diamond sharpening stone. This way, you do not remove unnecessarily large amounts of steel. For a small touch-up, even the sharpening steel with grit size 1000 or just the leather may already be sufficient. Want to know more about grit sizes? Read the detailed article.
Step 1: open the Snap Sharpener
Pull the two wooden parts apart. The magnets ensure that the sharpener neatly snaps shut again after use. That is where the name Snap Sharpener comes from! During sharpening, those same magnets can attract the blade. Therefore, place your thumb over the magnet while sharpening. This shields the magnet and prevents the blade from being unexpectedly pulled towards the wood during a sharpening stroke.
At the same time, your thumb immediately forms a useful reference point to rest the blade against. From that position, you can gently tilt the knife until the edge makes full contact with the sharpening stone. This makes it easier to find the right sharpening angle and keep it as consistent as possible while sharpening.
Step 2: find the right sharpening angle
A fixed sharpening angle that you keep as consistent as possible during each sharpening stroke is more important than trying to maintain a very precise number of degrees.
First place the blade fairly flat on the diamond plate. Then slowly tilt the spine of the knife upwards until the edge makes full contact with the sharpening stone. That is the angle you should try to maintain while sharpening.
Do you find it difficult to see whether you have the right angle? Then first colour the edge with a waterproof marker. Then make one calm sharpening stroke over the diamond sharpening stone and check where the ink has disappeared. Has the marker been sharpened away across the full width of the edge? Then you have the right sharpening angle. If ink remains only right near the cutting edge, you are holding the knife too flat. If the ink remains at the very top of the edge, you are holding the knife too steeply. Adjust the angle slightly and check again.
This trick immediately shows which part of the edge you are actually hitting. Especially if you have not sharpened freehand very often yet, this is a simple way to find the right angle.
At first, maintaining that angle still takes a bit of attention. After a number of sharpening sessions, it becomes easier and easier to maintain the same angle during every stroke. Above all, work calmly. Sharpening quickly offers little advantage if it means you are constantly changing angle.
Step 3: sharpening at grit size 360
Use the 360 grit diamond sharpening stone when the knife is quite blunt or when the edge needs to be rebuilt.
Place the heel of the blade on the sharpening stone. Then move the knife calmly over the diamond sharpening stone, working from the heel towards the tip. During this movement, move the blade sideways so that eventually the full length of the edge has passed over the stone.
When sharpening the curved belly towards the tip, you need to adjust the movement slightly. Gradually lift the handle as you work towards the tip. This keeps the curved part of the edge in contact with the sharpening stone as well.
Use little pressure. Diamond sharpens very effectively, and pushing extra hard does not speed up the process in a good way. In fact, too much pressure can force diamond particles out of the metal layer. That damage is permanent.
Keep sharpening one side until you feel a burr along the full opposite side of the edge. A burr is a very small ridge of steel that is pushed to the other side of the edge during sharpening. Check this carefully with your fingertip by feeling from the blade towards the edge, never lengthwise along the sharp edge.
Can you feel the burr from heel to tip? Turn the knife over and repeat the process on the other side. Continue until the burr has moved back to the original side.
Step 4: refining at grit size 600
After the 360 grit diamond sharpening stone, or if your knife is still reasonably sharp, sharpen on the 600 grit sharpening stone. This refines the edge and reduces the coarser sharpening marks created during the first step.
Use the same sharpening angle as in the previous step. Work again from heel to tip and pay extra attention to sharpening both sides evenly.
Towards the end, reduce the pressure a little further. You can also switch sides more and more often. For example, one calm sharpening stroke on the left, followed by one on the right. This helps to gradually remove the burr and prepares the cut for the next step.
Using the sharpening steel
The aluminium oxide sharpening steel has a grit size of 1000 and a diameter of 4 mm. For a regular blade, you can use it to refine the edge a little further after the diamond stones. The steel is especially useful for shapes that are difficult to sharpen on a flat stone.
A good example is a recurve, where the edge curves inwards. A flat sharpening stone cannot properly reach such a section everywhere. The round sharpening steel can.
You also use the steel on the side where the serrations are ground into a serrated knife. Again, find the existing sharpening angle and calmly run the steel through each serration. Work in a controlled manner and do not remove more material than necessary.
Step 5: stropping on the leather
After sharpening, it is time for the leather. Close the sharpener and start with the coarse side with green compound of approximately 4 micron. These fine sharpening particles help reduce small sharpening marks and further polish the edge.
When stropping, move the knife with the edge facing away from the direction of movement. So pull the knife over the leather with the spine leading. If you were to move the sharp edge forwards, you would cut into the leather.
Use little pressure and pull the full blade from heel to tip over the leather. Switch sides regularly and try to maintain roughly the same angle as during sharpening. Here, however, the sharpening angle is slightly less relevant because the leather flexes with the edge.
Then continue on the clean side of the leather. This is deliberately not treated with compound and is used as the final step to further finish the edge and remove any last traces of the burr. Again, make calm, alternating strokes and keep the pressure to a minimum.
Then check the sharpness, for example with a sheet of paper. Does the knife cut neatly through the paper without much force and without catching anywhere? Then you have treated the edge evenly. If not? Then continue sharpening for a little longer.
A quick note on new diamond sharpening stones
A new diamond sharpening stone often feels coarser the first few times than you would expect based on the stated grit size. This is completely normal. Looser diamond particles and ones protruding a little more wear in during the first sharpening sessions, after which the surface starts to feel more even.
Do not try to speed up this process by pressing extra hard. Let the diamond particles do the work. The sharpening plates of the Snap Sharpener are not replaceable, but with normal and proper use they will last for several years.
And perhaps the most important tip of all: take your time. A consistent sharpening angle, light pressure and controlled movements achieve more than making as many sharpening strokes as possible as quickly as possible. After sharpening a few times, you will naturally notice that finding and maintaining the right angle becomes more and more natural.
