Types of Knife Sharpeners

• Knife sharpeners come in a variety of shapes and sizes.oil and grindstone image by Aleksandr Ugorenkov from Fotolia.com
  
  Knife sharpeners sharpen or hone the cutting edge on knives' steel blades and are either hand-held or electric devices. There are a number of different types of knife sharpeners, including steels and small countertop sharpening devices, whetstones and home or commercial electric models, according to the website Recipe Tips.
  
  

Whetstone or Carborundum Stone

• A sharpening shone is either round-shaped or rectangular and 1/2 inch to several inches thick. Silicone dioxide minerals are mined and separated to produce hard, medium or soft grade whetstones. To use the stone for sharpening, a light weight lubricating oil is applied on it to enhance the natural oils within the stone. The carborundum sharpening stone is made from silicon carbide, an abrasive material that slowly deteriorates over time as the carbide material wears from use. Carborundum stones are rectangular in shape and generally have a smooth side and a coarse side. The coarser side is used first to sharpen the knife, which is then finished by using the smooth side.
  
  

Sharpening Steel and Manual Sharpeners

• A sharpening steel is simply an elliptical or round steel shaft with a fine texture grinding surface, according to the Recipe Tips website. Other manual sharpeners are built with grinding devices set into a metal or plastic case and are known as countertop sharpeners. These types of sharpeners usually contain an abrasive surface that is diamond coated or a grinding stone of tungsten carbide. To use one, you draw the knife through the guides of the grinding stone at a pre-set angle. The knife is sufficiently honed after approximately four to six passes through the grinding stone.
  
  

Electric Sharpeners

• An electric sharpener consists of internal grinding wheels that spin and can sharpen both serrated and straight knife blades, according to the Picky Guide to Knife Sharpeners website. Electric sharpeners work well for knives that are used frequently; however, you may find that a certain amount of control achieved with manual sharpeners is not present when using an electric sharpener. Electric sharpeners also are available with a different number of slots