Firsts of all since the steel is harder than regular knives it takes longer to sharpen them but this extra effort will give you an extraordinary sharpness for a long time so you don't have to do it very often.
This is how you sharpen global knives (a really modern type of knife) :
For routine sharpening you need medium grit whetstones
(used mainly for restoring blade keenness) and whetstone holder or a damp towel.For other maintenance this s what you use:
fine grit
(used for finishing honing of the blade edge)rough grit
(used for repairing small chips in the blade)Steps:
1) Soak the whole whetstone in water for 20 minutes
2) Lay down a damp towel on a flat surface of a table and place the whetstone on it so that it does not move, you can also use a stone holder
.
3) Hold the knife handle firmly with the blade edge facing towards you. Hold the knife steady by placing the thumb on the blade side. Have your fingers of other hand also lightly placed on the blade side. Position the knife so that it may get in contact with the whetstone, from tip to heel.
4) Hold the knife at an angle of approximately 15 degrees against the whetstone (about the thickness of one or two 10 yen coins). A flat blade is obtained by maintaining a steady angle and grip.
5) Move the knife gently back and forth with a constant rhythm. Using the maximum area of whetstone, slide the blade away from you, from the tip to the heel. When drawing it back, pull the blade gently back towards you.
6) Touch the edge of the blade with your finger. If sharpened correctly, there should be burrs and you feel the blade is rough. Make sure the burrs are dispersed evenly across the knife.
7) When burrs have appeared, sharpen the other side. Turn the knife, hold it by your other hand and pull it towards you.
8) If the knife is chipped, we recommend that you follow the procedures mentioned above, starting with a rough grit whetstone, followed by a medium grit and then a super fine grit whetstone. It would be sufficient to use only the medium grit whetstone followed by the super fine grit whetstone for normal sharpening.
For double-beveled knives Sharpen the knife with a ratio of 6:4 for front side and back side. When burrs appear on the reverse side, sharpen the knife so that the burrs disappear.
For single-beveled knives Firstly, sharpen the side that has a blade edge and when burrs appear, lay the reverse side of the knife flat against the whetstone and keep sharpening both sides in turn until the burrs disappear.
This is how they sharpen knives in japan:
