Should You Hone A Blade Before Or After Sharpening It?

Whether you're a professional chef or just want a solid set of knives for your home kitchen, it's important to always maintain a sharp edge. Even the blades on your Swiss Army knife need sharpening from time to time. If you're going to both hone and sharpen a knife during the same session, then you should sharpen it first and hone it afterward. That's because sharpening does something for the blade that honing does not.

Sharpening a knife removes metal from the blade to reshape its edge and restore its ability to cut. But honing serves a different purpose, as it helps realign an edge that has become slightly bent or out of position during everyday use. Because honing doesn't create a new edge on a dull blade, it can't replace sharpening when a knife has truly lost its sharp edge. But while honing a blade does serve an important function, it's not always necessary to hone your knife every time you sharpen it.

Regularly honing a knife can help it retain its cutting edge between sharpening sessions. This routine maintenance helps keep the blade's edge aligned, so you won't need to sharpen the knife as often. Sharpening is really only necessary when the edge has worn down to the point that honing alone can no longer restore the knife's cutting performance. At that point, the blade needs to be sharpened to create a fresh edge.

Honing a knife regularly is important because it's possible to sharpen a blade too much. Every time you sharpen a knife, you are removing a little bit of metal. While this is an expected part of the sharpening process, the blade will gradually lose material each time you use a whetstone or other sharpening device. Over a long period, repeated sharpening can slowly change the blade's shape.

To sharpen a double-edged knife using a whetstone, you should first prepare the stone according to the manufacturer's instructions, which may include soaking it. Soaking it will keep its surface damp while you work. Position the knife at an appropriate angle and gently move it across the stone in controlled strokes. Cover the full length of the edge, from the area near the handle all the way to the tip. Then flip the knife and repeat the process on the opposite side so the blade is sharpened evenly. Keep in mind, you shouldn't waste your time sharpening a knife with cheap aluminum foil. 

To hone a knife using a steel, place the tip of the steel on a cutting board and position the blade against it at an angle of about 20 degrees. Pull the knife down the steel in controlled movements, keeping the angle consistent as you work along the entire edge. Then repeat the same process on the other side of the blade. If you're going through several passes, you can alternate sides back and forth until you're finished.