PROJECT 7

IMPROVISED KNIFE SHARPENING TIP

Today I offer you an improvised knife-sharpening tip. Improvised means it is not as good as a normal method of using a whetstone or other sharpener, but that it will work in a pinch.

If you take a ceramic coffee mug or bowl and flip it upside down you will notice a ring where there is no glaze.

It is possible to use this ring to sharpen your knife blade just as you would use a ceramic sharpening rod.

I have tried this, and it does leave residue on the ceramic ring, and it does sharpen the blade.

I would stay away from using this on my high quality knives, but it’s perfect for when you are out camping and you need to sharpen a knife right then. It’s a good idea to keep in the back of your mind.

Hopefully this can help you in the future.

The Materials

Material:

•   Knife

Tools:

•   Ceramic coffee mug

Procedure:

1.     Flip a ceramic coffee cup over and find the unglazed ring that is left from the firing process.

2.     Use this ring like a whetstone, by sliding the knife blade along the unglazed ring as if you were slicing it.

Use the cup as a sharpening stone

3.     Go slowly and gently, matching the angle of the knife blade to the angle of grind on the blade so you only remove metal from the cutting edge and not the side of the knife blade.

Lessons Learned:

This project teaches that once you understand how something works, you can apply that knowledge in new ways. Ceramic knife sharpeners work by removing small amounts of metal from a blade, and the unglazed ring on the bottom of a ceramic mug can do the same thing.

This project also teaches that improvised is not always better.

An improvised knife sharpener will never be as easy, as fast, or do as good a job as a specially designed piece of equipment, but becoming adaptable and resilient means knowing how to make do and being able to determine when it is best NOT to improvise.

Note:

This project involves using sharp knives, it is vital that care is taken to ensure that the knife is sharpened AWAY from the body, and that the fingers holding the mug are kept well away from the blade.

This project is only suitable for children with a high level of maturity and adult supervision.