Knife Skills —

a kitchen guide to using the right knife the right way

This site will give you the confidence to choose and use the knives and other nonelectric sharp tools in your kitchen. It’s also a reference site that you can use as you improve your skills and acquire the tools that will make you a better cook!

How to use a whetstone

To sharpen your knife, you must slide the blade on the whetstone at a 22½-degree angle. There’s a trick to figuring out this 22½-degree angle. First, hold your knife straight up with the sharp edge of the blade resting on the stone. This is a 90-degree angle. Tip the knife over onto one side, cutting the 90-degree angle in half. This is now 45 degrees. Then tip the knife again, cutting the 45-degree angle in half, and you’re now at 22½ degrees. You’re ready to start sharpening your knife.

Next is the motion for the sharpening technique. Hold your knife handle in one hand, with your other hand resting on the side of the blade. Slide the knife, from the handle end of the blade to the tip, along the whetstone. Repeat this on both sides until your knife is sharpened. Again, learning the correct motion will take some practice.

While you can get a very sharp edge on your blade, it will never be as sharp as it was on the day it left the factory. You can come close to this edge. But the manufacturing process is too precise to be duplicated.

Finding a 221/2-degree angle
Finding a 221/2-degree angle in order to sharpen a knife on a whetstone
Sliding the knife along the whetstone
Sliding the knife along the whetstone
How to Choose and Use Your Knives

How to Choose and Use Your Knives

How to Buy a Knife

How to Buy a Knife

Caring for Your Knives

Caring for Your Knives

Nonknife, Nonmotorized Sharp Kitchen Tools

Nonknife, Nonmotorized Sharp Kitchen Tools


A knife does not recognize its owner. African proverb

A knife does not recognize its owner.

African proverb


One knife keeps another in its sheath. Vietnamese proverb

One knife keeps another in its sheath.

Vietnamese proverb


The tongue like a sharp knife...Kills without drawing blood. Arab proverb

The tongue like a sharp knife...Kills without drawing blood.

Arab proverb

Margaret Witter Fuller

Genius will live and thrive without training, but it does not the less reward the watering pot and pruning knife.

Henry Glassford Bell

The damning tho’t stuck in my throat and cut me like a knife, that she, whom all my life I’d loved, should be another’s wife.

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The information in this site is true and complete to the best of our knowledge.
The author disclaims any liability in connection with the use of this information.
All recommendations are made without guarantee.