Honing your blade

A burred blade makes cutting more difficult!! Honing your blade removes the burr. If you don’t hone your blade, your blade can FAIL or have poor cutting performance. Blades are NOT covered by warranty. With this simple maintenance step, you can DOUBLE your blade life!

Many people confuse honing with sharpening, but there is a distinct difference. When you sharpen a blade, you’re actively removing material, creating a brand new razor-sharp beveled edge. Honing instead pushes the sharpened edge into position.

The thing about metal is, it’s malleable. That means that with regular use, that thin sharpened edge rolls into a burr throwing the blade out of alignment. Even if the blade is sharp, it can feel dull because the sharp edge has been pushed off to the side, like this:

That’s where the Hone Stone comes in. When used properly, your hone stone will realign the edge of the blade so the sharpened bit is all facing the right direction.

It is VERY IMPORTANT to hone your blade:
1. After the first 30 cuts on a new blade
2. Every 100 cuts on the job
3. When the blade has been re-sharpened **

It is quick and easy to hone your blade. With the blade in the machine, press down the handle until the blade is just above the blade stop (approximately 1/8″). Then, lay the wide flat side of the hone stone against the flat side of the blade and move the hone stone from side to side 2 to 3 times to remove any burrs.

The blade can be sharpened to restore a one-side, 21º – 22º knife edge. It is important to note that the blade must be sharpened only on the beveled side, leaving the flat side flat**. We recommend power grinding only be done professionally, as the blade must be fluid cooled during this process.

Bullet Pointers:

Your blade must ALWAYS be mounted with the flat side toward the table.
Use hand protection at all times when handling the blade – blades are VERY sharp!
When sharpening or honing, it is not necessary to remove small nicks or chips from the blade edge.