Why You Should Own Your Own Sharpening Stone

Two days ago, there was a workshop at Uedaya. A customer who purchased Kishubusshin attended, and they were incredibly passionate about learning. It must have fired up Ueda Shihan too, because he was teaching with such enthusiasm! We covered a ton of information.

During the conversation, the topic of sharpening stones came up. The customer said, “Most chefs share sharpening stones provided by the restaurant!” And I was like, “…What???” I had no idea.

As a knife shop owner, this really caught my attention. I mean, if you’re sharpening knives provided by the restaurant, then sure, maybe it’s okay to share the same stone. But if you’re bringing your own knives, I strongly recommend owning your own sharpening stone.

When you have your own knives, it’s probably because you want to use them the way you like, and shape them to your preferences. To do that, you need to shape and maintain the blade edge in a way that suits you.

Sharpening is personal—your own style gets transferred to the stone. So if everyone’s sharing the same sharpening stone, their sharpening habits could affect your knives, too. Sure, if you’re flattening the stone completely after every use, it’s less of an issue. But let’s be honest, how often does that happen?

To avoid uneven wear, it’s best to own and maintain your own stone. For starters, why not get a medium-grit stone? Something like a King #1000 isn’t too expensive.

(Leaving stone compatibility aside for now—this is about promoting the idea of owning your own stone!)

And speaking of sharpening, here’s a tip from a knife shop perspective for sharpening multiple knives at once: always sharpen in order, starting with the most delicate knives. If you’ve got a yanagiba, deba, and usuba, go in this order: usuba → yanagiba → deba. The deba should always come last.

So there you have it—a little story on why you should own your own sharpening stone!

• 2012-02-08