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EnglishKnife Sharpening Videos and Equipment: What You Need to Get Started
Updated
To start sharpening knives at home, you need two things: a way to learn the motion (a video course or book) and a way to hold an abrasive against the edge (stones, a guided system, or an electric machine). Steve Bottorff's Sharpening Made Easy site offers a five-chapter free tutorial, a 22-chapter Sharpening School Video, and equipment guidance covering stones, guides, rod-guided systems, and electric machines. In-person instruction is no longer available, and the print book is out of print, so video and online text are the current learning paths.
What equipment categories the site covers
The tutorial's Chapter 1 and 2 walk through the main equipment families. Each solves a different problem:
| Equipment type | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Stones (water or oil) | Flat abrasive surface you hold the blade against by hand | Learning angle control; lowest cost entry |
| Guides and rod-guided systems | Clamp or rod holds a fixed angle for you | Beginners who struggle to hold a consistent angle |
| Crock sticks / slot gadgets | Pre-set ceramic or abrasive rods in a V | Quick touch-ups, not reprofiling |
| Electric sharpening machines | Motorized abrasive | Speed and volume, less manual skill |
Chapter 4 adds knife steels, stropping, and sharpening ceramic knives, plus reference tables for Mohs hardness and abrasive grit comparison.
What the Sharpening School Video actually contains
The video is professionally shot and edited, with a menu that lets you jump to any of 22 chapters rather than watching straight through. It ships with annotated notes from the sharpening school and a copy of the How to Start Your Own Knife Sharpening Business booklet.
The chapter structure mirrors the free tutorial:
- Ch 1–2: Sharpness testing, stones, guides, rod-guided systems, crock sticks, slot gadgets, electric machines, recommended books
- Ch 3: The sharpening process itself — common mistakes, conventional vs. multi-bevel methods, honing, oil vs. water
- Ch 4: Steels, theory, stropping, electric machines, ceramic knives, hardness and grit tables
- Ch 5: Professional machines and miscellaneous methods
Chapters 1–3 were originally published in Knife World in June and July 1999 as "A Primer on Knife Sharpening," so the core method has been stable for decades.
How to choose your starting combination
The site's author tested over 100 sharpeners and found no single system met all his expectations, so he combined two: a wet grinder (Tormek) with paper sharpening wheels (Razor Sharp Edgemaking). That hybrid approach, later refined by Knife Grinders in Australia, is what he credits with producing the sharpest, longest-lasting edges he has achieved.
For a beginner, that history suggests a practical sequence:
- Watch the video first (or read the free five-chapter tutorial) to understand angle, burr formation, and the common mistakes in Chapter 3.
- Start with one manual method — a stone plus a guide, or a rod-guided system — so you can feel what a consistent angle does.
- Add electric or hybrid equipment only after you can produce a burr and remove it by hand. Electric machines hide whether you're holding the angle correctly.
If your goal is a home business rather than personal cooking, the business booklet bundled with the video and Chapter 5's coverage of professional machines are the relevant starting points.
Common mistakes the equipment is meant to prevent
Chapter 3 addresses the errors that make beginners conclude sharpening "doesn't work": inconsistent angle, skipping grits, not forming a full burr, and failing to remove it. A rod-guided system or clamp guide removes the angle variable; a stone alone leaves it entirely in your hands. Neither is wrong — they just trade money and setup time for skill development.
Where to go next
The site's information page links to 100+ additional pages on knife sharpening. The free tutorial is the no-cost entry point; the video is the structured course with notes and the business booklet. Since the print book is out of print, used copies surface on Amazon and eBay, but the video and online chapters cover the same ground.