English — 10
SUGGESTIONS
1. Always clean all food, fat, and foreign materials from knife before sharpening or
resharpening. If soiled, wash the blade before sharpening.
2. Use only light downward pressure when sharpening – just enough to establish secure
contact with the abrasive disk.
3. Always pull the blades at the recommended speed and at a constant rate over length
of blade. Never interrupt or stop the motion of the blade when in contact with the
abrasive disks.
4. Always alternate individual pulls in right and left slots (of any stage used).
Specialized Japanese blades are an exception and are sharpened primarily on one side
of the blade.
5. The edge of the knife blade, while sharpening, should be held in a level position relative
to the top of the counter or table. To sharpen the blade near the tip of a curved blade,
lift the handle up slightly as you approach the tip so that each section along the curved
length of the edge as it is being sharpened is maintained “level” to the table.
6. There is no need or advantage to using a “sharpening steel” on knives sharpened on
the EdgeCraft® Model E317. Consider resharpening with the manual Chef’sChoice®
sharpener Model 464 if you are using knives at a remote location away from electrical
power. It is recommended that you keep the Model E317 readily accessible and
resharpen often, as described in the Sections above.
7. Used correctly, you will find you can sharpen the entire blade to within 1/8” of the
bolster or handle. This is a major advantage of the EdgeCraft® Model E317 compared to
other sharpening methods – especially important when sharpening chef’s knives where
you need to sharpen the entire blade length in order to maintain the curvature of the
edge line. If your chef’s knives have a heavy bolster near the handle extending to the
edge, a commercial grinder can modify or remove the lower portion of the bolster so
that it will not interfere with the sharpening action allowing you to sharpen the entire
blade length.
8. To increase your proficiency with the EdgeCraft® Model E317, learn how to detect a burr
along the edge (as described above). While you can sharpen well without using
this technique, it is the best and fastest way to determine when you have sharpened
suciently in Stage 1. This will help you avoid oversharpening and ensure incredibly
sharp edges every time. Cutting a tomato or a piece of paper is a convenient method
of checking for blade sharpness.
