whetstone

[berniecuddles]

i have just bought a whetstone to sharpen my knives but i seem to be making them worse what am i doing wrong? 

[Clanad]

Firstly, if the blades are badly nicked they need to be dressed out with a coarser grade of stone..  The whetstones are used to fine dress the blade.  The blade should be held at at angle so as to duplicate the existing angle of the blade.  The blade should be moved so as to "cut" the stone... i.e., move the blade in a pattern that pushes or pulls the blade against the cutting edge rather than pulling the blade from the back of the cutting edge.  Secondly, use oil or water to keep the stone clear of metal and stone particles.  Try to obtain a "strop"... a leather strap used by barbers to return the fine edge of old fashioned razor blades.  The blades edge actually bends over itself during use and this can be "stood up" again with such a strap... Check here for further instructions:  http://www.extremelysharp.com/direct/sharpknife.html  

Good luck...