Sharpen knives evenly

When sharpening the kitchen knives it's important to keep a constant angle of about 15 degrees between knife and sharpening block to get a good result. A ledge that helps to maintain the correct angle is easily made.

For the ledge use a wood moulding with measurements as close as possible, cut it to the desired length and with a planer or sand paper get it to 2 cm width and 0,9 cm height. Then you mark the height d (for measurements see drawing below) and continue accordingly.

Now you mark on the upper side c 3 points centred in the same distance for drilling the holes. When drilling be sure not to drill to deep (3,5-4 mm) and at a 90 degree angle in relation to the upper side. Now you only have to glue in the disc magnets.

The finished ledge looks like this:

For sharpening you just place the ledge on the knife parallel to the sheath. The ledge clings to the knife thanks to the magnets and won't shift. Now you just have to adjust the distance to the sheath in a way that the lower side lies straight on the sharpening block.

When sharpening you have to make sure that the ledge lies straight - then you automatically maintain a constant angle (15 degrees with the above measurements).

On the Internet you an easily find instructions and videos for sharpening techniques (keyword: knife sharpening techniques)