Keeping your knives and scissors sharp is important. My grandfather used to ask me, "Which is more dangerous, a sharp blade or a dull blade?" He told me that a dull blade was much
more dangerous because of the increased force that has to be placed upon the knife in order for it to cut. Forcing a dull blade to cut is dangerous. Today, I sharpen my knives and scissors often because it's easy. You can too. Let me show you how. This is a Nicholson file with
a single bastard meaning all the grooves go in one direction. It doesn't matter what brand you use, just make sure the grooves only go in one direction. I like to screw on a handle onto the end of this file, but it is not necessary. It's just more comfortable. There are two different kinds of steel blades shown here, but there are actually many more kinds. My favorite kind is low carbon steel which often looks very
worn and stained. And there is high carbon steel which is very shiny and
stainless. I like the low-carbon because it sharpens a little faster. You can see
that this knife really needs sharpened. So I'm moving the file consistently in the
same direction away from the handle. Just stroke the file along one side of the blade several times, then flip the knife over and repeat the same motion on the other side. Be sure to flip the knife blade, not to
file. It doesn't take very long and the knife blade gets real sharp. This
technique works for any size knife. You will feel a bit of grab as you move the file across the blade. This is normal. Just be careful. You will actually feel
the file grinding off metal. Keep your file at an angle low and almost flat against the blade. On scalloped knife blades, this method still works and you can turn the file sideways using the narrow side to
make strokes along the blade. Remember to keep the file at a low angle almost flat
against the width of the blade. If you do this to the face of the blade, you would
dull the knife but keep a nice low angle going lightly and quickly. On this small
scalloped knife, it's a little trickier but just go on the side of the file
real fast. Even knives with the very fine straight teeth can be sharpened in this
manner. Just swipe and swipe and swipe until you think that it's sharp enough. And do one at the end to get all the burs off. You can clean your files
periodically by sweeping a wire brush in the same direction as the grooves to get
out any debris that may have collected there. This helps it file better. If you want an even finer edge, you can repeat the same motion with another sharp blade. This will hone your blade to a really nice final edge. Don't forget to hit that "Like" or
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