Can ceramic knives be sharpened?
I was just looking at an ad for Kyocera ceramic knives that look pretty nice. The ad stresses that they retain their sharpness for a "long time" and they are warranted for five years (? for retaining sharpness??). Does anyone have any experience with these knives? Can they be sharpened at home? by the factory? or, not at all?
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Candy
Dec 22, 2010 08:30 PM
Kyocera will sharpen your knives for free and send them back to you on their dime. Most Kyocera knives need sharpening about every 18 mos. If you do have a diamond hone or "stone" you can do it yourself. You need to know that Asian knives have a blade angle of 15 degrees as opposed to western knives which are 20 degrees. Unless you are skilled at sharpening, it is better to send them back to Kyocera in Calif. They ahve even replaced some broken knives for free, even when the breakage was due to operator error. One one of my favorite Kyocera is the micro serrated knife. It is wonderful for soft fruits and vegs. Slices through them like butter.
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Fuboon ceramic knife
Dec 22, 2010 07:00 PM
ship back to sharpen is the best choice,their knife is expensive,why not try other brand ceramic knife with high Cost-Effective? ...
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I brought one from the infomercial at Walmart. I was first concerned with what NOT to use it on. Meat wih bones, type on cutting board, etc. I used it for about 3-4 months and it started getting not so sharp and was lookinh for how to resharpen it. Then will washing it I dropped it on the hard tile floor and it broke. As one person indicated, ALL knives get dull...if you use them. I've had $200 knives all the way down to the $1 knives at Dollar Tree; Fromm Miracle Bale and the like; and they ALL got dull Get a $10 hand sharpener from the hardware stare and visit Dollar Tree...you'll come out better..
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Yes send it back to Kyocera to be sharpened. The blade is very brittle so if if you are rough on knives like me, i.e. drop on counter or into sink, then it's not for you. That said, it's very sharp and stays sharp longer than any of my other knives. If you use it on regular basis then you will need to send it back every year or 2 to be sharpened.
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bgazindad
Nov 20, 2010 12:40 PM
I have a ceramic knife and I sharpen it with little kit I bought in West Los Angeles. It cost about $15. I really do not know the name of the product since the packaging is in Japanese except the word forever and diamond. Its easy to use and does the job. I had an electric sharpener that I got in Japan but it wore out.
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cowboyardee
Nov 20, 2010 05:07 AM
More often than not, the factory will sharpen a ceramic knife for a fee. You can decide if the fee is worth it. Realistically, that's usually your best bet (that or buying a new one - prices have fallen).
The electric sharpener Caroline1 linked above might work. I dunno. It's not a well known product and I haven't seen any especially credible reviews of it.
I haven't tried to sharpen a ceramic knife, and truth is I probably wouldn't unless I had one sitting around that I didn't mind possibly making worse as well as some diamond stones.
From what I've read though, it is possible to do at home - with diamond stones. Possibly even with wet/dry sandpaper. There are several problems though - I've heard that a coarse DMT will usually take chips out of the edge, meaning you're limited to fine grit. You also should probably refrain from using much pressure for the same reason. This means it might take a long while. Also, you shouldn't expect a burr to form, which might be a problem if you (or whoever, since this is clearly addressed to people already familiar with hand-sharpening) rely on finding a burr to know when you've hit the edge.
Even then, I couldn't guarantee it would work. Dave from DR sharpening claims to have had success with hand sharpening ceramics like this though.
Thing is, if you're willing to hand sharpen in the first place, you may as well get yourself a nice traditional knife and just keep a fine edge on it.
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re: cowboyardee
Chemicalkinetics
Nov 20, 2010 03:30 PM
Cowboy,
Excellent feedback as always. Yes, these are my impression as well. Diamond stones should be one of the few tools for sharpening, but coarse diamond stone surely will crack or chip the ceramic.
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Caroline1
Nov 20, 2010 03:52 AM
You can do it at home. Kyocera says so::
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/sto... -
I bought one (chef's knife shape for chopping) about 10 years ago. Loved it for certain things for about 2 years, then noticed it wasn't doing the job so well. Sent it to the factory for sharpening (it was an easy process) and it was good for another 6 months to a year. These are expensive knives. I wouldn't recommend that anyone buy one for general kitchen use. It was a joy when it was new, though.
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Chemicalkinetics
Nov 19, 2010 03:58 PM
Very tough, both because they are hard and because they are brittle.
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