There is an opinion that the blade of ceramic knives cannot be repaired. Even chips on the blade can not be fixed.

I categorically disagree with this and I hope this article will convince you of this. And I will prove my point of view on the example of the restoration of a ceramic knife after falling on a tiled floor.

As you know, ceramic knives:

- fragile on the side, shock, etc. loads;
- good in the kitchen for delicate and beautiful neatness of cutting lines;
- remain sharp longer than their conventional metal brothers;
- require some skills and the availability of suitable sharpeners (stones for example) for sharpening (and editing),

those. have more pluses than minuses, and you can put up with the minuses.

Perhaps the biggest disadvantage is the special fragility of ceramic knives. Careful handling eliminates this shortcoming, but anything happens. However, that's exactly what I'm talking about.

Knowing my passion for making knives, a friend brought me ceramic knife. After falling to the floor, a chip formed on the tip along the cutting edge, a little more than a centimeter long. Yes indeed, here he is.

Before proceeding with the repair of a ceramic knife, I decided to study the Internet on this topic. It was for this request: “ceramic knife repair”, that I was looking for material. Much to my surprise, I did not find anything about repairing such defects. Mostly I came across articles about sharpening knives made of ceramics. Despite the insignificance of damage, it became impossible to use such a knife, but it was a pity to throw it away. So he asked me to do something about it.

Having experience in making metal knives, I decided to apply it to the treatment of this kitchen worker. On a conventional electric grinder, I trimmed the contour of the blade. He also corrected the slopes at the tip and brought out the working edge. fine sharpening spent on the stones.

The result is this updated knife. The defect has been completely eliminated. The knife has been restored to its former functional qualities.

P.S. This was my first ceramic knife repair experience. To restore it, I applied the same processing methods that I used in the manufacture of metal knives. Zirconium dioxide is more difficult to process, but nevertheless amenable. Now I can say with confidence that the ceramic knife can be restored. It all depends on the amount of damage caused.

Fragile as clay... Pottery is perhaps the oldest type of ceramic products, but in the modern world, ceramics is associated not only with short-lived, breakable things.

For example, the definition of "ceramic" has long been "grown" to such a necessary item in the kitchen as a knife. Of course, ceramic knives are made from a special ceramic - zirconium oxide, and they are also hardened at very high temperatures. As a result, the knife becomes almost as hard as diamond (at this point sellers like to refer to the Mohs scale, according to which a diamond equates to 10 units, and the hardness of a ceramic blade fluctuates between 8 and 9).

Ceramic knives can cut a wide variety of foods, especially vegetables and fruits, but also bread, cheese, butter, boneless meat and fish. When cutting, you should not put pressure on the knife and, moreover, chop with it - the movements should be smooth and sliding, and the pressure should be distributed evenly.

You will say that all these actions can be performed with an ordinary stainless steel knife? Undoubtedly. But if ceramic knives did not have special qualities, no one would be engaged in their production.

Often, buyers are attracted by the aesthetic appearance of ceramic knives: a smooth, pleasant to the touch surface, not as cold and “alien” as metal. Sets of several different-sized knives look especially impressive (perhaps that is why they are sometimes chosen as a gift).

The color of the knife - black or white - does not affect the properties of ceramics.

Which knife is more convenient to use for cutting food, steel or ceramic? This question is more of a matter of personal preference. There are people who speak with enthusiasm about ceramic knives, about their smooth and soft cut. But there are those who do not accept them as a class, preferring traditional kitchen utensils. In addition, the convenience of any knife is largely determined by factors such as the shape of the handle, the length and width of the blade, and they can be completely different.

Ceramic knives are famous, first of all, for their hardness (we already mentioned that it is comparable to diamond), so their blade remains sharp for a long time - with careful handling, they will need the first sharpening in a few years. Ceramics are easy to clean, and aggressive detergents she is not afraid.

Here you will have to take special care about storing ceramic knives: if you keep the knives in a box, then there is no problem, but if you are used to hanging them on a magnetic holder ... Alas, this is not the case. Usually, where they sell knives, you can buy a special vertical stand for them.

What is the biggest disadvantage of ceramic knives? Yes, that's right ... "Solid" does not mean "strong". Ceramic knives require careful handling.

If you have acquired such a knife, do not try to separate frozen cutlets with it - where the metal springs and withstands, the ceramic blade will break. "Ceramic" is not used for cutting frozen foods - even if the blade does not break, it can be chipped, which means that you will have to send it for sharpening ahead of time. In the dishwasher, ceramic knives are not washed, nor are they used on a glass cutting board, only on a wooden or plastic one. There is a risk that a ceramic knife will break if it falls on a hard floor (let's not forget that in the kitchen, in the cooking area, tiles are often laid).

If you weigh the pros and cons, you have to admit that you can do without ceramic knives in the kitchen. But will they be a nice addition to the usual arsenal (especially in the kitchen of an avid cook)? It is very likely, because "ceramics" have enough positive qualities.

Ceramic knives have appeared relatively recently, especially in comparison with the centuries-old history of making metal blades. This instrument is over 30 years old.

Of course, this is not ordinary porcelain or a plate, the strength of the blade is an order of magnitude higher. Everyone knows about ceramic brake discs and other critical products made from this material. The material of the knives does not differ much in strength and quality.

The blade is made of zirconium dioxide, which, after pressing, is fired in special furnaces using a special technology. The cost of raw materials is quite high, as is the energy spent on firing.

According to the technology, thermal treatment takes place for more than 2 days and at a temperature of 1500°C. A properly made tool has a hardness second only to corundum, elbor, and diamond.

Important! There are many fake ceramic knives on the market. Basically, manufacturers save on baking time, since this is a significant component of the cost.

Can ceramic knives be sharpened? On the advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

• Extremely sharp edge that allows high-quality cutting of soft materials and retains properties for a long time;
• High hardness of the blade, the blade does not blunt on hard objects;
• Outstanding wear resistance. There are few materials that require sharpening after cutting.

The same properties of ceramics are disadvantages:

• Hardness entails brittleness. However, this feature is inherent in any such materials. The tool must not chop and cut frozen products. You can not bend the blade, and drop the knife on a hard floor;
• The cutting board can only be made of wood or soft plastic. Ceramic and stone surfaces are unsuitable for this;
• The main difficulty is how to sharpen. The exceptional strength of the material makes it difficult to process. Any emery itself will grind on ceramics.

Do you need to sharpen a ceramic knife, or does it always remain sharp?

It is possible and necessary. Like any cutting tool, it will become dull sooner or later. With careful use, ceramics remain sharp for more than 3 years.

Also, like any other, it tends to deteriorate. To prevent this from happening, you need to carry out regular maintenance. It is in today's publication that the HouseChief editors will consider how to sharpen a ceramic knife at home in order to restore its former sharpness. These methods will help you save money and avoid buying a new product for cutting food.

Read in the article

What is special and different between ceramic knife blades and metal ones

By the appearance of the cutting kitchen tool, it can be determined that metal and ceramic specimens have significant differences. As for the second type of knives, they have an aesthetic design, are easy to use, less likely to get dull (of course, if it is a quality tool).

However, the way to care for such knives is more serious. They must be stored in a specially designed stand or niche, use only special accessories, do not cut hard objects, etc.

Speaking of knives with a metal cutting edge, it can be noted that they are no less sharp, but they have an ultra-thin sharpened edge. These models will cost less, but dull faster than their ceramic counterparts. There are a lot of cases when the handles of steel tools break off, which makes their use inconvenient.

What is the sharpening of ceramic knives at home: possible ways

Before you start updating the cutting edge of a ceramic knife, you need to take care of special sharpening tools. After all, those that we used to use for steel blades are not suitable for this processing. Consider the possible options for sharpening ceramics with your own hands.

How to sharpen a knife with a ceramic blade at home on one side

Some products may stain the surface of the ceramic, which will impair its properties.

Single-sided knives are one of the handy and unique devices. They are sharpened only on one side and have an incredible sharpness. Therefore, the approach to improving the properties of the blade is individual.

1. To begin with, clean the knife well and. It is advisable to do all this with a soft cloth.
2. Then, in order for the edge to remain perfectly sharp without nicks, one side is sharpened with a slope that corresponds to the factory blade wedge.
3. Grind the wedge-shaped edge with smooth movements in one direction until burrs form.
4. To remove the defect that has appeared, you should sharpen the opposite face a little, but only until the notch completely disappears.

It remains only to bring the knife into proper form and it can be used. It is worth noting that single-sided ceramic knives are more designed for cutting products of exact thickness. This is often practiced in professional activities, for example, in restaurants.

How to sharpen a ceramic knife on both sides at home

For double-sided edges, two types of whetstones are used: coarse and fine-grained. First of all, the blade is sharpened on both sides with a large fraction stone, after which the final sharpening is performed exclusively with fine emery.

How to sharpen a ceramic knife at home using various tools

When wondering how to sharpen a ceramic knife at home, you need to understand what tools are suitable for this. After all, if you use analogues for steel cutting tools, it can quickly spoil the working surface of the knife.

Special musat for ceramics

This type of musat is easy to use, but requires special care and storage, as it has a similar ceramic surface for sharpening. Usually it has a different abrasiveness on each side. Using this sharpener, you need to properly update the cutting edge. More on this below:

• the knife should always be in the right hand, and the musat in the left;
• maintain an angle of 20 degrees when sharpening;
• you need to lead towards the handle of the grinding tool;
• these steps should be repeated 6-8 times.

The only thing left to do is to polish the knife with a special musat with a smooth ceramic surface. As a rule, with this method of sharpening, burrs rarely appear, so you can bring the tool into working condition in just a few minutes.

Using a whetstone and whetstone for ceramic knives

A whetstone is a specially prepared product for processing ceramic blades. It has two working surfaces: one with fine crumbs, the other with coarse crumbs. The whole process begins with the processing of edges with coarse grain. At the end, the opposite side of the stone is used. Let's take a closer look at the entire instruction.

1. We position the knife blade perpendicular to the surface of the sharpener, while not forgetting the angle provided by the manufacturer.
2. All movements are performed by lightly pressing the blade.
3. If double-sided sharpening is required, all movements must be carried out in the opposite direction.
4. Do not forget to wet the bar 30 minutes before processing the knife.
5. Move along the entire length of the grinding surface.

Eliminate all physical effort and sharp turns of the cutting edge. Otherwise, you risk damaging the working side of the ceramic knife.

Manual sharpener for ceramic knives and the basics of its use

This type of sharpener works on an elementary principle: a person only needs to move forward and backward. Everything else will be done by disks installed inside the working mechanism. Manual sharpeners are absolutely safe for ceramics, as they provide for the placement of the knife in the grooves at a strict angle.

It is necessary to sharpen the ceramic edge repeatedly, without haste. Then the sharpening result will be perfect.

Electric sharpener for ceramic knives

Using a knife after sharpening has positive reviews, the surface does not have the smell of burnt matter

The electrical device can be powered by mains or batteries. It produces a renewal of the cutting surface in a few minutes, without harming the knives at all. The working mechanism has two built-in wheels having diamond coating. They start moving when the engine is started. The sharpening angle can be adjusted. All that is needed from the owner is to simply insert the knife into the slot and wait for the end of the sharpening process. Therefore, the owner should no longer have a question about how to sharpen a ceramic knife at home.

Using diamond paste

How to sharpen ceramic knives at home, except for sharpening devices? Great alternative considered to be diamond paste. This tool is quite effective and safe. However, it is recommended to use it only for final sharpening, you will first have to use one of the above options. The product is sold in tubes, the composition includes diamond particles up to 5 microns in size.

On a note! The paste should be applied to the coating cleaned after the previous treatment. You will have to polish for 10-15 minutes to make the blade smooth and sharp. For processing it is better to use smooth material- cardboard or leather.

Application of a special machine

The sharpening machine is equipped with two diamond discs that perform ideal sharpening actions in relation to ceramic blades. During the initial processing, an abrasive disc of 80 microns is used, and to complete the procedure, it should be changed to a less aggressive one, for example, 40 microns. For a more detailed acquaintance with this sharpening procedure, we recommend watching this video on how to sharpen a knife at home.

If there is no desire or opportunity to replace / repair a knife that has become unusable from the master, but they need to work, our advice will help. With their help, it will be possible to repair the handle and fix the blade itself.

Types of blade defects and ways to eliminate them

Chips and deformations on the cutting edge

The most common type of damage is chipping or deformation of the cutting edge. They should not be confused with blunting: in this case, the line formed at the point where the supplies converge simply ceases to be imaginary and forms an additional plane that glares in the light; chips are uneven damage to this very line of convergence. If you turn the knife towards you with the side where it has a cutting edge, or carefully look at the blade from the side, the chipping will be visible. These are the chips. In case of deformations, on the contrary, the cutting edge retains its integrity, but “goes in a wave” - it bends in different directions, preventing a comfortable cut.

How do we do it? To do this, we completely remove the metal to the place where the descents end and the supplies begin. If the blade has a profile without supply, we grind to the place where the deepest chip ends or where the deformation of the cutting edge began. We should get a smooth additional surface, from which we have to “extract” the updated cutting edge. This is done in three stages: first, the blade is sharpened rough to determine where and how much metal should be removed from the slopes, then the slopes are polished on both sides (that is, the approach is leveled - it is made the same in thickness along the entire length of the blade), and then the final fine-tuning.

broken point

If the very tip of the blade is broken off, it's okay, the repair is done in almost the same way as the previous case. First, the blade is ground, giving it the necessary shape, then it is sharpened, forming new slopes, and only then the cutting edge is brought out with the desired angle. An option for the lazy is to grind off some metal from the butt and create a new tip just below the location of the former.

Scratches and chips on the golomens (side surfaces of the blade)

This and the next type of damage are the most difficult to repair. Usually the blade has sufficient hardness to withstand everyday mechanical damage, that is, the risk of scratching it on something is unlikely. Most often, golomeni are scratched during careless sharpening, when grindstone applied not to the supplies or the lower part of the descents, if there are no supplies, but the entire blade flat.

Shallow damage can be removed on a grinding wheel or sandpaper laid on a flat surface, for example, on glass (ordinary GOI paste on a polishing wheel is unlikely to cope with them). If the steel is hardened, it will be very difficult to do this. After all, in addition to removing a deep scratch, you will also have to level the hole left on the surface of the blade from it.

Blade Warp

It is often another complex type of damage - an “unhealthy” bend is obtained when something heavy is pryed with a knife. Even if we perform the exact reverse action, we will either get an additional bend, or even break the blade (for example, if the steel is hardened to high units of hardness, that is, one that does not bend, but simply breaks under lateral load).

If the blade is flexible, it should be clamped in a vice through wooden spacers and gently straightened with your hands, observing safety measures, and always with gloves (preferably chain mail or specially designed to protect against cuts). When the blade takes on a shape close to its original shape, it can be laid on a flat surface and tapped with the narrow side of the hammer, removing the remaining deformations and finally leveling.

Repair or change of handle

Handles are divided into two main types - overhead and mounted. Before working with the handle, tightly wrap something around the blade so as not to get injured; To do this, you can use adhesive tape, electrical tape or a strip of fabric, the ends of which are tacked with threads or glue.

Insertion of pins

Most often, the backlash of the handle occurs if the pins and rivets that attach it to the shank are loosened or completely fall out. In this case, the repair is done like this:

• both plates that make up the handle are removed;
• their inner surfaces, as well as the surface of the shank, are cleaned of glue and adjusted to each other with a file or emery to exclude both backlash and gaps when mating with each other;
• the parts are lubricated with a new two-component adhesive and tightly applied to each other;
• pins are inserted;
• the resulting assembly is securely fixed with clamps or in a vice and left to dry completely, after which the protruding ends of the pins are cut off and ground.

This is important: during the drying of the glue, you should not apply too much force to the assembly (for example, put the handle under the press). The assembly can “float” under excessive load and lock in the wrong position with respect to the pins that have not yet been sheared. Ready product after repair will be unusable.

Changing the handle on a knife with a mounted mount is done in the same way, but instead of the old handle, a new one is taken. In the Japanese tradition, the shank is generally made in such a way that even at home, the old handle from a magnolia chef's knife can be knocked down and a ready-made new one, which is sold as a consumable, can be planted. In the budget segment, for the manufacture of handles, for the most part, not the most suitable types of wood are used, including those with defects; to hide the defectiveness of the material, a thick layer of paint and varnish is placed on the handle, which makes it slippery and uncomfortable. Replacing such a handle is forced and allows you to radically improve not only appearance knife, but also the safety of working with it.

Helpful Hint: Instead of varnishing, a wood handle can be protected from decay and deterioration by regularly oiling it with natural compounds, such as clove oil or boiled linseed oil.

If the knife has a slippery handle, but there is no stop (guard or developed bolster), you can drill a hole at the end of the handle, thread a lanyard cord into it and put the resulting loop on your wrist - it will prevent your hand from slipping onto the blade and injuring yourself.

If you're making a guard yourself, check with current legislation so you don't accidentally modify a regular knife into something that would qualify as a melee weapon.

The knife does not have to be repaired if it is purchased from a reliable seller, but it is used only for its intended purpose. You can find out how to use knives correctly, how to store and care for them, in other articles on our blog.