As long as I can remember I have been sharpening things. Some of my earliest memories are spending time outside filing sticks to points using the concrete sidewalk, or stairs and deck footings at my parents’ house.

My first use of a whetstone came on the camping trips my family took from the age of about 6 though high school. Our family had a hatchet we would bring on each trip to chop wood, and my father used a whetstone to keep it sharp after use. As my brothers and I got older he taught us to use the hatchet and to keep it usably sharp with the small whetstone we had.

As I grew older, I became interested in learning to cook and prepare meals using my parents kitchen knives. Throughout high school I learned knife skills and how a dull knife is harder to use and more dangerous than a sharp one. I remember asking my parents regularly to get the knives sharpened. They never did have them professionally sharpened, but eventually they purchased a knife sharpener that worked to hone the blade’s edges. Their sharpener was not a whetstone and sadly could not fully grind out all the chips, dings, and gouges in those knives.

When I moved out on my own into an apartment with roommates, I brought the knives. This meant I was in charge of keeping them usably sharp. That year, for Christmas, I asked for my own knife sharpener. It was a two stage Chefs Choice diamond sharpener with rolling guides. I really thought it was great. It was better than the one at my parents’ house but had similar issues, if it could grind out all the chips, dings, and gouges in a blade it would take hours to do so.

About ten years ago an ex-girlfriend introduced me to full sized whetstones with multiple grits. She had a single edged sushi knife from Japan that she cared for and always wanted super sharp for precise slicing. It was a revelation. It was the first time I had used a knife that was ground back to a brand-new edge. I began to practice and regularly sharpen both our knives; she hated the sound of metal on stone and so gave me her whetstones. Since that time, I have been regularly sharpening my, my family, and friends’ kitchen knives, as well as our scissors and the occasional gardening clipper. All by hand, using whetstones.

Despite having been sharpening knives for many, many years, every time I sharpen my knives, I am surprised at how much easier cutting becomes.