Frequently Asked Questions - Smith's 50378 Manuel De L'utilisateur

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How often should I sharpen my knives?
A: Sharpen your knife before each use if you
want to maintain a razor sharp edge. After
extensive use, if you have honed the knife blade
and it no longer slices food with ease, use the
electric sharpening wheel plus the manual finish-
ing slot to put a new razor sharp edge on your
blade.
Q: How can I tell if my knife is sharp?
A: Use it to slice food. If the knife does not slice
food with ease, it needs additional sharpening.
Q: My knife is not sharp and I've gone through
the whole knife sharpening process. What am I
doing wrong?
A: Although unusual, there are times when you
have to repeat both sharpening stages more
than once or make more passes through the
mechanical sharpening slots. This may occur
during the first sharpening of a knife or if a knife
was sharpened incorrectly by another process. It
may also occur when sharpening blades made of
tempered steel, which are extremely hard, such
as some hunting knives.
You can use the Smith's electric knife sharpener
to sharpen these type of knives, but you may
have to repeat the process several times or
make numerous passes through the mechani-
cal sharpening slots (in excess of 10 times or
more for extreme cases). This extended process
will only be necessary the first time you use the
sharpener for this type of blade. Thereafter, you
will be able to sharpen the blade following the
normal sharpening procedures.
Q: Sometimes the sharpening wheel stalls when
I am drawing the knife through the blade guides.
What causes this?
A: The knife sharpener is designed so that very
little effort is needed to draw the blade through
the sharpening slots. If excessive downward
pressure is applied to the knife as it is being
pulled through the sharpening slots, the sharp-
ening wheel will stall.
Q: How do I get an even edge on my blade?
A: Always do an equal number of strokes on
both sides of the blade for best results. Always
sharpen from heel to tip, never back and forth.
Remember to lift up slightly on the handle as the
curved portion of the blade is drawn through the
sharpening slots.
Q: Occasionally I see sparks when sharpening
my knives. What causes this?
A: At a professional knife sharpening service,
certain blades with high carbon content (usually
higher quality knives) sometimes will spark or
produce a stream of sparks when they come in
contact with the sharpening wheel. Your Smith's
Electric Knife Sharpener uses the same type of
sharpening wheel that the professionals use.
Therefore, you can expect to see similar spark-
ing when you sharpen blades with high carbon
content. This is normal.
Q: Can I sharpen serrated blades, scissors,
or other blades with my Smith's Electric Knife
Sharpener?
A: Your Smith's electric knife sharpener will
sharpen straight edge blades of alloy, carbon,
or stainless steel in either the mechanical or
manual sharpening slots. It will also sharpen
serrated edge blades, but only in the manual
sharpening slot. Do not attempt to sharpen scis-
sors or any blade that does not fit freely into the
sharpening slots.
Q: My sharpener produces a loud vibrating
sound. Why is this?
A: Your Smith's Electric Knife Sharpener uses
a rapidly rotating diamond coated sharpening
wheel to sharpen knives. Because of the speed
of rotation, a vibrating sound may be heard. This
is normal and to be expected.