How to sharpen a knife with your own hands. Where can you sharpen your saw? Tips for quickly sharpening a blade using improvised tools

It is simply impossible to describe all the nuances of how to properly sharpen knives in one article, but this is not always necessary. Especially if an ordinary kitchen knife needs sharpening or you are just a beginner who needs to start somewhere.

In fact, sharpening a kitchen knife to a sharp point at home can be done easily and quickly. But the difficulty is that this must be done in such a way that the sharpness of the blade is preserved for a long time, and at the same time too much steel is not removed from the blade.

In this material we will try to simply and clearly tell you how to properly sharpen a knife with a whetstone. After all, this method is not only basic and accessible to everyone, but also the most effective. Except step by step instructions on sharpening and finishing, here you will find a selection of training videos and an overview of alternative methods - from sharpening systems to the bottom of a ceramic plate.

A little about choosing stones

Sharpening stones come in the following types:

Ceramic;
Diamond;
Natural;
Japanese water stones.

If you wish, once you gain experience, you can buy some solid and expensive diamond stones or Japanese water stones. However, it is better to start with ordinary ceramic bars (such as “Boats”), which are sold in every household goods store. They are wear-resistant, durable and affordable. The only drawback is their uneven abrasion.

Here are tips to help you find the right assistant:

What size should the block be? Ideally, it is 1.5-2 times longer or at least not shorter than the knife blade. The width and shape of the bar is not important.
When purchasing a block, make sure it is flat and free of chips.
To start, you can buy one medium-hard all-purpose whetstone. But if you wish, buy one block with two sides of different grain sizes or two stones with a large and half the grain size. In the future, a couple more stones may be added to your collection.
It's best to try to get a couple of Soviet-made donkeys, say, at flea markets or from your grandfather. Bars marked “Made in the USSR” have uniform-sized grains and high-quality binding material.

To bring the knife to razor sharp, in addition to sharpening stones, you can also buy GOI abrasive paste, which we will also tell you about working with.

7-step instructions for sharpening and finishing a kitchen knife

So, in sharpening a knife, one goal is to remove enough metal from the blade so that the cutting edge becomes sharp again. You need to start work with a coarse-grained abrasive and finish with a fine-grained one.

It is important to remember and the following principles knife sharpening:

The most important thing is to choose optimal angle sharpening and hold it along the entire cutting edge while sliding along the block.
Movements should be smooth, without pressure.
All bars must be moistened with water, or better yet, with a soap solution: before sharpening (so that the blade glides better and metal dust does not clog the pores), during the process (to remove the resulting suspension) and at the end, to clean the bar.

And one more important advice– the first time it’s better to practice on a knife that you don’t mind ruining. Especially if your main knife is too good and expensive. Well, let's start practicing.

Step 1. Rinse the stone with water, and then run over it, say, with a sponge with a drop of dishwashing liquid.

Step 2. Next, sit down at the table and place the stone on wooden board, for example, a cutting room. You can place a towel under the stone. For some it is more convenient to place the block perpendicular to themselves, and for others at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. Over time, you will understand how it is more convenient for you to work.

Step 3. Now you need to decide on the sharpening angle and fix the position of the knife. What should the angle be? General principle– the smaller it is, the sharper the blade, and the larger it is, the longer the blade retains its sharpness.

Regular kitchen knives are sharpened to an angle of 40-45 degrees. If you are sharpening a fillet knife (designed for cutting thin pieces of fish, poultry and meat), then you should sharpen it sharper - at an angle of 30-40 degrees. The selected value must be divided by 2, and then we will get the angle that should be between the blade and the surface of the block. That is, to sharpen a blade at 45 degrees, you need to sharpen each side at 22.5 degrees to the sharpening surface.

A simple technique shown in the photo below will help you fix the knife at an angle of 22.5 degrees.

Remember, you should try to stick to the chosen angle throughout the entire work.

Step 4. Place the knife across the block so that the upper edge of the handle is above the lower edge of the stone. Holding the handle with one hand and the blade with the other, we begin to slide along the block away from ourselves along the trajectory shown in the picture below.

Watch a short and clear video:

The point is that the cutting edge sliding along the stone should always be perpendicular to the direction of movement.
At the bend of the blade, the knife handle needs to be slightly raised to maintain the selected angle.
Remember also that you can’t put pressure on the blade, but you shouldn’t give it any slack either.

Thus, you need to pass the blade along the stone about 40-50 times, namely until a “burr” (burr, microsaw) appears along the entire length of the cutting edge. Its appearance will tell you that the excess metal has worn out and there is no point in grinding further. Then you need to turn the blade over and repeat the same steps. Clearly in the video:

A burr is a small roughness that is difficult to see, but can be felt by carefully running your finger along the edge of the blade (but not along the edge, so as not to cut yourself).

During operation, a suspension will appear on the blade - metal dust, which must be periodically washed off with water.

Step 5. So, the burrs have appeared, now we proceed to finishing. To do this, we repeat the same manipulations on a stone with half the grain size. Alternative way finishing - with the help of musat.

Musat is a steel rod of oval or round section with longitudinal notches. It is only suitable for editing and maintaining sharpness, but not for sharpening a knife. It is recommended to edit the knife with musat every time before and after work.

How to sharpen a kitchen knife with musat can be seen in the following video master class from the respected knifemaker Gennady Prokopenkov, who, by the way, specializes in making exactly kitchen knives.

Step 6. If desired, you can bring your knife to a razor sharpness. To do this, take any leather or leather belt, treat it with GOI, Dialux or any other abrasive paste, and then do the same steps, but only in the direction from the cutting edge.

Step 7. Finally, we check the quality of sharpening. This is done very simply. It is enough to cut a tomato or cut paper. If you wanted to achieve razor sharpness, then you should try to shave the hair on your arm. The most sharp knives they can even plan hair, as shown in the photo below, but in the kitchen for the most an ordinary knife such acuity is not required.

Alternative sharpening methods

If your kitchen knife is a simple and inexpensive “hard worker” and/or you just don’t want to delve into the “knife culture”, then we recommend using an electric sharpener, a roller knife or a sharpening system for sharpening at home. What are their pros and cons?

An electric sharpener sharpens knives perfectly and quickly, but even the highest quality models remove too much material from the blades, thereby shortening their service life. Another disadvantage of an electric sharpener is that a good device costs more than $200.
A roller knife is an inexpensive and easy-to-use option. With its help, you can quickly sharpen a kitchen knife, but, unfortunately, the sharpness of the blade will not last long and the knife will deteriorate over time. The most trusted tool among roller scissors is the one from Fiskaris (pictured). Do not confuse a roller blade with a V-shaped one. The latter is an option for the most frugal.

Sharpening systems are good because they allow you to more accurately set and maintain an angle. There are different types of such sharpeners - with blade fixation (manufacturers DMT and Lanski) and with fixation of the stones themselves at a certain angle (Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker). Separately, we can highlight a sharpening system in which you can select the desired angle and control the position of the knife - this is the Edge Pro Apex Knife Sharpening System. Each system has its own pros and cons. For example, on sharpeners with a fixed blade it is inconvenient to sharpen wide chef knives, but on a triangle from Spyderco the knives are straightened rather than sharpened, and you can only choose an angle of 30 or 40 degrees. However, for kitchen knives these are the angles that are needed, and using a triangle is very simple. Detailed review and the operating instructions for the Spyderco sharpener can be seen in the following video.

What are the disadvantages of Apex Edge Pro? Perhaps this is just a high price - $245. However, to sharpen kitchen knives, you can buy a Chinese copy of this sharpener (for example, on Aliexpress).

There is another clever way to sharpen a knife at home - using a rough mark on the bottom of a ceramic mug or plate. The principle of operation is still the same - maintaining the angle, smooth movements, maintaining the cutting edge (cutting edge) perpendicular to the direction.

Reading time:

Tips for choosing a sharpening stone
Sharpening Japanese knives

Sharpening knives is an inevitable process for any person. Despite the routine nature of this procedure, many not only do not know how to sharpen a knife correctly, but also pass on their “experience” to friends and acquaintances. There is an opinion that correct sharpening knives is only relevant for blades made of expensive steels, and a simple kitchen knife can be sharpened with a simple household sharpener for 200-300 rubles. In fact, you can sharpen any knife to a razor sharpness; it’s just that on a knife with poor steel, such sharpening will last no more than five minutes.

Manual sharpening of knives is a rather lengthy procedure that includes the use of natural abrasive stones and diamond bars. In order for a knife to shave the hair on your arm, you must “finish” it on the skin using GOI paste of various numbers.

Choosing whetstones for sharpening

Sharpening stones for manual sharpening knives can be divided into four large groups, depending on the material used in their manufacture:

Ceramic sharpening stones;
Diamond stones;
Natural stones of natural origin;
Japanese water stones.

Stones for sharpening ceramic knives are the most affordable way sharpen your kitchen knives. It is ceramic bars that fill the shelves of hardware stores and markets. They come in several types. The most common is the “boat” block. As a rule, it is very coarse and is only suitable for rough sharpening or for changing the sharpening angles of the knife. Often there are bars from Poland that have two sides, with rough and smooth surface. This is the best budget choice. If the bar wears out, there is no shame in throwing it away and replacing it with a new one.

Diamond stones are rarely used in professional knife sharpening. The sharpening process itself when using diamond stones is more complex, and the cutting edge quickly becomes dull. Diamonds are often left behind deep scratches on the cutting edge and “eat” too much metal when sharpening.

Natural knife sharpening stones and Japanese water stones are the best whetstones for sharpening knives. The big disadvantage is their high price; you often have to order them from abroad.

The first criterion that you should pay attention to when choosing is the size of the bar. Its length should exceed the length of the knife blade by 1.5-2 times. The surface of the block for sharpening knives with your own hands should be smooth, without chips or cracks. If the stone is damaged, it is better to refuse the purchase.

For sharpening kitchen knives, a double-sided ceramic whetstone, or several whetstones of different grain sizes, produced in the USSR, is suitable. No matter how much they scold the Soviet industry, sharpening stones in the USSR were made strictly according to GOST. Unfortunately, now such bars can only be found at flea markets.

If your task is not just sharpening kitchen knives, but you want to sharpen hunting or camping knives to razor-like condition, then purchase GOI paste for final polishing of the cutting edge.

Selecting the grit of the whetstone

Sharpening stones are usually divided into three categories:

Coarse grain;
Medium grain;
Fine grain.

Not everyone knows that in addition to this, they are divided like sandpaper by the number of abrasive grains per conventional unit of area. The bars start at 100 and end at about 15,000.

Usually, when sharpening, whetstones of 600-800 units are used. To polish the edge, bars marked 1500-2000 are used. More than 2000 bars are used only by professionals and are rarely on sale.

Step-by-step instructions for sharpening a knife

Before you start sharpening a knife, you need to understand a few rules for yourself:

The sharpening angle of the knife must be strictly maintained;
Do not press the knife too hard when sharpening, it will not sharpen faster, but the whetstone can be damaged;
Sharpening stones should be washed with water to remove metal dust.

If you are trying to sharpen a knife for the first time, you should not practice expensive models, take a simple kitchen knife and bring it to razor sharp.

First of all, you need to wash the bar with water and soapy water or dishwashing detergent;
The second stage is preparing the workplace. To do this, place a straight board on the table, on which a sharpening stone is installed. Everyone chooses the position of the bar according to their own feelings of convenience;
Before you start sharpening, you need to choose at what angle you want to sharpen the blade. It should be remembered that for fine work the sharpening angle should be about 20 degrees. For a utility knife, 30-40 degrees is also suitable. The choice of sharpening angle directly depends on the quality of the steel on the knife blade. Higher quality steel can hold a fine edge for a long time. Sharpening cheap kitchen knives at a small angle is impractical;
The essence of the installation correct angle blades so that the cutting edge is perpendicular to the movement of the knife along the sharpening stone. If the angle of the knife before sharpening suits you, it is not difficult to maintain it; the cutting edge is simply pressed against the block with its entire surface. To change the sharpening angle it is better to use special devices to maintain the sharpening angle. They can be purchased at specialized knife stores or made yourself;
Fixing the blade under the right angle, we begin to slide the blade along the block away from ourselves. The blade is sharpened until a “burr” appears along the entire length of the cutting edge. When it appears, you can move on to sharpening the other side of the knife. Dust that appears during sharpening must be periodically washed off under running water;
After sharpening on a coarse abrasive, you can move on to finishing on a finer stone. The procedure for such finishing is no different from sharpening on a rough whetstone. If you have several stones with a finer grit, continue sharpening, changing them from smaller to larger;
For a kitchen knife, such sharpening will be sufficient; it will thinly cut tomatoes and paper. If you want to achieve razor sharpening blade, you should polish the RK ( cutting edge) on the skin with GOI paste;

Bringing the cutting edge to a razor sharpness

To fine-tune the optical fiber, they use a special GOI polishing paste, developed back in the days of the USSR by the State Optical Institute. The paste is spread on a piece of skin, which it is advisable to attach to wooden block, the size of a standard whetstone. The peculiarity of polishing with GOI paste is that the knife blade must be polished with movements towards you.

Sharpening Japanese knives

Sharpening of Japanese knives takes place according to a special scheme, since the blades of Japanese knives have a different geometry from others and are sharpened on one side. This geometry means that food does not stick to the knife blade.

Japanese blades are sharpened with the same abrasives as other types of knives, only they are sharpened on one side until a burr appears. When it appears, the blade is turned over to the other side and the burr is removed with a few movements. After this, the sharpening stone is replaced with a stone of finer grain, and the procedure is repeated.

Household manual knife sharpeners

There are many small kitchen sharpeners that claim that they can perfectly sharpen a knife in one minute. In fact, these sharpeners can only be recommended to those who want to get rid of a knife in a short time. These sharpeners “eat” a large amount of metal, and soon the knife becomes thin and unsuitable for further use.

There are excellent knife sharpeners that can not only sharpen your knife to a razor sharp edge, but also make it easy to maintain or even change the angle of the blade. These are systems like Edge Pro Apex or Lanski. A knife sharpening machine is quite expensive, about 6,000 rubles.

There are also analogues from the Chinese company Ganzo, which are half the price. The knife sharpening machine from this manufacturer has proven itself quite well.

Typical mistakes when sharpening knives

People who are not experts in the field of knife sharpening often make serious mistakes during this process:

Having bought the first block they come across, they believe that this is enough for full sharpening. In fact, a knife sharpening kit should at a minimum include several whetstones of different grits;
Failure to sharpen the knife. During sharpening, many small burrs form on the cutting edge of the knife, which can make the knife feel like it has been sharpened. Such burrs quickly break off while using the knife, and it has to be sharpened again. In order to avoid such a situation, you need to carefully inspect the RC during the sharpening process;
Some people start sharpening without even cleaning the knife from dirt and grease, having seen how professional chefs sharpen their knives with mousse during the cooking process. You need to remember that the mousse is intended only for straightening the cutting edge, it does not sharpen the knife blade;
Do not press the knife too hard against the block while sharpening, as this will only damage the sharpening stone;
Incorrect sharpening angle. You must remember that too large a sharpening angle will not allow your knife to thinly cut food, and with a small sharpening angle, the blade will quickly “sit” on hard foods.

When sharpening, just follow these simple rules and you will succeed.

DIY knife sharpening device

If someone is not satisfied with the high price of a branded knife sharpening device, then you can do the installation yourself. Plus self-made is that you can make a set for sharpening knives taking into account your wishes, changing the design in any direction.

To start manufacturing work, you need to find a suitable drawing on the Internet. Usually homemade sharpeners there are two types:

A simple Lanski type sharpener;
Homemade sharpener, like the model from Edge Pro Apex.

Which model to copy is up to you, just remember that the first option is easier to manufacture, but less convenient to use. A set for sharpening knives of the second type is technically more difficult to make, but it is much more convenient to work with. We will look at how to make a simpler version in more detail.

Making a Lanski type sharpener

To make a Lanski type sharpener, you will need sharpening stones of different grain sizes, a piece of thick plexiglass from which we will cut out holders for stones, an aluminum corner, a thin steel rod and an aluminum profile.

To begin with, blanks are cut out of plexiglass for gluing abrasive stones. They should be a little longer than the whetstones, since you still have to drill holes in them in order to insert the rod there. IN drilled holes a pre-bent “G” rod is inserted and secured with a fixing bolt.

From aluminum profile and a corner, you need to cut out several blanks in order to then make a clamping system for a knife from them. In the upper part of the assembled structure, do not forget to drill several holes for different sharpening angles, similar to the Lanski system.

Do not forget about making a stand to secure the entire structure in a stationary position. You can do without it, but it will create great inconvenience in your work.

Set for sharpening knives on the go

Naturally, on a hike you won’t be able to take a full-fledged set for sharpening knives with you, but it is advisable to put a double-sided stone and a block with stretched leather in your backpack. Even though the steel on your knife has outstanding characteristics, no one is immune from gouges and jams on the cutting edge. Sharpening a damask steel knife or a powder steel knife will be problematic, so take a small carbon steel knife just in case; it won’t take up much space, but it will help you out if the main knife fails. Carbon steel has a very aggressive cut and can be easily sharpened with a simple whetstone in a couple of minutes. At the same time, such knives hold an edge quite well. The only negative is the insufficient corrosion resistance of such steel.

Sharpening a knife correctly is not difficult, you just need to follow the advice of professionals and have the necessary set of sharpening accessories. Everyone can choose the composition of this set for themselves, taking into account their own vision of the sharpness of the knife.

Sharpening cutting tool, chains, saws, knives, scissors in Minsk

We perform sharpenings cutting tool in fact, any difficulty, in as soon as possible, one might say, we carry out sharpening urgently. There are quite a lot of areas, so below is a generalized list of services provided by our sharpening workshops cutting tool in the town of Minsk:

How to quickly and easily sharpen a hacksaw with a file

In this video I showed one of the methods sharpening hacksaws with a triangular ratfile. But where to sharpen the chain, take the saw to a special one, with its help you can sharpen different ones. I'm not saying that this is an axiom

Sharpening a hand saw with a grinder in five minutes.

— Here you can sharpen a jointer knife (jointer knife). We set any sharpening angle that you order and sharpen jointing knives up to 60 cm.
— Sharpening of chisels is carried out using special equipment that allows you to set any sharpening angle. You can work with them, now you know how to sharpen band saw Right. Where can you sharpen? The same bahco has a saw with a hardened tooth, and there is one without, made of good steel. You can sharpen a chisel every day, almost urgently.
— We sharpen axes. Often, axes are sold in a state of medium sharpening. Our craftsmen will sharpen your ax with skill.
— Polishing knives. Polishing a scratched knife is a fairly extensive procedure, and in each case the cost and work plan will be agreed upon when visiting our sharpening workshop. If the knife is of high quality, then the service is justified.
— Sharpening knives for planes.
— Sharpening hacksaws for wood. Have you ever sawed a log with a diameter of 40 cm? If you sharpen a hacksaw for wood with us, you can easily do it. We also resharpen and resharpen hacksaws.
— Sharpening construction tools, drills, slotted bits, ballerinas.
- We can sharpen garden tools. Fokina flat cutter, hoe, secateurs, hedge trimmer. Where can I sharpen a chain for a chain saw? Where can you sharpen (cut teeth) a hacksaw? Sharpen a new or old shovel.

Nippers, tweezers, and scissors are among those tools in the manicure set, without which it is difficult to imagine performing a perfect trimmed manicure or pedicure at home. The blades of each tool must be sharp, smooth, without gaps in order to efficiently and safely remove the keratinized layer of the cuticle and give the free edge of the nail plate the desired shape. Even professional manicure tools from well-known brands after a while begin to tear off pieces instead of cutting the nails/cuticles evenly. A cutting tools from ordinary manicure/pedicure sets are subject to sharpening immediately after purchase.

There are three options to solve this problem.
Firstly, you can use the services of an individual sharpener who comes to the client’s home and polishes the cutting parts of nippers, tweezers and scissors manual method. As a rule, the master works with a diamond monolayer (with a continuous diamond layer) whetstone.

Secondly, you can contact a workshop where a certified specialist will professionally sharpen manicure tools using a diamond wheel or in a special machine. In this case, the services will cost more, but the company provides a guarantee for its work (service life of at least 6-7 months, even with frequent use).

Third, you can turn to the “strong half” of your family for help and sharpening manicure tools at home will save your family budget. You will learn how to properly sharpen scissors and clippers for manicure/pedicure from the photo and video materials in this article.

♦ SHARPENING MANICURE CLIPPERS AT HOME

You can sharpen the blades of the wire cutters using a regular carbon steel file. Choose a file with a uniform grain and close-fitting, fine cuts. We recommend “experimenting” with old nail clippers, and if you have expensive professional tool, then it is best to seek help from an experienced specialist.

- in the photo: “cheek”, “heel” and joint (hinge) of the pliers

❶ Backlash.
Open the pliers, grab one handle and swing from side to side. If there is play, then place the tool on the workbench, place the rod on the rivet of the hinge joint and tap with a hammer (not too hard), constantly checking the result;

❷ Cleaning the swivel joint.
Open the pliers completely and use the folded piece to sandpaper we clean the joint joints first on one side of the instrument, then on the other;

❸ Sharpening the entire plane of the blade.
We place the open cutter with its cheek on the table and with smooth unidirectional movements of the file we grind the inner cutting edge;

❹ Sharpening the corners of the blade.
We place the nippers on the cheek parallel to the line of the table edge and with smooth unidirectional movements of the file we grind the corner of the cutting edge;

❺ Sharpening external cutting edges.
Now you need to close the nippers and place them on the table so that the connected cutting edges are at the top. We grind the outer cutting edges along the connection line using a reciprocating file motion;

❻ Grinding the cheeks.
Alternately we grind the “cheeks” with unidirectional movements of the file;

❼ Polishing and lubrication.
To finish the job, we'll go over the cutting edges of each blade with a polishing stone (8000 grit) to make them smooth and even. After this, you can lubricate the hinge joint with oil.

♦ SHARPENING NAIL SCISSORS AT HOME

For work, prepare two sharpening stones with an abrasiveness of 600 grit and 1500 grit.

- in the photo: joint, cutting edge, side and top plane of the scissors blade.

❶ Backlash.
Place the scissors with their sharp edges up and place the cue ball small size onto the rivet and hit the bit with a hammer. We eliminate the play gradually so as not to flatten the rivet too much with one blow;

❷ Lubrication.
After eliminating the play, you can lubricate the joint of the tool on both sides so that the blades move freely and smoothly;

❸ Blade sharpening with 600 grit stone.
We fix the open scissors on a stable surface and sharpen the cutting edge from the side of the upper plane of the blade, moving with a 600 grit sharpening stone in one direction (towards you). First we work with one blade, then move on to the second;

❹ Blade polishing with 1500 grit stone.
Using a 1500 grit stone, we move in one direction (towards ourselves), eliminating scratches after sharpening and making the cutting edge of each blade smooth;

❺ Blade tips.
After sharpening, one tip of the blade may move slightly away from the other. In order for the ends to fit tightly to each other, you need to bend one of them a little with pliers;

❻ Examination.
Stretch a sheet of printer paper between your fingers and try cutting it down the middle with sharpened scissors. The cut should be smooth, without “chewed” edges.

♦ SHARPENING MANICURE TOOLS USING A GRINDING WHEEL

On sharpening machine You can sharpen your tool quickly and efficiently. Of course, you should have experience working with such equipment, since you can easily injure your hands while rotating the circle. Best way to sharpen blades manicure tool on grinding wheel with fine-grained diamond coating.

❶ We eliminate backlash at the very beginning of work. To do this, take a strong rod, place one end at the point where the blades join, and tap the other end with a hammer (not too hard), checking the working stroke of the tool from time to time;

❷ First sharpen the blades with inside, and then - from the outside (taking into account the cut angle). Install minimum speed diamond wheel in the machine. We move the edge of the blade along a rotating circle in one direction (from beginning to end, the contact patch is no more than 0.3 mm);

❸ Turn off the machine, wipe the tool and, using a polishing block with an abrasiveness of 8000 grit, level the edges of the blade, ground in the machine.

♦ HOW TO CHECK THE QUALITY OF SHARPENING?

Scissors.
The cutting surface of the tool after sharpening should be smooth, and the edge of each blade should be even. Be sure to check the movement of the blades and make sure that there is absolutely no play, but the blades close/open smoothly, simultaneously, without unnecessary effort.

Test: Take a sheet of printer paper (or a piece of electrical tape) and stretch it between your fingers. Using sharpened scissor blades, cut the stretched fabric in the middle. If a clear cut remains on the paper without torn or chewed edges, then the tool is ready for use.

Nippers and cuticle tweezers.
Make sure that the edges of the blades on both sides are even and smooth, and that there is no gap between the cutting edges. Take the tool by the handles and move it up/down slightly. If you find any play in the joint of the pliers, be sure to ask the specialist to eliminate it, since during a trimming manicure you can injure the periungual ridges with sharp blades.

Test: Take a piece of thick plastic bag, pull it between your fingers and make a cut with sharpened wire cutters. The edges of the cut should be clear and even.

♦ VIDEO MATERIALS