FAQ

To remove grinding residue of the diamond and ceramic discs, cleaning with a pencil eraser is sufficient. If necessary, the standard diamond disc can be twisted off and thoroughly washed in warm water, with a little washing-up liquid and a brush.

When used properly, the standard diamond disc does not need to be replaced. The industrial diamonds we use are suitable for efficiently sharpening all knife steels of any degree of hardness without water. When a standard diamond disc is used for the very first time, some excess diamond particles are eliminated. This is audible, but quite normal and occurs only once. After a few minutes, grinding will become quieter and the grinding disc’s surface much finer. The grit of the disc should now be only slightly rough to the bare finger. The disc has reached its working surface condition.

The amount of time required will vary when a knife is sharpened for the first time with the HORL®3, depending on the condition of the blade and the quality of the steel. On average, it takes five minutes. The edge must first acquire the chosen grinding angle. However, thanks to the constant grinding angle, only a few rolls back and forth are needed for subsequent resharpening.

Use the marker pen method to visually check the success of the grinding process. Carefully draw the felt tip of a marker pen along the entire knife edge, so that it simultaneously leaves ink on both sides. Once the ink is removed by grinding on both sides, the desired angle is achieved.

You do not need water to sharpen knives with the sharpener because no significant heat is generated due to the smooth rolling movements. The diamond coating is also designed just to be used dry. The additionally available HORL® Whetstones Fine and Extra fine also achieve top results when used dry.

In the case of pocket or hunting knives, the blade geometry is sometimes quite exotic, and some are difficult to sharpen optimally with a HORL® Sharpener. The basic rule is that the cutting edge should be smooth, without serations, and the blade should lie horizontally and correctly against the magnetic angle support. Pocket or hunting knives usually require a stable angle, so it is advisable to select 20°, or alternatively 22° or 25° for grinding.

In principle, kitchen knives of any quality can be sharpened at 20°. However, depending on the condition of the blade and the quality of the steel, many knives can be sharpened to an even finer edge at 15°. You can find out whether your knives are suitable for this by sharpening them on the 15° side for three to five minutes. If the sharpness is not satisfactory, it is advisable to use the 20° grinding angle.

To sharpen small knives, attach the knife to the magnetic angle support with the blade facing upwards so that the cutting edge is level and protrudes above the HORL® Grip Pad. In this case, the spine will not touch the worktop.

The correct grinding discs to choose depend on which model of HORL® Sharpener you have. HORL®2 models have a screw lock, while HORL®3 models are equipped with Quick Lock. Thus, for HORL®1, HORL®2 and HORL®2 Pro use grinding discs with a screw lock. For the HORL®3 and HORL®3 Pro, you need grinding discs for a Quick Lock. When ordering discs, make sure you choose those that fit your model of sharpener.

Fix the angle support with one hand, grasp the knife by the handle, and lever it completely off the side. This way, the blade is safely removed without drawing it.

The HORL3 Pro Angle Support offers six sharpening angles: 10°, 13°, 15°, 20°, 22°, and 25°. You can easily set the desired angle using the slider on the bottom. Find out here which angle is best for your knife and your specific use case.

Although damascus knives are often made of harder steel than most ordinary knives, a hardness degree of beyond 60 HRC is no problem for the sharpener. You can use the sharpener to sharpen any steel knife. Due to the even application without any concentrated strain, the sharpener sharpens even the most precious knives with the highest precision. Due to the constant grinding angle, only the material that prevents the knife from becoming sharp again is removed.

In general, the sharpener is well suited to also sharpen ceramic knives. However, since ceramic is not magnetic, the angle must be maintained by hand.

To grind particularly broad blades, where the cutting edge stands higher than the grinding disc, elevate the sharpener with a suitably thick cutting board to ensure contact with the cutting edge is within the radius of the grinding disc.

Our sharpeners are mainly suitable for sharpening kitchen knives and HORL® Scissors. Due to the sometimes wide differences in grinding angles and geometries, the sharpening of other kinds of scissors or tools like scythes are not recommended.

Cutlery knives often have fine serrations which cannot be sharpened with a sharpener. Smooth cutlery knives can be sharpened without any problem. However, the HORL® sharpener is primarily suitable for high-quality steels of chef's and kitchen knives.

The grinding angle is the angle at which the knife is machined from one side. Since most knives are ground on both sides, the grinding angle (e.g. 15°) is also ground in from both sides. After grinding both sides with 15° grinding angle, a 30° cutting edge or 30° cutting angle is obtained. Therefore, the cutting angle is usually twice the grinding angle.

For knives that have previously been sharpened freely by hand, the angle often differs after each sharpening and no consistent grinding angle can be determined. Therefore, it is worth initially sharpening your knives with the HORL® Sharpener and the angle support to obtain an constant grinding angle that can be reproduced each time. Use the marker pen method to visually check the success of the grinding process. In addition to 15° and 20°, the HORL®3 Pro angle support also offers alternative grinding angles for more filigree (10°/13°) or more stable (22°/25°) sharpness.