How to Fix a Chipped Kitchen Knife: What You Can Sharpen Out Yourself and When to Bring It to a Shop

When the edge of a kitchen knife chips, small chips can be fixed by sharpening it yourself, but a deep chip means the blade has to be reshaped in a shop. On this page, Hayashi Hardware, a knife shop founded in 1872, explains what causes chipping, how much you can fix yourself, when to bring the knife to a professional, and how to use it so it does not happen again.

What causes chipping

• Cutting hard things such as frozen food, bones or the stem of a pumpkin
• Twisting or prying with the blade, or using it to open a can
• Using it on a glass or stone cutting board
• Knocking it against the sink or other utensils, or blades hitting each other in a drawer
• Sharpening at too acute an angle, leaving the edge too thin

The harder the steel (VG-10, Aogami (Blue), etc.), the thinner and keener the edge it can take, but the weaker it is against sideways force, so it chips more easily even when used the same way.

Can you fix it yourself? Judge by the size of the chip

How to fix a small chip yourself

1. Soak a coarse stone (or a medium stone) in water
2. Focusing on the chipped area, sharpen at your usual angle (about 15 degrees) until the chip disappears. Give the whole length of the blade the same number of strokes to keep the edge line even
3. Sharpen the other side the same way and check for a burr
4. Refine on the medium stone and then the finishing stone, and remove the burr
5. Rinse off the sharpening slurry and dry the knife

For the basics, see "How to sharpen with a whetstone" in our complete guide to knife care. A coarse stone removes a lot of metal, so move on to the medium stone as soon as the chip is gone.

When to bring it to a shop

• The chip is 2mm or larger, or there are several
• The tip has broken off
• The edge is wavy (the edge line has lost its shape)
• It is a black fluorine-coated or kurouchi knife and you want to keep its appearance as intact as possible
• You do not have a coarse stone, or you are not confident sharpening

Professional resharpening uses several stones, from coarse to finishing, to bring the blade back to its intended shape. Because the whole edge is ground down evenly to remove the chip, the finished edge line keeps its shape.

Chip repair at Hayashi Hardware

For knives purchased from us, we repair chips and nicks as part of our resharpening service. How much metal needs to be removed depends on the depth of the chip, so we will quote the price and turnaround time after seeing the knife. We accept knives both in store (Showa-cho, Tokushima) and by mail (the mail-in service is available within Japan).

• Resharpening service (by mail): for knives purchased from us, the first resharpening is free, then from ¥1,500 per knife. Chip repair is quoted separately
• Our store in Tokushima

How to prevent chipping

• For frozen food, bones and the hard stems of vegetables, use a dedicated knife, or thaw the food first
• Use a wooden cutting board or one made of fairly soft plastic
• Do not twist or pry with the blade, and do not force it when pushing down through food
• Store it in a knife block or a sheath so the edge does not touch other metal
• Do not sharpen at too acute an angle (around 15 degrees)

Frequently asked questions

Q. Is it OK to keep using a chipped knife?

Cracks can spread from the corners of the chip, and fragments of the blade can end up in your food. Have it fixed as soon as possible.

Q. Can a pull-through sharpener fix a chip?

No. A pull-through sharpener only lightly grinds the very edge and does not remove enough metal to get rid of a chip.

Q. If a black knife is repaired, will the black come off?

The black comes off the sharpened edge, which turns silver. The black on the sides of the blade remains.

• How long a kitchen knife lasts and signs it needs replacing
• The complete guide to knife care