How to Sharpen a Knife With a Powerdrill and Sandpaper

Last Updated: May 23, 2021

Have you ever found yourself stuck in the position that you don't have a knife sharpener, but you do have a power drill and sandpaper and a little bit of tape? The idea for this article came from the Renaissance festival, where they had circular spinning stones. This method can not only sharpen knives, but make them too!

Steps

1
Get a power drill and test to see if it is full powered. If not, get a new battery A.S.A.P. If ready, proceed to the next step.
- Remove any drill bit or anything attached to your drill.
- Wear eye and hand protection, for the knife will be sharp and metal bits may fly and hit you in the eye.
2
Cut a width of ¹⁄₂ to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5 cm) with your 220 sandpaper, and test it around the circumference of the spinning rubber part of the drill (the black part, usually).

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3
Once you get both ends to touch tape the non-sand part to the other end of the papers' non-sand part and apply over the rubber.
4
Test the speed of the drill. Fast is to make it sharp but dirty and slow is used with the 320 paper to finish polish.
5
Get your knife and or piece of metal you want to make into a knife and angle it at a 30 to 45 degree angle over the sandpaper with one hand. Use the drill and watch the sandpaper spin then apply knife over the spinning sandpaper.
6
Do this for about 10 seconds and do it to the other side to make it even. Make sure to maintain the same speed for evenness.
7
You will see very thin film like pieces of metal hanging over your knife you can remove this easily by scratching it with your finger. Be aware if you go the wrong way you will cut yourself.
8
Repeat the process, but with 320 for a finish polish.
9
Optional: If you really want to have a shiny knife use 400-420 sandpaper repeating the process again. This will make the knife extremely sharp but it will dull quickly since the blade will have such a small point.

Warnings

Metal bits may fly off - wear eye protection.

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When the knife is sharpening make sure you're not sharpening the wrong end.

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Knife will be extremely sharp.

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Things You'll Need

Any kind of power drill
220 Sandpaper and 320 sandpaper optional 400-420
A little bit of tape any kind preferably duct tape. Clear tape and painters' tape don't work well because of low adhesion and sandpaper may spin off. Electrical tape works the best.
An extra battery
Heavy duty gloves
Eye protection