Knife sharpening apparatus and method

A method for holding a knife for sharpening, the knife having a blade consisting essentially of first and second sides extending from a spine along the back of the blade and meeting at a cutting edge, the method comprising:

• placing a carriage adjacent to a sharpening surface, said carriage being suitable for reciprocal movement along a longitudinal axis of, yet above, the sharpening surface;
• attaching the knife blade to a magnet assembly to securely hold the knife only by magnetic attraction of the first side of the knife blade and adjacent a spine thereof to the magnet assembly;
• and
• using an angle adjustment assembly, said angle adjustment assembly adjustably connecting the magnet assembly to the carriage at a pivot point, establishing a first angular relationship between the magnet assembly and the carriage, and wherein the angle adjustment assembly releasably locks to lock the sharpening angle after adjustment,
• wherein the carriage is assembled to include
• two wheels;
• an axle between yet rotatably coupling the wheels, where each of the wheels is positioned to roll along opposite sides of the sharpening surface;
• and
• a sliding bearing, placed on the axle between the two wheels, said sliding bearing permitting both
• rotation of the bearing about the axle, thereby establishing a second angular relationship, as well as
• linear translation of the bearing over at least a portion of the length of the axle, thereby enabling the knife to be translated between blade tip and blade heel as the knife is drawn along the sharpening surface while maintaining the sharpening angle,
• where adjustment of a sharpening angle between the second side of the knife blade that is to be sharpened and a flat sharpening surface is achieved as a combination of the first angular relationship and the second angular relationship and wherein the angle adjustment assembly enables adjustment of the sharpening angle to a minimum of at least 0 degrees.

An apparatus for holding a knife for sharpening, comprising:

• a carriage for reciprocal movement above a sharpening surface along a longitudinal axis of the sharpening surface, wherein the carriage consists essentially of:
• two wheels;
• one axle rotatably coupled to and separating the wheels, where each of the wheels is positioned to roll along opposite sides of the sharpening surface;
• and
• a sliding bearing, located on the axle, permitting both
• rotation of the bearing, and
• linear translation of the bearing over at least a portion of a length of the axle between the wheels, thereby enabling the knife blade to be translated between tip and heel as drawn along the sharpening surface while maintaining a sharpening angle between a second side of the knife blade that is to be sharpened and the sharpening surface;
• a magnet assembly for securely holding the knife by magnetic attachment to a blade of the knife along a first side of the knife blade adjacent a spine thereof, wherein the magnet assembly includes an L-shaped a bracket to which a permanent magnet is attached between two end plates, where a height of the end plates is greater than a height of the permanent magnet and lower edges of each of the end plates extend downward below a bottom of the bracket and the permanent magnet, where downward extension of at least one of the end plates is suitable for abutting contact along the spine of the knife, but the downward extension is not greater than a thickness of the knife blade along the spine;
• and
• an angle adjustment assembly, pivotally connecting the magnet assembly to the carriage, the angle adjustment assembly further enabling the adjustment of the sharpening angle, said sharpening angle adjustment controlled by a threaded bolt operatively extending between a fixed pivot on the carriage and through a threaded receiver pivotally connected to the L-shaped bracket of the magnet assembly wherein rotation of the threaded bolt relative to the threaded receiver adjusts the sharpening angle.