HOW TO SHARPEN A MEAT SLICER BLADE?

The slicer blades are one of the most important parts of the machine and need periodic care and maintenance to ensure that they always perform at their best over the years.

In order to maintain a clean and precise cut over time it is necessary to keep the blade sharpness under control.

Depending on how the slicer is used, after a certain period of time the machine will cut poorly and you will see the quality of performance drop: the cut will become less and less precise and clean, to the point of tearing and fraying the cold meat.  

Slicer blade sharpening calendar

It's probably time to sharpen your slicer blade!

We recommend that you rely on qualified professionals so that the sharpening is done correctly. 

Routine maintenance of your slicer not only includes sharpening, but also requires that the blade be sanitised regularly: this will improve the lifespan of the blade and ensure health and safety standards.

The simplest and most intuitive method is to check how the blade cuts, how much waste it produces and whether the cut is thin, precise and even. Furthermore, the cut should not require any particular pressure or effort, the blade, if well sharpened, should cut the food easily.

Giving a time frame within which the blade loses its edge is not easy and above all not very useful, much depends on the use you make of it in terms of time and type of food cut, as well as the type of blade used. In general, we recommend sharpening the blade frequently, whenever the cutting performance is not excellent.

There are various methods and solutions for correctly sharpening the blade of the slicer, in this paragraph we will explain the main ones.

First of all it is necessary to work safely, disconnecting the slicer from the electricity supply.
To sharpen the blade professionally and correctly you will need a blade sharpener.
The sharpener is one of the best and easiest tools for sharpening the slicer blade.

Generally, the sharpener can be sold together with the slicer or can be purchased separately.

In case it is not integrated in the slicer, you should consider that depending on the model and size of the slicer, there are suitable sharpeners or universal meat slicer sharpeners, such as ITK SB Slayer.

Before sharpening, make sure that the sharpening stones (grindstones) in the sharpener are in good condition, and the sharpener also requires regular cleaning. 

Emery for electric slicer blade sharpener

It does not require disassembly of the blade, but depending on the model the instructions for use may vary slightly.

Before sharpening the blade it is important to clean it well with a cloth soaked in alcohol or a neutral detergent, so that the grinders on the sharpener can work properly. Depending on the condition of the blade and the type of blade, it is possible to use different, more or less aggressive grit grinders. The choice must be made by a professional technician.

If the grinders are worn and do not allow for proper sharpening, they must be replaced. 

The RBA Grinding Kit allows operators to carry a wide range of solutions in a single case that can be adapted to different grinders.

Next, the slicer's cutting thickness must be set to 0 to be on the safe side.

Unscrew the sharpener block to rotate it 180 degrees. In order to sharpen the blade it will be necessary to lower the sharpener to the sharpening position to allow the grinders to touch the blade (if this is not possible because the sharpener, despite being lowered, cannot touch the blade, it may mean that the blade needs to be replaced). 

You will now need to switch on the slicer.

Depending on the type of sharpener, push the levers or press the buttons so that the emery and blade touch.

It is important not to allow the blade to overheat during sharpening, this will increase the hardness of the blade and damage the edge of the blade.

Figuring out how much and how to sharpen the blade is a complicated subject, and in order to get a good sharpening you will need to rely on competent professionals.

Sharpening will produce what is known as 'burr', which must be ground to avoid compromising the performance of the blade, taking care to remove it in the correct manner.