Sharpening knives made from exotic materials. Part 1.

There are a million different guides out there on how to sharpen your average, bog-standard steel knife. As can be expected, some of these guides are useless and others are priceless gems of valuable information.
However, one thing that I've noticed is that not only is there an almost complete lack of information on how to sharpen knives that are not made from steel, most people seem downright misinformed on the topic.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen somebody, on some messageboard or another, state categorically that you can't sharpen ceramic knives, for instance.
This is just one of many odd things that I've seen in my time online. And it's completely wrong.
Another "factoid" that I continually see rear its ugly head, is that when people admit that ceramic knives can be sharpened, it can only be done by the manufacturer. This myth is perpetuated by the insistence by some manufacturers that their customers must ship their knives to the manufacturer when they need sharpening. Again, this is not factual.
It is very simple to sharpen ceramic knives.
The only tool that is required to sharpen a ceramic blade is a diamond hone.
Now, there are some peculiarities to the process compared to sharpening a steel blade.
Primarily, the edge bevels need to be somewhat more obtuse. You can't sharpen a ceramic knife to the typical 15-20 degree bevels that are common on steel blades and expect the edge to survive for more than a cut or three.
The brittle nature of ceramic means that a steeper angle is required. Something more along the lines of 30-40 degrees per side. To most knife enthusiasts, this may seem impossibly steep. However, because of the way that ceramic blades cut, and the inherently higher lubricity of the material compared to steel, these angles are more than capable of cutting very efficiently, keeping in mind that a ceramic knife is never going to be very good at cutting arm hair. They will however, cut and cut and cut for a very long time without going dull.
So, to summarize, to sharpen a ceramic knife, you need a diamond hone, preferably medium or fine grit. An ultra-fine grit should be used to polish the edge. The objective is to remove any deep scratches, as these can serve as fracture points. Finishing the edge by "stropping" on some 1000-2000 grit Silicon Carbide wet/dry paper can help you really get that edge to pop and it will help eliminate those scratches. The bevels should be no flatter than 30 degrees per side. Ceramic will not form a wire edge for obvious reasons so be careful with your angles. Other than that, just go slow. If you're concerned about breaking a high-dollar knife, get a cheap chinese knockoff online for less than 10 bucks and practice on that.

Moving on to other exotic materials, we can take a quick look at the process of sharpening a composite blade like the kind that I make myself. That is, a composite and titanium sandwich, with a tungsten carbide-embedded edge.
Generally speaking, the easiest way to sharpen one of my knives is to use a diamond hone. Medium grit is usually good, although a fine can work too.
You sharpen the knife only on the side that doesn't have tungsten carbide embedded in it. You can tell which side it is from the speckled appearance of the tungsten carbide. You sharpen until you can feel a slight wire edge on the tungsten side and then you take a piece of cardboard or a leather strop and strop the tungsten side until the wire edge is gone. Use only light pressure with the diamond hone.
Other options include using a medium ceramic stone or as I prefer myself, using a foam rubber mousepad with some Micro Mesh abrasive glued to it.
That's all there really is to it. No magic, no need to ship your knife to the manufacturer or to stop using a knife just because it got a little dull.
That being said, when it comes to my own knives, I'll happily sharpen them for my customers for as long as I draw breath, for nothing more than the cost of shipping.
Stay tuned for a video link on this subject in the near future.