Elden Ring: Find and use all Grinding Knives (Iron, Shimmerstone, Black, Red Hot, Sanctified)

par

the Grinding Knife in Elden Ring are key items that unlock the use of Ashes of War and various upgrade paths for weapons and shields.

There are five special sharpening knives, each of which has a specific affinities (attribute scaling and bonus damage) accessible, plus a general sharpening knife that unlocks the ashes of war and martial arts for the weapons in the first place.

If you want to get the most out of your weapons and want to deal with different alignments or types of damage, you can’t avoid the sharpening knives.

Locations of the Sharpening Knives in Elden Ring

There are six sharpening knives found in the Elden Ring.

In our guide you will learn where to find all the sharpening knives in the Elden Ring, what effects they have and what affinities they unlock.

Jump to:

  • sharpening knife
  • Iron sharpening knife
  • Shimmerstone Grinding Knife
  • Red-hot sharpening knife
  • Sanctified Sharpening Knife
  • Black sharpening knife

sharpening knife

  • locality: Ruins in front of the gate in Limgrave. Look around the camp in front of the storm gate for a stairway that leads to a chamber. There you will find the sharpening knife.
  • effect: Unlocks the ability to equip weapons with weapon talents, martial arts, and affinities. The basic program, so to speak.

Iron sharpening knife

  • locality: Castle Stormveil. On a corpse in this section: in the armory behind the north-west door in the Room with the Transplanted Scion (requires a Stone Sword Key).
  • effect: Unlocks the Heavy, Solid, and Valuable affinities.

Shimmerstone Grinding Knife

  • locality: Academy of Raya Lucaria. In the « Forum of Debate » section (after the Red Wolf Radagon) leave the building, run up the slope to the left of the fountain with the digging undead and find the Shimmerstone Knife in the chamber by a corpse hanging over the railing.
  • effect: Unlocks the Magical and Icy affinities.

The more sharpening knives you find, the more options you have to specialize your weapons.

Red-hot sharpening knife

  • locality: Castle Redmane. After the Festival of War is over (that is, when Star Scourge Radahn is defeated), go to the Place of Mercy « Chamber Outside the Square » and back into the fortress. Kill the flamethrower guy who has his back to you, turn right and you should see another flamethrower. Do this too and follow the path behind him to the north-west. There should be a door open behind a kidnappermaid (to the left of the building is a giant on a tower). Enter the house and collect the knife.
  • effect: Unlocks the Fire and Flaming affinities.

Sanctified Sharpening Knife

  • locality: Royal Capital Leyndell. Follow the wing of the giant dragon up, take the ladder up in the adjacent building and you will reach the place of mercy « Western Capital Wall ». On the right is an explorable area with an enterable building. It’s called the « Fortified Estate » whose interior is one-to-one like the Tablet of Mercy. You can find the sharpening knife inside next to an anvil.
  • effect: Unlocks Holy and Lightning affinities.

Black sharpening knife

  • locality: Nokron, the Eternal City. Traverse the underground area to the Night Sanctuary where you will find the knife on a corpse in front of an altar (inside the church with the huge orb inside attacking you).
  • effect: Unlocks Venomous, Bloody, and Occult affinities.
  • Back to table of contents: Elden Ring Walkthrough with Tips

For more help with Elden Ring, see the Elden Ring – Tips for Beginners. Also useful: The locations of the stone sword keys and the map fragments. If you are looking for powerful allies, it makes sense to collect the ashes. For more clout, we recommend the localities of the weapons.