Guided Systems: When to Flip?

PeteCress

PeteCress

Joined
Jan 2, 2023
Messages
16
Let's say I am starting from scratch and intend to sharpen with 120-grit, 300-grit, and 600-grit.

Is there any reason not to go through all 3 grits on one side of the blade and then flip it only once to go through all 3 on the otjer side - as opposed to doing 120 on side A, flipping over to do 120 on side B, flipping over to do 300 on side A... and so-forth?

i.e. just one flip for the whole process instead of 5.
 
Part of the reason for flipping is keeping the burr under control. If you apex and finish your progression all on one side, you're going to have a pretty substantial burr. When you flip it's very likely that you're just going to push it back to the other side. Without some back and forth, you're never going to get the burr completely removed. Additionally, I'd think it would be much harder to keep things even and consistent from side to side with your proposed method. Guided systems make it so easy to rotate to the other side of the edge I'm not sure why you'd want to flip the knife less.
 
re/"Guided systems make it so easy to rotate to the other side of the edge I'm not sure why you'd want to flip the knife less."

El-Cheapo guided system "Ruixin": each flip changes the angle by a few degrees, so one has to re-adjust after every flip.

Just spent the big bucks on a WorkSharp Pro, and I see what you mean - 100%.
 
If your guided system flip changes the angles by a few degrees it kind of defeats the purpose. I would pitch it if I had that situation. I realize you got a nice WSP so that should not be the case.

I would flip it for the reason mentioned above. I also try to use the same number of strokes per side. Make sure you get a burr before flipping.
 
I think you might end up rounding off the apex if you do that. You should have each side of the bevel progress homogeneously through the grits. Also, I recommend learning freehand sharpening. Sharpening systems make your knives screaming sharps but they’re usually such a pain to use, especially the cheaper ones. I used to use a Lansky and, between the stinky fish oil getting all over the place and the clamp and making it lose its grip on the knife, having to put painter’s tape on the spine to prevent scratching from the clamp, the clamp’s screw losing its philip’s shape on the head over time and becoming harder and harder to screw… it was just hellish to use. Can’t even recall how many times I cut myself cause the knife slipped out of the clamp or shifted around when I was close to the tip. Buy a worksharp tri-stone with the 20-25 degrees magnetic angle guides. Been using one for over a year and it’s been pretty great, it’s good for beginners due to the angle guides and it really isn’t hard to use. Makes freehand sharpening a breeze and just improves your freehand skills massively over time. It’s also much cheaper than any worthwhile system that isn’t hell to use, while also yielding very good results, which also improve as you get better at sharpening, and requiring little to no setup nor maintenance.
 
I thought I had ruined a Vero Synapse by over sharpening one side. It created a burr that I had a hard time removing. The goal for me now is to remove the same amount of steel from both slides by working them as equal amount as possible. It's usually do about 3 full passes, then flip and repeat until the apex is good. I'm no expert, this is just my way.
 
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