Is this good to do?

K

KennyB

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Jan 19, 2010
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The other day I needed to get my edge touched up in a bit of a hurry and didn't want to soak my water-stone. So I grabbed an alluminum oxide hone I got from Ace hardware and basically looked down the surface, and set the edge on it until I couldn't see any shadow between the edge and the hone and just started lightly honing like this.

Was not expecting it, but it came out very sharp. From looking at it, it created a little bit of a micro-bevel. Winds up taking me less time to get it super sharp this way than it takes me to get it okay-sharp on my benchstone...

Seems kind of unorthodox though and I'm not sure if there's some kind of reason I shouldn't be doing it. Otherwise I think I'm going to change my touch-up method to this...
 
...I couldn't see any shadow between the edge and the hone and just started lightly honing like this.
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Are you back-honing - edge leading or edge trailing?

As long as you're not whipping up a wire edge its all good. I can get away with a couple of edge trailing passes on a whetstone, but not at all like what I can do with a waterstone.

My Ace AlumOx stone does a real nice job for what it is. "Vermont American" brand, claims to be made in the US, softer than an India stone but produces some very fine edges. The fine side is somewhat finer than a Norton 1000 grit waterstone (not sure if that's what you're still using), so not surprised it might be a bit sharper than usual. FWIW, I keep my waterstones in a small plastic box filled with water mixed with a splash of bleach and dish soap. As long as I do my rinsing etc with a separate water source, it stays clean for months and they're always ready to go.
Next time you're doing a full sharpening on one off your knives, save the mud from your stone by lightly wiping it off with a flat sheet of paper. Wrap this around your alumox stone and use it as a strop, keep it handy for touch ups.
 
I think your results are telling. If it gets sharp with this method, there isn't a reason not to do it. That's my compass with maintenance: did it work? If yes, then it's good. Do you have any bad results from the practice? If not, I would think it's a good idea.
 
I'm also in agreement with previous comments. If it works for you, it's good. :thumbup:

I've sort of made a habit out of sharpening in a similar way. I prefer to be able to look directly at the edge, when honing, so I can see flush contact with the hone. This usually means the edge is upward, or towards my line of sight. On hard hones, I use edge-leading strokes (edge moving towards me), and on sandpaper/leather, it'll be edge-trailing (edge being pulled away from me). I'll use either hand, depending upon the side of the blade being honed. That always keeps me looking directly at the edge.

I've also used a somewhat sliding stroke on fine/UF ceramic hones, by taking the hone and sliding it along the length of the edge, from heel to tip and back. This has been very effective for 'flipping' a burr or wire edge to the opposite side. I also find it's easier to maintain a consistent angle and feel flush contact with the bevel, using this sliding stroke.
 
So you held the stone in one hand at an angle where you could sight straight down it? I usually just bend over the stone and sight down to get in the right ballpark. I trust my mechanics more when the stone is fixed in place, since there is one less variable, but I've seen plenty of experienced sharpeners hold the stone.

If you are creating a microbevel, you can sharpen up quickly but if you keep working that microbevel over time the edge will get thick. The backbevel will need to be worked down every so often to preserve good edge geometry.
 
Robs92XJ said:
So you held the stone in one hand at an angle where you could sight straight down it? I usually just bend over the stone and sight down to get in the right ballpark. I trust my mechanics more when the stone is fixed in place, since there is one less variable, but I've seen plenty of experienced sharpeners hold the stone.

If you are creating a microbevel, you can sharpen up quickly but if you keep working that microbevel over time the edge will get thick. The backbevel will need to be worked down every so often to preserve good edge geometry.
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Yeah, that is pretty much the gist of it. I like doing it with my hand because I can also move the hone around instead of the knife or both. Makes following the contour of the belly without cocking my wrist in a weird angle easier.

HeavyHanded, I think that's the one I got too. I haven't been able to decide if it is finer or fine as my Norton 1000. Also, good idea with the bleach, I tried storing mine in just water and it got moldy.

Edit:

Oh, and I don't think there is a wire edge there... I went and carved and whittled a piece of oak to see if it would dull much and it didn't, so I think I'm good there. Even whittled through a pretty good sized knot.
 
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Using the "shadow elimination" method, I resharpened my ATS-55 Delica that hadn't been sharpened in a month or two yesterday with a green stone marked 320 used for sharpeneing carbide bits in machine tools and a straight razor hone that had a metal holder and was in a fishing box I received. The edge G got was hair popping, no, hair exploding!
100_4855.jpg

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The two stones used.
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After shaving a six inch long strip of forearm (note that the hairs are everywhere.)
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It's been working out pretty great for me the last couple of days. As a means of quickly touching up I really like it. Takes a handful of passes, maybe a bit more for a rolled or dinged edge. That's on fine diamond though, got a new DMT credit card sharpener. :D

In any case, the deviation in angle seems to be so slight that after time, I start to have trouble seeing a distinct change in angle where the scratch patterns of the two bevels blend together. Doesn't seem to be a problem as far as quick touch-ups with little metal removal go, but I think that if you have to do some serious metal removal a time or two it might be necessary to actually set the bevel back properly.
 
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