Question for people who sharpen by hand

[Matthewd]

for 3-4" blades, do you prefer to take the blade to the stone, or the stone to the blade?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

It really depends. I do both. A lot depends on the size of each, relative to one another. Width of the hone, relative to the length of the blade, makes a difference. For me, narrower hones are often easier to 'take to the blade', with the blade being braced or held in a fixed position. Very easy to focus on narrow sections of a blade this way, such as with the tip and heel, which almost always need 'extra attention.' On the other hand, even with a 'small' credit card sharpener, it's wider area usually is conducive to laying it flat, and moving the blade across it. With this style of hone, being very thin, it's a bit safer too. A little too easy to cut yourself, trying to move & control a thin & short hone, held by the tips of your fingers.

Hones like DMT's Dia-Folds, with their built-in handles, can be used very effectively either way. It's one reason I like these ones a lot; they were designed very intuitively, to accommodate the different styles & preferences of users. Can use it like a file on wood, with the blade under the hone, or you can brace the end against a bench or table, and use it more 'conventionally', drawing the blade across it. I still experiment with different holds on mine, and find reason to like it, no matter which way (hone-on-blade, or blade-on-hone, both right and left-handed).

And obviously, much larger hones are almost always easier to use, and more effective, when laid steady on a bench.

 

[HeavyHanded]

Aside from using a puck-type of stone on my axes and a ditch bank knife, I always bring the knife to the stone. I even glued some sanding belts to brass plates that are about 19" long so I can do machetes the same way I do my knives. I have a tough time holding a clean bevel when I bring the stone to the knife. Only other exception is on the rare occasions I do serrations - in that case I put the knife in a padded vice and use a diamond stick.

 

[unit]

Is this a philosophical question? I generally bring the hone and the blade together

I almost always lay the hones on a stationary surface (or reasonably when I put the hones on my thigh or in my left hand).

 

[parbajtor]

If I'm just re-sharpening and keeping the same bevel angles I'll take the knife to the stone.

If I'm changing the bevels/grinds I usually take the stone (ok, diamond file) to the blade. I find it easier to set the angle by keeping the file flat and clamping/holding the knife at the correct angle.

 

[HoosierQ]

Blade to stone. I calculate the distance I need to hold the spine above the blade given its width and cut a paper clip to that height. I set that on the stone and it serves as a visual guide. Works very well for me. It is way easier to use millimeters for this task as one usually ends up holding the edge up 7 - 9 millimeters to produce a 30 degree inclusive bevel with the knives I've got.

Quite frankly, If I have to really knock a lot of metal off of blade I use a file and then we're taking file to blade.

 

[NightMare Silverado]

I lay the stone along my leg and take the blade to it. I get my knives sharp enough to shave arm hair so it's good enough for me.

 

[jackknife]

I always take the knife to the stone, with the only exceptions being very large blades like my 12 inch Ontario machete. Then I take the diamond home to the blade.

 

[almtiba]

blade to the stone.

Regards,

Andre Tiba - Brazil

 

[jacktrades_nbk]

Blade to stone, always

 

[Phydeaux]

Preference is blade to stone. Stone firmly attached to bench. I'll sharpen stone to blade if it the only way to get it done.

Ric

 

[KennyB]

I sometimes will move one of those paddle sharpeners around while the blade remains static. It's just such a natural movement to hold the blade straight and steady while moving the abrasive back and forth like a hand-file. I find it's only really useful if I need to remove a lot of material really fast, and I don't really use that types of sharpeners unless I'm away from a benchstone.

 

[David Martin]

I do it like HeavyHand. Blade to stone. Except for sharpening my axe and serrated blades, its the other way around. DM

 

[mesoscopic]

Diamond paddle as in DMT Diafold to the blade. Blade supported by both hands to "waterstone", (if aluminum oxide counts as waterstone).

 

[quattromori]

I've recently began to sharpen my knives, so I'm not really the gold standard of freehand but I take the knife to the stone too.

 

[pilgrimuk]

As many people have said, I also do a bit of both.

 

[Matthewd]

Interesting - most of you seem to take the blade to the stone. With my "regular" sized stones (8"x3") I do this, but I have a few smaller stones 1"-2"x3"-4", and it definitely seems easier for me to take the stone to the blade. I also seem to be able to hold a more consistent angle when doing this, but more of the stroke seems to be parallel to the edge rather than perpendicular, or into the edge.
Any more thoughts?

 

[HeavyHanded]

Possibly the most consistent way to maintain a bevel angle that I've tried is to go in a circular motion - either bringing the stone to the axe, or the knife to the stone. I'm not a fan of the edge this method produces, and to remove the burr I have to go in a linear mode anyway, so I don't normally use it. Generally I move the edge at a 30 - 40 degree angle to the direction of the stroke, in a back and forth motion. Thia puts more of the bevel on the stone at any given time and IMO increases feedback.

 

[Cynic2701]

If the stone has a width equal to or greater than 1.5 times the width of the blade, then I do blade to stone.

If the stone has a width less than 1.5 times the width of the blade, then I do stone to blade.

 

[Hawkings]

I often do both at the same time, stone in right hand and knife in left (I'm a lefty) and then move both stone and knife.