Question on gradually decreasing in pressure...

[KennyB]

I've been getting tremendously good at really honing my edge using the lightest touch I can, but I've been wondering... Where is the cut-off point where you're not really doing anything to the edge anymore? I mean, just how light is really right? With my waterstones I can get a lot of feedback so I can almost always feel the contact on the grinding surface, but visually speaking, I sometimes can swear that I'm still making contact when I can't even really feel the grinding being done. So I give a great amount of effort to visually seeing the edge pushing the water and the swarf in front of it, if you know what I mean...

Anyway, long question short... How light is too light? You know where there's just no point in going that light because it's just going to take longer and not give you better results? Or is it just the lighter the pressure you use, the better your edges come out? I suppose this is more a question of personal experience than really hard-and-fast rules. I've just noticed that ever time I try to go lighter than I have in the past, it comes out much sharper than I expect.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I've been getting tremendously good at really honing my edge using the lightest touch I can, but I've been wondering... Where is the cut-off point where you're not really doing anything to the edge anymore? I mean, just how light is really right? With my waterstones I can get a lot of feedback so I can almost always feel the contact on the grinding surface, but visually speaking, I sometimes can swear that I'm still making contact when I can't even really feel the grinding being done. So I give a great amount of effort to visually seeing the edge pushing the water and the swarf in front of it, if you know what I mean...

Anyway, long question short... How light is too light? You know where there's just no point in going that light because it's just going to take longer and not give you better results? Or is it just the lighter the pressure you use, the better your edges come out? I suppose this is more a question of personal experience than really hard-and-fast rules. I've just noticed that ever time I try to go lighter than I have in the past, it comes out much sharper than I expect.

That is what it comes down to, for me. I keep reminding myself, if I think it's 'light enough', I tell myself to go even lighter. I think it pays off more noticeably with less abrasion-resistant steels, and with carbon steel in particular, like 1095. With some steels, it's more difficult (for me, anyway) to see real benefit beyond some finite limit. S30V is one of those. The limit for me, is if I have gone so light that it's difficult to keep the hone in flush contact with the edge, either because it's harder to 'feel' it, or if contact is so light that the it begins to skip or bounce. That would obviously be counter-productive. And if I've reached that point on the hard hones, that's when go to the strops. If done carefully, a little more pressure can be applied on a strop, and the tactile feedback will be better. This is even easier on wider bevels, which are easier to feel in flush contact, and also distribute pressure over a wider area.

I've also noticed, if I can see noticeable improvement in an edge when stropping lightly on my jeans, that is the upper limit of what I would call 'light enough'. If an edge responds to that, I figure any attempts at further honing on stones or strops would likely be counter-productive. Obviously, if stropping on jeans while wearing them, that's a great way to make sure it's all kept very, very light.

 

[Bill Hoffman]

On the strop, if you can feel that the blade is "sticky", lighten up a
little. I guess I'd say "listen to your fingertips". How's that for a mixed
metaphor?

Yup, a light touch on the jeans is a good idea.

Bill