The back honing you do is interesting and well executed. What are the benefits of back-honing? Why should we back-hone? Does it remove metal quicker/ better than edge leading sharpening? Resulting in a better edge? Or burr free edge? Perhaps this was just about the stones, not the technique. Thanks, DM
Ultimately I came by it studying Murray Carter videos. At the time I had very little experience with waterstones and had concluded one could not backhone on a hard stone without raising a burr or at the least, be unable to completely remove an existing burr. Already had some waterstones I seldom used, so started trying this method and found out it did work, and quite well, but only on waterstones. As a finishing method it lets you maintain an edge with exactly the cutting characteristics you want, and with very little steel removal. No eventual rounding of the apex, or the edge becoming more and more refined and one-dimensional. Also noticed that even with a back and forth stroke, the waterstones made a much smaller burr and more consistent, uniform scratch pattern than many other methods. As a final bonus, one can save the mud on some paper or leather and use it for a stropping compound.
The edges done in this manner at medium to fine grit (approx 2k-6k) last a long time, and be refined toothy - perform well on a wide variety of tasks. Have tried a number of methods attempting to emulate this effect by other means and the closest I came was by lapping with a slurry on hardwood. Which was even more challenging and less convenient than using the waterstones. Backhoning on a hard stone is (IMHO) the most difficult freehand technique, quite different from stropping despite their seeming similarities. Any defect in your stroke will be visible. However it doesn't have to be executed flawlessly to get good results, but it does need to be done on a surface with certain characteristics.
Started considering what combination of factors made them work the way they did, and looked around for other means. My opinion is that the combination of a hard abrasive in a somewhat consumable binder is the biggest factor in how they work. Sheds abrasive that's worn simply falls away, and any abrasive that stands too tall relative to its neighbors falls out before it gouges a deeper track. The loose abrasive on the stone surface attacks burrs as they form similar to a lapping operation. Many pluses and only a few minuses. Better quality ones are expensive. Less expensive brands don't tend to work well on a wide variety of steels. They need a bath to soak, and a supply of water the entire time in use. I'm used to having a small kit, one or two stones, small bottle of mineral oil, small block of compound and a few sheets of paper.
When searching for higher grit silicon carbide stones I came across these jointer stones a bunch of times. Hmmm, used dry, shaped to fit the individual cutter profile, a variety of abrasives and binders, relatively consumable and so relatively cheap. Finally gave it a try and was very impressed. As I tend to bounce around a bit with what I'm doing, set the stone aside and played with other media, kept coming back to the waterstones and then to the jointer stone. Works well enough I decided to share. The resin bond of the jointerstone mimics the feel of my other waterstones and for the same reasons. As an added bonus, these can be used dry for a few as long as the stone isn't loading up, no such option for most waterstones. They come in a smaller grit variety, as these stones aren't used in a progression, so a coarse and medium-fine. The mud from the jointerstone works great as a stropping compound on a hard backing as well, unlike the mud from a waterstone, the oil doesn't swell the paper so much and it holds together better. Touched up my chef's knife in this manner and cut a watermelon into wedges just yesterday - wound up cutting a lot of the seeds in half - made it tough to spit em out. That's plenty sharp for an upper end EDU and too sharp for cutting watermelon (who knew)!
If anyone is more interested I can point them to the ones I have - don't think its deal spotting if none of the Forum sponsors sell a given item and I link to a non-sponsor.
HH
