Sharpen Into Stone or With Stone?

E

efaden

Joined
May 26, 2015
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Hey All,

Watched a bunch of videos and checked out the forum, but couldn't find a thread specifically about this. Most of the videos I see of sharpening the blades is "pushed" into the stone (same direction as cutting). In some videos the people go the other way and pull the blade across the stone (Korin Videos do this) and only "push" to deburr. Obviously you are never going to cut into a strop, but with a stone which is the correct/better direction? Any thoughts on this?

-Eric
 
I like to use small cycles starting at the base of the blade and working my way up to the tip. This keeps contact with stone and makes it more consistent and faster when free handing. I was taught this way back in the 50's and it really works well. Half the time and easier to hold the same angle. Do a minute on one side, then flip over and do another minute on the other side. Repeat as needed then strop.
 
Mostly I find a scrubbing motion to work best, fore and aft, not lifting the blade off the stone.

To deburr, a leading pass works best.

For the finishing touch, if its a softer waterstone, sandpaper, or lapping film - a few light, alternating trailing passes work well. On a hard fixed abrasive like diamond plate, ceramic, India stone - a few light, alternating leading passes work well.
 
Both ways abrade your steel and a strop is just another way of abrading but most strops (literally all) are not build to be used edge leading since you would cut into the surface. In my experience and from what I have read over the last years is that both ways have a pretty different effect on the apex. Forth and back strokes at first just because it is faster and brings you to a usable edge in shorter time. Then:

Edge leading (honing) strokes will give you the cleanest edge as long as you keep the balance between burr formation and burr reduction under control, meaning the right pressure and the right length of stroke. The end result can give you only a certain apex width and maybe even a finer and finer stone won't change that (questionable whether this matters at all on a knife blade though).

Edge trailing on a stone however will give you a finer/thinner apex width with the almost inevitable production of a burr/wire edge at one point. I think it takes a great amount of experience and skill to get that right. That's where a strop comes in. Due to some degree of give and springiness of the backing (or not if you use hardwood which then resembles almost a waterstone more than a strop depending on the looseness of the compound used) you change the geometry of the apex somewhat and with the right tools (meaning the right backing, compound grit size etc.) and skill you produce a thinner and burr free apex.
 
I start by sharpening into my oil stones like I am slicing a layer off of the stone. I finish by trailing / pulling the blade along either a leather strop or a mouse pad and sand paper set up. I feel like this first creates a sharp and even edge then removes any burs. It seems to work with my mostly 1095 blades. But I consider myself an intermediate sharpener at best... Maybe even still a beginner.
 
HeavyHanded said:
Mostly I find a scrubbing motion to work best, fore and aft, not lifting the blade off the stone.

To deburr, a leading pass works best.

For the finishing touch, if its a softer waterstone, sandpaper, or lapping film - a few light, alternating trailing passes work well. On a hard fixed abrasive like diamond plate, ceramic, India stone - a few light, alternating leading passes work well.
Click to expand...

I have worked this approach for sometime and assure you it's sound. For burr removal, lift the blade a couple degrees higher and push into the stone. This removes the burr quicker. DM
 
For a V grind I sharpen by slicing forward. For convex grind, I use the trailing edge technique. Both work.
 
For heavier reshaping and grinding, a back & forth scrubbing motion has been my preference, both for quicker metal removal and for helping to keep bevels as flat as possible. For finishing touches on new edges, and for regular touch-ups, I've preferred edge-leading only ('into' the stone), to orient the grind lines properly and clean up the apex.


David
 
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