Sharpening on a Wetstone

The real key is to sharpen one side all the way with a specific grit until you raise a burr along the opposite side. That way, each stroke is more likely to be the same angle...as opposed to flipping back and forth on each stroke.
 
I'm changing the way I sharpen all the time... When I first started, I would sharpen away from myself (edge pointing away from me). Then a few months ago, I started sharpening only with my right hand holding the knife's handle (1 stroke toward myself, 1 stroke away from myself). Then recently, I started doing all strokes toward myself (alternate right and left hand.) I like this way best now because I can see exactly what's happening to the edge while I'm making my stroke, because I've learned that my "feel" that the stone is hitting the edge can lie to me.
 
I'm using this technique to sharpen my knives:
http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/HowToSharpen.html

I sharpen my chef knives and other knives that way. The only variation is that I sharpen one side of the blade with my right hand, and the other side with my left hand as mentioned in the OP.

I'd like to hear everyone's opinion about that sharpening technique.
 
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Using the same hand is probably your best bet, by using the same hand you create muscle memory. This created muscle memory is what keeps things consistent in your technique and guides you every time you go back to the stone. Using different hands would be like writing your first name with one hand and your last with the other, though it can be done it will never be the same as if you wrote both with you dominant hand. The hardest part of hand sharpening is learning the pressure points, following a consistent angle is a important factor but properly following the curve of the blade can be the difference in "its sharp" or "its not as sharp as it should be". Hand sharpening is like any other learned skill, it takes time.
 
knifenut1013 said:
Using the same hand is probably your best bet, by using the same hand you create muscle memory. This created muscle memory is what keeps things consistent in your technique and guides you every time you go back to the stone.
Click to expand...

I find that kinda true... When I was doing both strokes with one hand, it felt a lot more comfortable. However, when I did that and used a sharpie to see what I was doing, I found that on the "away" stroke, I could never get the edge at the tip. I'd always be doing great until I started the curve, and from there on, I would never get the edge. And I couldn't find a way to fix it, either.

So I dreaded going back to alternating hands, but at least I could see what I was doing during each stroke. It's true that my left hand is my "weak hand," even while sharpening. It took a while for it to get better, but now I have more or less "muscle memorized" the stroke with my left hand.

Now I bet if I were to go back to doing all strokes on the right hand, I would have to learn it all over again.
 
Its like riding a bike....you never forget. Try this, hold the knife loosely with your thumb, middle, ring, and pinky fingers, place you index finger in the choil area and apply down pressure almost creating a twisting force on the blade. Next with your guide hand place your middle finger in the belly and you index finger on the blade nearest to the choil. As you reach the belly lift the handle keeping with the slight twisting force of your index finger and with your guide hand apply pressure to your middle finger. Done correctly the knife will follow its own natural curve and angle control almost becomes a mute point.
 
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