Sharpening one side from reprofile to mirror before switch...

[Zatx]

I realize this is probably a really stupid sharpening question, but we get a lot of those around you.

What would happen if I were to take a knife blade from re-profile to a mirror polish on one side before switching to the other side? Now let's assume I took a piece of cork or some other object and knock down the bird between each rip progression.

Thoughts?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

It's usually best to switch back & forth between sides at least somewhat, to keep the edge relatively centered as you go. The main risk, in going too far on one side all at once, is that you might take off a lot more steel than you should from that side, effectively moving the apex too far astray of the centerline of the blade. You might end up with a very shiny, beautiful bevel on one side, part of which may get ground away (from the apex back toward the shoulder) when attacking the other side, in pursuit of a centered and symmetrical edge. I mention this, because I used to do it by accident in working too long from one side. Oftentimes, I'd end up with a very wide bevel on one side, and very narrow on the other, after which I'd have to do a LOT of grinding on the narrow-bevelled side to even it out. When doing that, a lot of the newly created bevel on the wider side often gets ground away, if you apex the edge on the 2nd side before the bevel widths are evened up. If that bevel was already 'finished' and polished, you've just wasted a lot of time & effort.


David