Touching Up

[BohnsBlades]

Is touch up making light alternating strokes on a fine stone? Not raising a burr like a sharp-maker?

 

[Ourorboros]

For me, touching up is:
when the knife is sharp, but not as sharp as it could be. I'm returning it to the fresh off the stones feel
more than bare stropping, done on the finest stone/compound that I use on that blade

Whether it's alternating or not doesn't matter much. A burr is raised, because I'm apexing the edge again. I doesn't need to be a big burr.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Touching up, to me, is simply giving the edge just enough attention to quickly bring it back to expectations*. Sometimes that might include raising a very minimal burr. And sometimes it doesn't have to include that. After some time and experience with a given blade, you'll get a sense of how sharp the edge can be if taken to a burr and sufficiently refined. After that, you can still get it that far without necessarily relying on the burr itself to indicate you've gone far enough. Doing cutting tests in paper is a good way to gauge progress every few passes on the hone, without necessarily going all the way to the burr again. Not to mention, the paper-cutting tests will also let you know when or if the burr is forming - look for snagging of the paper on the burrs.

* - Anything needing more than maybe 5 minutes' work, in my view, is beyond just 'touching up' and getting into the territory of resetting the edge. Sometimes a touch-up can literally be done in just a few seconds' time, giving the edge just exactly what it needs in maybe 2 or 3 passes per side on a well-chosen hone for that purpose.

 

[dogstar]

Touching up for me is a few swipes on a ceramic rod.

 

[DavidABQ]

Touching up for me is a few swipes on a ceramic rod.

Pretty much what dogstar said.