When using an angle guided sharpening system...

J

JasonJ

Joined
Oct 28, 2014
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109
Such as the edge pro, lansky, smiths' precision, etc:

Is it better to run your stones up and down along the edge of the blade, from edge towards the spine, producing grinding lines perpendicular with the edge, or is it better to run from the choil/ricasso down towards the tip, grinding parallel to the edge?

Does it matter? Does it matter depending on the grit stone you are using?

When sharpening free hand on stones, we/I sharpen from edge towards spine, but I have seen quite a few examples where folks will run their stones along the full length of the blade while sharping, honing, and stropping with the guided sharpening systems.
 
If just in the early stages of grinding new bevels, it generally doesn't matter while just hogging off metal. A back/forth 'scrubbing' motion will be fastest in removing metal, either back/forth along the length of the edge (or sections of it at a time), or back/forth directly perpendicular to the edge. If going perpendicular, be careful not to overgrind narrow sections of the edge; that'll create a 'recurve' in portions that get ground too heavily. With a guided system using small & narrow hones (like the Lansky), I tended to avoid going directly perpendicular to the edge, because it's easier for the corners of the narrow hones to dig furrows in the edge of the blade this way. Narrow hones are prone to tipping sideways if not careful, and that'll leave a very ugly gouge in your edge; it's VERY easy to do when heavily 'scrubbing' the edge in making new bevels (been there, done that). Therefore, a diagonal sweeping pass along a longer section of the edge is safer when using narrow hones like the Lansky's.

Once the edge is very close to being apexed, I tend to favor single, light strokes into the edge only; this could also include very controlled diagonal sweeping passes from heel-to-tip. This minimizes chances of damaging the edge by running the stone off of it, or running the leading end of the stone into it, and will also make the scratch patterns more uniform. Lighter pressure also, during this phase.


David
 
Excellent information OwE.

I thought that logically that what you said was the case.

Now about going form heel to tip, I assume that the best way to prevent rounding the tip with the narrow stones is simply to just BE CAREFUL and not tilt the stone forward as you approach the end of the blade.
 
JasonJ said:
Excellent information OwE.

I thought that logically that what you said was the case.

Now about going form heel to tip, I assume that the best way to prevent rounding the tip with the narrow stones is simply to just BE CAREFUL and not tilt the stone forward as you approach the end of the blade.
Click to expand...

Exactly. :thumbup:

When I was using my Lansky near the tips of blades, I'd sometimes gently place the hone on the bevel in the last 1/2" of the tip (the hone's width, basically) and use light & controlled strokes perpendicular to the edge in that portion, keeping the bulk of the hone's width over the bevel (to keep the hone from tipping sideways over the tip). Going perpendicular to the edge in that portion reduces the possibility of pushing the hone over the tip, as in a heel-to-tip pass, which prevents the possibility of damaging the tip that way.


David
 
Awesome info, thanks!

I would add for anyone who finds this thread years down the road and finds it useful, also do not apply too much pressure! A light touch and more passes is more desirable than pushing harder with the stone and grinding too much metal away. This is especially true as you go finer with your stones/paper/etc.
 
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