Thread: X stroke pondering

I got a Norton 4k/8k the other day and have started to experiment with it. I've read that a number of honemeisters recommend the X stroke. Unless I'm thinking of it wrong, it seems to me that the heel of the edge gets much less time on the hone than the head. Wouldn't continued use of the X stoke unevenly wear the edge?

Mike

In theory perhaps, but in practice it doesn't always work that way. Once again, there are many factors which can affect how the edge gets honed or worn. Pressure change along the honing stroke would be one. If a lot of pressure was used at the beginning focused on the heel, and less or none to the tip then the opposite would be true. Given that the tip is farther from your gripping hand than the heel this is often likely the case anyhow. The X stroke minimises pressure differentiation from heel to tip much as the 'rolling hone' method does where the heel is focussed on at the start of the stroke and the main point of contact is gradually transfered up the edge to the tip throughout the honing stroke. In an ideal world, aspects of both are put into practice. The world is not ideal. Each man is an individual and will find his unique talent on the stones. In short ... if it works for you ...

X

Yea different strokes for different folks (pun intended). Just experiment with different methods until you find what works best for you. Personally I go straight up the hone with the heel leading and thats my preferred method. You just need a 3 inch wide hone to do that otherwise you need to do the X pattern.

I've always gone by the book (barber text that is) but as long as the end result is satisfactory then I suppose any method that works is ok.

Scott