Thread: What DON'T You Use (and why)

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

I didn't like stones on the bench because I really didn't know what to do with my off-hand. Hand-held solved the problem for me and introduced a new variable, a fluctuating support that could also be used to a certain effect, in and of itself. In this I started out with a Arkansas oil-stone progression almost exclusively. But more recently, over the past two years, I've moved to the above water-stones as listed. The trick for me has been to treat the spine-edge relationship on a point-by-point basis, rather than a parallel linear basis assuming a large flattened plane. So by default, the stroke is essentially a rolling X-stroke with an emphasis on the latitudinal (width of the stone) direction rather than a longitudinal (length of the stone) direction as often recommended for the larger flattened plane bench stones. Also, the grip of the shank is important, with the grip being from side to side in this regard, biased towards the edge, with a slight turn of the wrist during the flip. Localized pressure as needed can also be exercised by the thumb this way as the blade is drawn more along the latitudinal axis. The only part that loses out in the process is the heel, which is addressed from time to time by straight up and down passes emphasizing pressure in that area, and it is important to move more up and down on the fine diamond hone, rather than from side to side, in dealing with chips. At the 1k "bevel setting" stage, perhaps I use a combination of both.

Hope this makes sense. In following the point-by-point method, it is possible to even arrive at a much smaller useful area, say 1-1/4" x 3", at least with naturals at the end.

Lol, I'm not sure what all that means but I'm all over that hand-held honing thing.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by Steve56

Lol, I'm not sure what all that means but I'm all over that hand-held honing thing.

Cheers, Steve

Just be sure to have your off-hand and fingers completely outstretched, rather than gripping the stone from side to side with the fingers. The latter can seriously risk to remove a fingertip! And if the stone is too thin, cut a block of wood to a similar size and rest the stone on it.