Thread: Question about scratch pattern

i have been wondering, as i progress in my honing experience...i read allot about scratch patterns, and honing using an X pattern.

couple questions for you more practiced members out there...is the X pattern meant to allow even honing across the entire length of the blade? even when the stone is wider than the blade length? Also is the X pattern used to attain angled striations in the bevel? or possibly both?

I typically use an X pattern myself, passing the blade down the hone, very slightly heel forward from top to bottom, fishing with the heel of the blade slightly off the edge of the stone near the bottom...here are some pics of the blade traveling down the hone to show what i mean







the other way i hone sometimes is to hold the blade at the top of the hone, significantly angled with heel forward, and travel down the hone holding the same angle from top to bottom like so...





it occurred to me that honing in this second manner i showed would accomplish the same thing as using a traditional X pattern, but i wanted to see what you guys here thought. if this has been discussed before, i apologize...i searched but i wasn't sure what this technique is called.

anyway, sorry about the long post, but any help would be appreciated...and yes i do hone with the stone in my hand haha

It's very difficult that you have the chance to match a perfectly flat stone with a perfectly flat blade edge. Then the X stroke helps to be sure that you are touching the edge all along its length.

Have a gander at Glen's videos if you haven't. Lynn's as well.

I don't know what you've read or been led to believe or have determined about scratch patterns. I mix it up, circles, japanese, curlys, Z's, and finish with heel fwd X's.