Thread: Jnat edge- am I even close?

Yep, stay away from pressure on those full hollows... I have a Boker full bellied hollow... the blade is like aluminium foil and is a royal pain to hone. Even just honing in sunlight puts enough photon pressure on the blade to cause it to flex (OK, I'm kidding... but not really). Some blades are just so sensitive to pressure it throws you right off... until you figure out what's going on.

For the record, when honing on slurry and in particular when honing on Jnat slurry, there should be no visible scratches... just that classic hazy or satiny look. If you see stria after honing for a while, look for that satin strip... if it's at the top of the bevel and nearer to the spine, it's either too much pressure or not enough tape. Those paper thin blades need to be honed with just the weight of the blade... no pressure, no torquing at all.... Unless you really know what you are doing... the "honing for dollars" guys probably use a bit of body english when honing these blades too... but after thousands of blades... experience kicks in and they know what they can get away with. For us mere mortals.... zero pressure!

Regards

Christian