Quote Originally Posted by Butzy View Post
I had a lot of trouble with this starting out as well. I had to literally sit for an entire night on a hone, concentrating on each flip, slowly but surely I got faster and it feels natural now. It took an entire evening, but it took me months to learn how to hone in general, so it's a small price to pay imo
I'll second this. It took me a while to get the hang of leaving the spine on the hone/strop and flipping the blade 'properly' too. If you don't goof up, it doesn't really matter. But the first time you nick an $80 strop, irreplaceable vintage strop, or ding an edge at the finishing stage thus sending you right back to the 1K might be about the time you decide to mend your ways. A dinged edge is what changed my mind on the subject.

I'll also second what Kelbro said. The flip comes more natural when you hold the tang between thumb and forefinger at opposing corners. Quick flip of the fingers and the edge falls right in place.