Thread: Knife Vs Straight

Originally Posted by gssixgun

And yet looking across this forum and the other SR forums and FB pages on the internet one of the busiest sections is always

HONING

Funny why that would be it is it simply rubbing steel on stone


Just pointing out the facts, please carry on

You're 100% right - the fact is that most people couldn't hone a blade properly if they tried. A straight has to be honed properly or it hurts - there's no pretending you can lol. You can or you can't.

But that doesn't take away from the fact that if you understand how to hone, you understand what it means to hone.

You know?

Never seen hone wear on a knife...

I've seen plenty of knives that were frowning from bad honing aka too much honing pressure.

Originally Posted by DZEC

I think it is because honing involves magic and gssixgun must be a powerful wizard.

Sooooooo Looking for the Halloween Party pics of me wearing a Wizard costume hahahaha

It is not all that difficult to make a razor edge keen.

It is not all that difficult making a razor edge smooth.

However, making a razor edge both keen and smooth at the same time is a never ending quest for most of us.

It requires a combination of both science and artistry, and perhaps a little bit of magic. That is why we have honing wizards. My wizard wand is somewhat finicky, sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. That is why I only hone my own razors.

My ability to hone a razor has come a long way lately and the outcome is a very fine edge. Some days its hit and miss, but mostly i can come out with a great edge. Now when i put a knife on a stone its mainly miss. Having to hold the bevel angle by hand is a tough one for me. So to some, razor honing is harder. But for me knife sharpening is harder. I think its exactly what Tom said... practice!

Honestly I learn quite a bit from Teaching at the Meets in person as to what comes across in these threads and the Vids

It can be quite interesting to go to a meet

Yeah, I've seen plenty that resemble a Kukri knife.
My dad was good for that, that's why I have the hone his father gave him. Pops never could get the hang of it, moved to sand paper on the table, and would hone the whole face of the blade.. so I took over honing the knives n such, in the house. Mom hated when I didn't tell her that I'd refreshed her kitchen knives..Band- Aid anyone..?!! I can't help it..I have a deep passion for sharp things, or anything that can be sharppened. I don't think I can do any better than a straight. Is there anything out there that's sharper.!?

Edges on surgical instruments are close to a straight, but I wouldn't want shave off that edge.

Then, there are knives where a frown is desirable.
For the same reason frowns are NOT desirable on razors.......Slicing!

In the same way that experienced chefs can sharpen their cutters freehand while most of the rest of us need a honing guide to get the bevel angle right, taping the spine of a razor when setting the bevel or honing on higher grits allows most of us to get razor edges pretty sharp while some more experienced honers might be able to freehand it.

I have a knife with a scandi edge that I just cannot finesse into the sharpness it had when I got it even though I can now pretty consistently get good edges on my straights. My razor honing skills do not seem to transfer so easily to my knives.

I’m with Gasman on that point. It requires practice, but I do believe there are differences in technique and maybe even in the best stones to use for each purpose.