Thread: Rolling X

Hi again guy’s,

I have another question if I may?

I did the swooping stroke with my smiler with great success.

So, what stroke do I need for a straight edge so it doesn’t become a smile or worse.

I’m going to hazard a guess and say that X strokes are the way to go

By the way, I watched a rolling X yesterday.

I don’t think I want to do that because lifting the spine at one end goes against everything I have been told.

Steve

There is no limit to the number of questions you can ask Steve.
Always hone towards a smile.
Similar stroke but less dramatic for lack of better words.
My x strokes tend to varying degrees start heel leading and then swoop. The great the curve of the blade the more dramatic that is. Rolling x strokes are intended for blades with wacky geometry or warps. The are for advance honing and typically you should lay on the couch and avoid those.

All my strokes are rolling X strokes. Even on straight edges. The slightest curve on an edge is better than a straight line. Even with blades that have a straight spine I will hone to a smile. Even if its just the slightest amount.
You are doing well, Just keep it up and in a year or so you will be honing and only asking a few questions. LOL. Just dont give up.

Originally Posted by STF

Hi again guy’s,

I have another question if I may?

I did the swooping stroke with my smiler with great success.

So, what stroke do I need for a straight edge so it doesn’t become a smile or worse.

I’m going to hazard a guess and say that X strokes are the way to go

By the way, I watched a rolling X yesterday.

I don’t think I want to do that because lifting the spine at one end goes against everything I have been told.

Steve

Uh-oh.....Maybe you are not getting it?

I don’t think I want to do that because lifting the spine at one end goes against everything I have been told.

Steve



I see what ya mean Tom.

Ok, so what am I not getting guy’s?

I can feel a learning opportunity coming on.

Steve

Steve

I recommend you get with one of the guys in Ontario. Not sure if you live in the city of provence.

It is easy to read yourself into application paralysis. A small amount of time with an experienced homer will get you on the right track.

Hi Steve... I agree with Dave that you are getting information overload at this point.. Dont be afraid to take a pencil.and mark on your stones an arc or maybe a Nike swoosh so to speak so when you are finishing the normal x-stroke that you make sure that the tip or tailing end of stroke is following the arc out of your stroke..

Watch the ripple regardless of the geometry of the razor, forget the idea of those Names of the stroke we made up as we saw fit back in 07-08 they seemed like a good idea back then

"Always hone toward a smile and you will avoid a frown", why do we say that ?? Because there are idiots out there on the internet that actually Think / Say because the Hone and Strop are 3" wide that you can go straight up and down them both

You have to understand that the razors and the hones are NOT perfect, you must move that bevel Evenly & Equally across the hone and strop, just watch that ripple go from Heel to Toe don't let it slip under the bevel and you are Honing


Watch the ripple, relax and enjoy honing the razors, as long as you see that ripple you are golden, adjust the stroke to accomplish that, it really is that simple, the only hard part is learning the muscle memory to do it every time with the least amount of Torque and Pressure needed ..

Yeah, I think the terminology is what's throwing you off Steve. I think you understand it better than you think you do. One thing you might have misunderstood is that it looks like you're lifting the spine but you're not. It's just the motion, at least if you're watching Glen's video. This is the hard part when you're new to it. If you saw some joker tell you to lift the spine that guy's an idiot but how would you know if you're new to it? Glen gives a good explanation there if that makes sense to you. He's talking about the ripple of the water on the stone and watching the wake of it like behind a boat but it will be in front of the edge. That's a good way of thinking of it. Thanks Glen. What the ripple does is show you that the edge is in contact with the stone. If it's not the water will go underneath the edge where it lifts. although if your stroke is right and your spine is not warped it doesn't actually lift it's just raised off the stone because the spine or edge that is in contact with the stone is not in line with the part that is not. Some razors have a warp or maybe the grind wasn't exactly straight to begin with. For those you have to compensate and Glen shows this in one of his videos. I personally have always thought of it in terms of keeping the edge at any point on the blade at a 90° to the stone as you go through a stroke No matter whether it is a straight or smiling edge. But then maybe that's not right either. As you can see in one of Glen's videos He goes at a 45°. The whole point is making sure that the entire edge makes contact with the stone. That's why the swoop in the rolling x, to follow the curve.
I think I'm saying that right. Somebody please correct me if I'm not. I think the others will agree with me on this. You've done well this early to be able to hone successfully and good on you for that but if you run into a blade that has a warp or probably even a frown that's something you want to leave for now or send out for repair because that's much more of an advanced honing technique. Learn honing a decent razor first and then try learning repair on a junker that you literally care nothing about.