Thread: Honing with two hands

Sharpening In my tests I have seen it much easier for me to control the flatness and pressure using two hands. Is there any contra to use 2 hands?

Thanks for you help

Greetings for all

I'd like to hear the answer on this one as well. I tend to use two hands to keep the spine stable, to keep the razor flat on the hone all the time, not really for pressure.

As an absolute honing newb, I find that using two hands really helps. I try not to add any pressure and just guide the blade with a couple of fingers of my left hand. I try that if I start with them right in the middle of the blade, it helps me do a passable x-pattern. I, too, would like to hear the experts on this.

Ok, I'm no master and I have heard much advice to the contrary, but I use two hands sometimes on some hones.
The norton is one. I always use two hands - no pressure but just enough support to stop the blade dragging its toe.
With smaller hones I find that the x pattern I use avoids the need for two hands so I don't do it.
I also use 2 hands on the lower grit stones like 1k to ensure even pressure on all sections of the blade, especially on larger wedges.

I allways hone with one hand , x stroke , approx 45 deg heel leading on all of my razors

( In shooting clays as a newbie, you can hit the targets with different ways, but for a constantly high score you must train your muscles with the correct fluid motion from the beginning, because if you train in a wrong way it is more-more difficult to change the wrong motion )

So my oppinion is, that you must learn the one hand, x stroke honing, from the beginning

I think whatever works for you. There are excellent honers who use two hands - I use two hands, but I'm NOT an excellent honer

Jordan

Originally Posted by jnich67

I think whatever works for you. There are excellent honers who use two hands - I use two hands, but I'm NOT an excellent honer

Jordan

I disagree with you Jordan
I believe that for a constantly high score 25/25 you must hone with one hand and x motion

But why? What problems would you get from using both hands?

Originally Posted by bjrn

But why? What problems would you get from using both hands?

I think that if you used two hands then it would be very difficult to consistently get the very light and even stroke that is necessary to put a perfect finish on the edge towards the end of the progression. At the end of the progression one should be using no more pressure than the weight of the razor (often even less pressure than the weight of the razor) for the best results, and if the honer must use two hands to keep the razor steady on the hone then there is most likely going to be some extra and uneven pressure. After all, I don't know how you would "stabilize the razor on the hone" without adding pressure from your other hand/finger. If you are honing with one hand then you can actually use a little bit of negative pressure on the blade toward the end of the progression by lifting up a little on the tang to remove some of the extra pressure caused by the weight of the blade. Personally I feel like I have much more control of the blade and the pressure when I use one hand than two. I am sure that you can get great results with two hands; however, I am not aware of any honemeister who uses two hands and I support the school of thought that says it is better to practice the "correct" way from the beginning even if it is more difficult. There are also many people from the other school of thought that say to "do what works best for you" though so it is really completely your call. Once you develop the muscle memory then one handed honing is not very hard though. As a side benefit, one handed honing also allows you to go faster which is good if you are honing many razors. Of course this is all just my opinion based on my experience and observations.

I've used two hands when honing right from the beginning. It might be harder, but it's not impossible, to achieve light strokes with two hands.

James.