Thread: honing spine forward

Is it ok to hone with the spine forward on the 12,000 grit and 30,000 grit stone? soes the direction even make a difference?

I'm not a honemeister but yes, direction matters, with edge leading being the preferred method. Spine leading strokes are usually saved for knocking off a wire edge, and even then are used sparingly.

Maybe Glen will chime in about his 3-2-1 system...

Oh Boy...

OK for the fact that you're band new, I am going to explain this a certain way, because what you are asking is likely to get rather confusing until after you have honed a few hundred razors...

Yes the direction matters, you hone a razor into the edge for the most part...
There are specialty strokes used on both ends of the honing spectrum that go spine first, but they are rarely used or needed...Ryan pointed out one use already...

When you tossed out the 30k number you brought some of these into play, because the Shapton 30k is a specialty stone, and how to use it correctly is an art unto itself... I would not recommend that stone to anyone who hasn't honed quite a few razors first....

In general honing the edge leads, not the spine, this is how we get such a clean smooth edge...