Thread: Honing with one or two hands

I saw on yt a guy holding razor with two hands.
Just want to know how many people are doing the same thing.

I primarily do one hand and a rolling X, to many smilers keeps me doing that stroke

One hand with varied styles of stroke for me.

Two hands is too heavy handed for me.

I have no answer option. Both hands/x pattern is my game.

I'v only honed with two hands to get a chip out, otherwise it's right handed X's for my straights

Two hands will end up giving you far too much pressure on the hone and you probably wont get good coverage along the whole blade going up and down the hone only.

The only time you'll get full coverage on the blade going up and down is if the blade is a totally straight, even edge with no warps and the hone is perfectly flat. And even then I think you'd find it hard.

X patterns, rolling X's and so on allow the honer to watch the water ripple and ensure a good even coverage on the stroke.

There have been guys in the past who've decided to stick to the "up-down" method and have really struggled. One guy gave up the hobby, convinced that it was the razor or the hone that was the problem and that he just couldnt hone a razor. The other guy I remember stuck to that method for months with no joy, then switched to X patterns and suddenly had this miraculous conversion where his razors were all suddenly sharp.

Theres a reason why we all say to use one hand and X strokes, and thats because its tried and proven!

Both hands with an x-pattern. VERY light touch - I just can't seem to keep it flat with one hand. It gives me much better control, especially when finishing, but to each his own.

I use two hands so that I get a more consistent stroke. I don't use the 2nd hand for pressure, just for a steadying effect.

I use the stroke that is most appropriate for the razor. This could be a straight up and down stroke, an X, or a rolling X.

When I am honing a straight edge, it is one hand. When I am honing a curved smiley blade, I sometimes place a thumb on the heel end of the blade. I don't do this for downward pressure. But, as a pivot point and for feedback.

Honing a scimitar-like blade requires a rolling honing motion. My honing hand provides the power rolling the blade. My thumb gives me a point around which the roll occurs, and my thumb gives me a lot more feedback about what the blade is doing then my hand, farther away from the blade, could have.

I've recently had a right shoulder operation and have trouble keeping it up (my shoulder that is) so I started using two hands ( for honing).
I've found that a light touch has had no ill effects on results especially on heavier blades that will not bend. On thin full hollow blades I can see how using 2 hands may be detrimental. My 2 cents.