Thread: Trailing or push stroke?

It's pretty well documented that razors have been honed that way for at least 200 years.
I can't explain why it's done that way, but it isn't anything that's unique to this forum or the people on it.
When you sharpen razors you lead with the edge.

When sharpening knives, I would always finish my use of a particular stone with several light, slow trailing strokes to feather the edge and remove any burrs from overhoning. This was because I would use a good deal of pressure when doing the cutting strokes that would sometimes lead to a wire edge. I would also sharpen on oil stones exclusively with a trailing stroke, never a cutting stroke.

However, as to the actual physical benefits: I have no explanation. That's simply the way my Pappy taught me. Literally, "Different strokes for different folks."

Originally Posted by Disburden

A half an hour to sharpen one knife is too long of a period of time? I don't sharpen knives, I am just wondering...

Razors may take more time than that, just letting you know, so when you get into the hobby more and have several razors to hone or more that may be even more time consuming than a half hour. I know some people that need to remove a lot of steel to restore an edge on a razor, it can take over an hour to remove the steel and set a bevel correctly.

Sorry, I should clarify a bit. I am a chef so sharpening my knives is a weekly chore, just getting the edge back to where I think it should be. Every now and again I'll have to re-set a bevel and spend an hour on that. I progress through four stones on each knife

If I get a new knife I'll probably spend an hour or hour and a half setting a bevel and getting the knife sharp according to my lights, but that isn't a regular weekly thing.

Spending time on the razors isn't a problem, just the technique in that video is just too slow for practical use outside of OCD hobbyists. I'm happy to be an OCD hobbyist when it comes to my razors, but not my work equipment.

Originally Posted by mainaman

As far as the video is concerned I think you are missing he point here.

You're damn right I missed the point. Sorry about that.

Abrasive particles are not fussy and will cut metal in any direction. I select a stroke depending on what gives me the best angle control. For knives, push and trailing strokes are the same, but I can remove metal faster with a push stroke. Chisels and plane irons get a trailing stroke or side-to-side stroke. Small chisels and carving tools get a side-side stroke. Axes get a push stroke going in the direction of the edge with a file. I use a push stroke on razors because that's what everyone else does and I've never thought about it before.

Sometimes the abrasive medium dictates the stroke. Trailing strokes are used on pasted strops, sandpaper, belt grinders and lapping film so you don't cut the material holding the abrasive.

As for the length of time required to sharpen a knife, you need to establish bevels and polish them to the desired level. The time depends on the type of steel and type of abrasive used. I sharpen lots of knives and don't see any point in spending hours honing with fine, soft abrasives. When dealing with neglected knives, I use a 120 grit silicon carbide stone, belt grinder or bench grinder to rapidly establish the desired bevel, and then polish with 1k, 4k, 8k stones. When dealing with well-maintained tools, setting the bevel with a 1k stone is plenty fast and conserves steel. A sharp edge is the intersection of two polished surfaces. In my opinion, it doesn't matter how you get there.

Pauly, check your PM (Personal Reply)