Thread: X pattern or Straight Down Poll

I voted straight down even though I often use a slight X motion drawing only the heel off the hone. I do this because the heel naturally recieves more and even pressure being so close to the hand whereas the toe has less and more uneven pressure from that pressure diminishing slightly and tending to be less consistent further down the edge. This is why I'm not worried about over honing the tip. I believe good honing technique whether on a smaller or larger hone will deliver consistent results along the edge while bad technique on any stone can cause problems like warping or over wearing a specific part of the edge. At first blush you might think a 2" hone would put the belly of the edge on the stone longer than the heel or the tip and thus wear out the belly more. That's not necessarily true though. More has to do with how you controll the eveness of pressure along the edge. This is your primary concern and should be the focus of your attention. With the 2" hone, there's more to worry about what with part of the blade being off the hone at any time. The 3" hone give you the chance to make instant corrections in rolling pressure without worying about how far the edge is sitting on or off the hone which is why it is recommended for new honers. I'm sure a very experienced honer would have little or no trouble compensating on a 2" hone, but 3" is recommended for your first stone for good reason. I believe Lynn uses a 3".

X

I voted for the X pattern but I have never really tried the straight down method. I just might try it to see what it's like.

Originally Posted by xman

I voted straight down even though I often use a slight X motion drawing only the heel off the hone. I do this because the heel naturally recieves more and even pressure being so close to the hand whereas the toe has less and more uneven pressure from that pressure diminishing slightly and tending to be less consistent further down the edge. This is why I'm not worried about over honing the tip. I believe good honing technique whether on a smaller or larger hone will deliver consistent results along the edge while bad technique on any stone can cause problems like warping or over wearing a specific part of the edge. At first blush you might think a 2" hone would put the belly of the edge on the stone longer than the heel or the tip and thus wear out the belly more. That's not necessarily true though. More has to do with how you controll the eveness of pressure along the edge. This is your primary concern and should be the focus of your attention. With the 2" hone, there's more to worry about what with part of the blade being off the hone at any time. The 3" hone give you the chance to make instant corrections in rolling pressure without worying about how far the edge is sitting on or off the hone which is why it is recommended for new honers. I'm sure a very experienced honer would have little or no trouble compensating on a 2" hone, but 3" is recommended for your first stone for good reason. I believe Lynn uses a 3".

X

Well if Lynn uses it....

I was leaning towards the 3", especially because as we found out in another post that makes Xman unnecessary.....

Can't say, never used the straight down motion, I feel that it would only work for me if I had a hone wider than the length of the blade. As I don't know I abstained.