Thread: smiling edge

Hi
How big smile does a blade need to be a smiling edge and honed with rolling strokes?
I got a blade that got a smal smile but im new to honing and im not sure if i should use rolling strokes or just hone it as a regular blade.

I think you would have to use whatever stroke you need to get the whole edge. If you want to mute the point you could do that afterwards. Atleast that is what I would do so the whole edge continues to get honed instead of having the rest of the blade catch up to the toe and losing the smile. I try to hone all my blades toward a smile. Helps keep frowns away

Calle, the smiles are lovely, though a bit more finesse is needed to get them evenly honed. The question about stroke is a good one. from the profile, it looks like someone has already tried to hone it as a regular straight edge - shown by the flat spot in the middle. This will make it more difficult to hone. Rolling x can work fine, though the 1/2 moon or arcing stroke may serve better. 'Takes a bit to get used to. As a rule of thumb - if you see any curvature in the spine - its likely that the original grind and edge had a curve to the bevel. Since the spine is what keeps the angle consistent, I'd try to stroke so the bevel is consistently parallel to the spine honing surface. Its hard to be sure from the pics, but it looks like the areas about 1/3-1/2" from the heel & point may need to come down to make the middle part of the arc. At that point, you may be running into the shoulder contacting the stone, which is a pita unless ground back.

I just honed a Hart that had a similar blade using the heel forward rolling strokes on Gssixguns vid.

gssixgun Honing a Smiling Wedge part 1.wmv - YouTube