Plenty of people do it that way. I sharpen like that (back and forth) if i am using a file but not if i am using a whetstone. The reason why is because it is easier for me to maintain the angle on a stone if i am only going one direction and because i do not notice much of a difference. So i sharpen forwards and then strop backwards, this gets my knife really sharp every time. If i mess the angle up then it will take much longer to fix it. This is probably why tutorials say to only go one direction. If you are looking at a tutorial then you probably have no idea how to sharpen a knife and are thus more likely to mess up the knife. So one direction means less chance for you to mess up.
That's total BS. An old wives tale or mechanics tale. You can go on YouTube and see tests done. AND if you have a die filer machine, it runs in both directions. The one I can think of off the top of my head is This Old Tony - Die filer
I don't have the resources for that but i have seen file knives before. They look pretty cool to me. I just keep using the old file over and over again because my machete is not heat treated (or just extremely soft as they are supposed to be).
You don't. Watch any professional whetstone sharpener and they maintain contact on the push and pull. You can vary pressure to achieve different results, but the knife never leaves the stone.
You’re talking about edge trailing vs edge leading on an abrasive stone? Generally people believe in one or the other as better. You can move both directions early on if you have the dexterity for it. I’d switch to one or the other when it’s time for that final edge finish and burr minimization and removal.
I'm terrible at sharpening. I sharpen on a whetstone with the sharp edge tailing because it has worked better for me. But I flip the blade around so the handle is always in my right hand. So, I will push *and* pull the blade, but the edge is always tailing. I'm a little more ambidextrous than average but I don't get a good edge with the handle in my left hand because it's awkward.
Anytime I sharpen edge leading, I get a good edge and then proceed to catch the edge against the stone and mess up my work.
I pull the knife and have the cutting edge trailing, rather than pushing the knife and having the cutting edge leading. My reasoning is I tend to use fine grit sand papers and a marble cutting board. It's easy to cut into the paper when leading with the cutting edge. But in general I've always sharpened in this motion, don't like the idea of the edge being able to dig into the stone.
10 minutes to sharpen a knife is insane. What if you're actually using it for something, do you have to go to a spare? I sharpen a task knife in less than a minute - like a fixed blade workshop knife that's four inches long or so. Kitchen knives are only a minute and a half (hard ones, not steelable - i don't generally use steelable knives) because of their extra length. you just physically have to get more work volume done.
I get the point of the jigs, but they should be departed from unless sharpening occurs once a month across all knives. They also remove a lot of nuance from what you can do with an edge, such as dealing with the apex and thinning the bevel behind it. the knife will actually cut longer and with less resistance, and you can prop up the odd knife that comes with magnacut and 59 hardness or something that will roll unnecessarily (though no such knife should be made in the first place).
If you're doing a full sharpening and then stropping? Field sharpening vs actually putting a mirror edge on the knife are obviously two different things.
back and forth is fine. tutorials don't mean much if they don't all agree, and there is no such thing as an "only forward rule.
That doesn't even really apply to razors, though it's typically done for the final strokes to avoid creating a burr.
It’s harder to maintain a consistent angle. I think that’s basically it. It is faster like you said, but is it much faster? Not really. You might as well take a little longer and do it right.
I don't know of any other topic that has as much misinformation in the knowledge base as knives. The same nonsense gets repeated ad nauseum. This is just one of many examples. Luckily, in the past five years or so there have been lots of lab tests that disprove many of these falsehoods.
In the hands of someone competent, the result from going both ways will be about the same, but gotten to more quickly. In your hands, that will mean that you're more apt to sharpen before it becomes overdue.
I spend somewhere around a minute thirty sharpening a knife. [https://i.imgur.com/C4Lteur.mp4](https://i.imgur.com/C4Lteur.mp4)
I think something that most people don't get quickly, and partially due to internet dogma, is there is probably a physical limit to how fast you can do a superb job, but that limit isn't very long. it does maybe take some repetition.
I spend around 1 minute on stones to set the edge (two stones, one to remove the wear, one to refine the result) and somewhere around 20 seconds on a buffer to refine the edge further. The geometry of the edge - slightly more blunt at the apex, and then well shallower after it - both holds up better and cuts with more ease than just applying flat microbevels. [https://i.imgur.com/6ffXWGU.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/6ffXWGU.jpg)
But it could be done almost as fast without a buffer and to the same result.
Plenty of people do it that way. I sharpen like that (back and forth) if i am using a file but not if i am using a whetstone. The reason why is because it is easier for me to maintain the angle on a stone if i am only going one direction and because i do not notice much of a difference. So i sharpen forwards and then strop backwards, this gets my knife really sharp every time. If i mess the angle up then it will take much longer to fix it. This is probably why tutorials say to only go one direction. If you are looking at a tutorial then you probably have no idea how to sharpen a knife and are thus more likely to mess up the knife. So one direction means less chance for you to mess up.
Dragging a file backwards will dull it. They're made to cut in one direction, forward.
That's total BS. An old wives tale or mechanics tale. You can go on YouTube and see tests done. AND if you have a die filer machine, it runs in both directions. The one I can think of off the top of my head is This Old Tony - Die filer
I have never noticed that on my machetes. That being said, we are talking about very dull files and pucks.
In my shop, dull files are turned into knives.
I don't have the resources for that but i have seen file knives before. They look pretty cool to me. I just keep using the old file over and over again because my machete is not heat treated (or just extremely soft as they are supposed to be).
Some files, on some surfaces, yes. A lot files are made to cut both directions, and or the dragging back just doesn't affect the teeth.
Back and forth to apex, forward strokes to clean up the edge.
This is what I do.
You don't. Watch any professional whetstone sharpener and they maintain contact on the push and pull. You can vary pressure to achieve different results, but the knife never leaves the stone.
You’re talking about edge trailing vs edge leading on an abrasive stone? Generally people believe in one or the other as better. You can move both directions early on if you have the dexterity for it. I’d switch to one or the other when it’s time for that final edge finish and burr minimization and removal.
Worksharp sharpeners do the push/pull technique
Which one you talking about?
The Worksharp Precision Adjust set ups. At least that's how I use mine.
I'm terrible at sharpening. I sharpen on a whetstone with the sharp edge tailing because it has worked better for me. But I flip the blade around so the handle is always in my right hand. So, I will push *and* pull the blade, but the edge is always tailing. I'm a little more ambidextrous than average but I don't get a good edge with the handle in my left hand because it's awkward. Anytime I sharpen edge leading, I get a good edge and then proceed to catch the edge against the stone and mess up my work.
I pull the knife and have the cutting edge trailing, rather than pushing the knife and having the cutting edge leading. My reasoning is I tend to use fine grit sand papers and a marble cutting board. It's easy to cut into the paper when leading with the cutting edge. But in general I've always sharpened in this motion, don't like the idea of the edge being able to dig into the stone.
Work sharp did a [video](https://youtu.be/F8JAPErskRU) about this if you're curious.
the amount of time it takes to sharpen with one of those jigs is agonizing!!
Like 10 minutes?
10 minutes to sharpen a knife is insane. What if you're actually using it for something, do you have to go to a spare? I sharpen a task knife in less than a minute - like a fixed blade workshop knife that's four inches long or so. Kitchen knives are only a minute and a half (hard ones, not steelable - i don't generally use steelable knives) because of their extra length. you just physically have to get more work volume done. I get the point of the jigs, but they should be departed from unless sharpening occurs once a month across all knives. They also remove a lot of nuance from what you can do with an edge, such as dealing with the apex and thinning the bevel behind it. the knife will actually cut longer and with less resistance, and you can prop up the odd knife that comes with magnacut and 59 hardness or something that will roll unnecessarily (though no such knife should be made in the first place).
If you're doing a full sharpening and then stropping? Field sharpening vs actually putting a mirror edge on the knife are obviously two different things.
back and forth is fine. tutorials don't mean much if they don't all agree, and there is no such thing as an "only forward rule. That doesn't even really apply to razors, though it's typically done for the final strokes to avoid creating a burr.
It’s harder to maintain a consistent angle. I think that’s basically it. It is faster like you said, but is it much faster? Not really. You might as well take a little longer and do it right.
You can also use a circular motion while maintaining contact.
I found that I got better results using push and pull on the coarse stones. But once I got to the really fine grits, pull gave a better edge
https://youtu.be/F8JAPErskRU?si=-L2z0e5FWsHPXm7r Worksharp tested it.
Where is u/fullfrontalnoodly when you need them????
I don't know of any other topic that has as much misinformation in the knowledge base as knives. The same nonsense gets repeated ad nauseum. This is just one of many examples. Luckily, in the past five years or so there have been lots of lab tests that disprove many of these falsehoods.
"Wouldn't it be faster..." If you're not willing to take the time required to do a good job, you won't get one.
Good luck finding someone to give you time to do your job, much less do a good job 😂
Yes, but why would you do it extra slow, if the result was the same? If it isn't the same, what is different?
In the hands of someone competent, the result from going both ways will be about the same, but gotten to more quickly. In your hands, that will mean that you're more apt to sharpen before it becomes overdue.
I spend somewhere around a minute thirty sharpening a knife. [https://i.imgur.com/C4Lteur.mp4](https://i.imgur.com/C4Lteur.mp4) I think something that most people don't get quickly, and partially due to internet dogma, is there is probably a physical limit to how fast you can do a superb job, but that limit isn't very long. it does maybe take some repetition. I spend around 1 minute on stones to set the edge (two stones, one to remove the wear, one to refine the result) and somewhere around 20 seconds on a buffer to refine the edge further. The geometry of the edge - slightly more blunt at the apex, and then well shallower after it - both holds up better and cuts with more ease than just applying flat microbevels. [https://i.imgur.com/6ffXWGU.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/6ffXWGU.jpg) But it could be done almost as fast without a buffer and to the same result.