The video thread

OMG!! Like I have enough spare time anyway..lol. These will in the end save so much time. …hmmm that reads like Yoda talks..kinda..

Great idea!

Thanks A Ton!

I also found these helpful when dealing w/ choseras and these principles are very good for mirror finishes too:

Ok, Here is what I think would make this thread very useful.

Little videos talking about certain aspects of sharpening on the WE. I realized I have not watched a lot of videos because the title throws me off or they are way long and I decide not to make such a large commitment in time to it. Most seem titled to a specific blade which is cool but how would I have known there were tidbits in there for stroke usage? I am sure I sit here with my new sharpener and have all the same kind of questions others that are serious about this stuff have. But the level of questions or concerns about technique only start to surface up after some playing with it.

Here is an example of my recent pondering..
I got my knife clamped right and I figured out what angle I was going after..
now, what strokes are for what and when are they useful?
–scrubbing up and down while moving forward or backwards one side at a time (is this cheating?)
–the classic motion I see Clay doing where he hits the full blade length in one swath pulling down starting with the stone above the tip and ending at the heal (I think this is leading edge?) Is this the best way to do it? or are there certain times when this is better than others or not?
–same motion but starting at the heal and ending at the tip
–same motion but starting below the blade and ending above it all in one swoop.
–As much of this above motion as you can get but repeating because the blade is too long to do all at once
–keeping the stone on the blade going forward and backwards both trailing and leading edge the whole way (that was a new one I saw Josh do when finishing with a toothy edge)
–stropping is only trailing edge but a person could do multiple short sections of the blade more straight up all along one side at a time (kind of like scrubbing but only in trailing edge
–stropping the whole length in one motion.

hmmm..maybe I need to do a little video..a video is worth a million words..I am no wordsmith..lol.

Zamfir’s point is well taken… at least by me. I too find long videos to be off-putting. They require you to invest a block of time in hopes of finding the point of value you are looking for. More often than not, it’s a waste of time and the title wasn’t specific enough. Better to separate a long sequence into a bullet-point type sequence of individual videos.

I also would like to amplify on Josh’s point – that it doesn’t matter how you work the stones or what the progression is, so far as it takes you to the final result you are looking for. Certainly there are little techniques and tricks that will add to your effectiveness, but one should not be overwhelmed by the abundance of advice offered here. Each of us falls into a method which works for us and that’s all that counts.

Yup! B)

Here is an example of my recent pondering..
I got my knife clamped right and I figured out what angle I was going after..
now, what strokes are for what and when are they useful?
–scrubbing up and down while moving forward or backwards one side at a time (is this cheating?)
–the classic motion I see Clay doing where he hits the full blade length in one swath pulling down starting with the stone above the tip and ending at the heal (I think this is leading edge?) Is this the best way to do it? or are there certain times when this is better than others or not?
–same motion but starting at the heal and ending at the tip
–same motion but starting below the blade and ending above it all in one swoop.
–As much of this above motion as you can get but repeating because the blade is too long to do all at once
–keeping the stone on the blade going forward and backwards both trailing and leading edge the whole way (that was a new one I saw Josh do when finishing with a toothy edge)
–stropping is only trailing edge but a person could do multiple short sections of the blade more straight up all along one side at a time (kind of like scrubbing but only in trailing edge
–stropping the whole length in one motion.

hmmm..maybe I need to do a little video..a video is worth a million words..I am no wordsmith..lol.

hopefully I can answer all your questions in a simple straight forward answer =)

1. It does not matter what kind of stroke you use as long as you are spreading them out evenly from heel to tip – you can use scrubbing, circular scrubbing, edge trailing, or edge leading (the last two take longer). It even doesn’t matter what you use when going from stone to stone believe it or not! As long as you are accomplishing the goal, namely to remove the deeper scratches leaved by previous stones. Before leaving the 600 grit it is helpful to do a few full length passes to “smooth everything out” possibly.

2. The edge trailing/leading from heel back and forth to tip that you see me do is only when I’m finishing off an edge to get the grind pattern (i.e. the angles of the micro teeth) the direction I want them. It just goes quickly vs. edge trailing only.

does this help?[/quote]