Edge honing

[deighaingeal]

A while back I received a sliver of coticule from Dennis (thank you sir). One thing I noticed when I was honing with it was that I could really let the stone rock on my hand through a fairly extreme arc. I quickly realized that I was getting better edges from this stone than any of my other stones. This last weekend I thought about what had been posted in the past and I lapped the edge of my BBW and les Latneuses. I proceded to hone on the edges allowing them to fully pivot along the natural arc of my right hand. I then set them flat and made a concious effort to roll the stone with even the slightest pressure change.
I realize that this is not an excuse for dropping my elbow while honing, but what I have discovered is that through learning the extreme movements and accentuating them I have been able to better realize the mechanics of my honing stroke.
This whole process took me a long time to get down and to be honest I still haven't gotten it, but I am now realizing more consistent results from all of my stones and even if I haven't really gotten used to honing on the sliver yet I appreciate what it has tought me in my limited time with it so far and I especially appreciate Dennis for helping me accrue this knowledge.
I don't know if others have had this realization or if this is just a natural progression that many have discovered with hand honing. I knew that I could allow the hone to reach a more natural angle and I did on a regular basis, but this was different.

 

[tat2Ralfy]

It sounds like you are doing wonderfully Gerrit my friend, hand honing on a narrow stone does improve the tactile feedback for me too, one thing that has a huge effect is honing on a narrow stone, because the point of contact is so much smaller than with a wider stone, the Coticule cuts much more efficiently, I learnt this after receiving a finger sized stone from Bart, it puts a wonderful edge on a razor :thumbup:

Regards
Ralfson (Dr)

 

[deighaingeal]

Thank you, I am advancing slowly.
I initially thought that I would need hundreds of strokes on this hone with its diminished size, but that was not the case at all, being fast helped, but I also believe that the surface area made a difference.