Bart
Well-Known Member
Gentlemen,
Several honing methods are described on this website, in the "Sharpening Academy". They're all devised to work as consistently as possible. Different people will most certainly favor different approaches, that's why we offer all these varying honing methods. But I'm also constantly pondering about the didactics of honing. What's the best way to learn how to get decent results in a reasonable timespan? Not an easy question.
One thing I have noticed lately, is that guys who arrive at Coticule.be with honing experience on other hones under the belt, almost instantly pick on with successful Coticule honing. At the same time, we see total newbies struggle for days and days. To some extent, that is quite normal. A new honer must learn all these aspects that are so totally natural for someone that's been around for awhile. But still, it should not take so long to get great results.
Last Sunday, I had 2 fine gentlemen over at my home, that each requested to talk about razor sharpening. We talked most of the afternoon, while everyone sat behind a Coticule with a razor in his hand.
After they left, I was wondering how much they actually learned. All the facts I told, are already found on the website. Maybe I should have focused more on the practical side. But there's one thing I learned. It's not good to learn the half X-strokes, before learning the regular X-stroke. Learning the regular X-stroke first, invites to adopt a good razor grip, that allows for even pressure during both parts of the honing stroke. I also allows for a perfect flipping motion, both beneficial to honing and stropping. Transgressing to finger-pressured "halfstrokes" after that is a matter of minutes. Literally. Halfstrokes are much easier to learn, but you can do them in many ways. Ways that need to be altered for doing a good regular X-stroke. That's why I strongly advice to not rely on halfstrokes before you can confidently perform the regular X-stroke. Where the various methods in the Coticule Sharpening Academy say to do halfstrokes, just do regular X-strokes with a bit of extra pressure. Enough to make the slurry turn gray. Right now, you don't need the extra speed of the halfstrokes. You need your time practicing the regular X-stroke.
Here a video that shows how it's done. Don't worry about speed. Speed comes naturally with experience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQOA5m0o5_s
Several honing methods are described on this website, in the "Sharpening Academy". They're all devised to work as consistently as possible. Different people will most certainly favor different approaches, that's why we offer all these varying honing methods. But I'm also constantly pondering about the didactics of honing. What's the best way to learn how to get decent results in a reasonable timespan? Not an easy question.
One thing I have noticed lately, is that guys who arrive at Coticule.be with honing experience on other hones under the belt, almost instantly pick on with successful Coticule honing. At the same time, we see total newbies struggle for days and days. To some extent, that is quite normal. A new honer must learn all these aspects that are so totally natural for someone that's been around for awhile. But still, it should not take so long to get great results.
Last Sunday, I had 2 fine gentlemen over at my home, that each requested to talk about razor sharpening. We talked most of the afternoon, while everyone sat behind a Coticule with a razor in his hand.
After they left, I was wondering how much they actually learned. All the facts I told, are already found on the website. Maybe I should have focused more on the practical side. But there's one thing I learned. It's not good to learn the half X-strokes, before learning the regular X-stroke. Learning the regular X-stroke first, invites to adopt a good razor grip, that allows for even pressure during both parts of the honing stroke. I also allows for a perfect flipping motion, both beneficial to honing and stropping. Transgressing to finger-pressured "halfstrokes" after that is a matter of minutes. Literally. Halfstrokes are much easier to learn, but you can do them in many ways. Ways that need to be altered for doing a good regular X-stroke. That's why I strongly advice to not rely on halfstrokes before you can confidently perform the regular X-stroke. Where the various methods in the Coticule Sharpening Academy say to do halfstrokes, just do regular X-strokes with a bit of extra pressure. Enough to make the slurry turn gray. Right now, you don't need the extra speed of the halfstrokes. You need your time practicing the regular X-stroke.Here a video that shows how it's done. Don't worry about speed. Speed comes naturally with experience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQOA5m0o5_s
