# What way does your edge face? Toward or away from you when you sharpen?



## danny13 (Aug 30, 2016)

I was arguing with someone that it does not matter as long as your comfortable with your technique. Is that correct? He swears your edge should be toward your belly when sharpening. I have always had it away from with the spine at my belly, always felt better that way. 

Is there a black and white answer to this?


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## strumke (Aug 30, 2016)

Nothing black and white. Whatever allows you to maintain a steady angle w controlled even pressure. some people switch hands and keep the blade facing in one direction, others use the same hand and just flip back and forth.

You tube has a huge volume of examples by folks on this forum, it seems that most people who talk about sharpening here use the same hand and flip the edge (myself included)


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## LifeByA1000Cuts (Aug 30, 2016)

As I mentioned, flipping the direction can give you unequal angles ... but yes, my method too.


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## GRoc (Aug 30, 2016)

strumke said:


> Nothing black and white. Whatever allows you to maintain a steady angle w controlled even pressure. some people switch hands and keep the blade facing in one direction, others use the same hand and just flip back and forth.
> 
> You tube has a huge volume of examples by folks on this forum, it seems that most people who talk about sharpening here use the same hand and flip the edge (myself included)




I agree with Strumke, my current favorite method is here: [video=youtube;Duwt8oMZRaA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Duwt8oMZRaA[/video] 
easy to do on gyutos and petties but challenging for me on sujis and longer blades in general. In the latter, slower speed and movement helps me keep a consistent angle and avoid wobbling too much


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## ThEoRy (Aug 30, 2016)

I keep the blade in one hand and flip the edge like this.

[video=youtube;bMW5vJ4krPE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMW5vJ4krPE[/video]


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## mikedtran (Aug 30, 2016)

There are many techniques for sharpening, as long as you can maintain a steady angle/pressure it doesn't really matter how you do it.

I personally learned it the 'ambidextrous' way. Edge point towards my belly - the one benefit of this method (if you are comfortable with switching handle) is that you can always keep a 45 degree angle of the blade to stone instead of doing the perpendicular approach (handle doesn't get in the way). 

More edge length touching the stone = more stability. 

That being if you aren't comfortable switching hands, the benefits of having more edge length on the stone won't help.


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## natto (Aug 31, 2016)

Sharpening ambidextrous always takes mud on the handles and can discolor them, but I am more interested in improving my sharpening than in immaculate handles.


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## XooMG (Aug 31, 2016)

My edges always face north, regardless of sharpening position.


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## Beau Nidle (Aug 31, 2016)

I switch hands and keep the edge pointing away from me. Keeping it in the same hand and flipping the edge around always felt very awkward, so I just stuck with what was comfortable and gave me good results.


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## Mucho Bocho (Aug 31, 2016)

I'm a flipper sharper, works for me as the left side of the knife really only needs a few strokes to bring up the apex and clean off the burr. At least 70% of the time I spend sharpening is done on the right side of the knife. IMO, most people over work their knives. I've even seen professionals do it too. Sharpening really does take a light touch, especially with the super stones available today and the high quality of the steels in our knives. 

Jon for example, (my Sensi Knife Sharpener). I follow his technique as close as I can without question. But when were watching him on video grinding away at a knife, we have to remember that he's giving us a tutorial/demonstration on technique. I guarantee he doesn't grind every knife the same. Its helped me to slow down, let the edge speak to me and feel very often.

Also, just cause you have them, its not necessary to go through five stone progressions, felt, leather stropping every time to get a good edge. Its taken me years to come to this conclusion and my knives still look like new.


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## strumke (Aug 31, 2016)

XooMG said:


> My edges always face north, regardless of sharpening position.



Magnetic or true north?


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## krx927 (Aug 31, 2016)

Mucho Bocho said:


> I'm a flipper sharper, works for me as the left side of the knife really only needs a few strokes to bring up the apex and clean off the burr. At least 70% of the time I spend sharpening is done on the right side of the knife.




Not to criticize but aren't you in this way destroying the geometry of the knife and moving bevel to the left from the central point? If you take more material from the right side every time you sharpen this is inevitably going to happen, in my mind.

I was reading/watching so many sharpening instructions/tips where people were saying you need to make sure you grind away the same amount of material on every part of the knife.


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## Mucho Bocho (Aug 31, 2016)

KRX, Indeed, you need to sharpen the knife evenly each side RELATIVE to the grind of the knife. On right handed knives, the left side is usually flatter than the right side. Japanese knives almost never 50/50 grind usually 30/70 or 10/90... So if your knife is 30/70 and you grind 70% on the left side, you will be changing the geometry of the knife. If this knife we're lefty, the it would be a 70/30 grind and you'd spend that same relative amount of time on the left side. Hope that makes sense.


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## panda (Aug 31, 2016)

Flipping feels weird (like trying to cut with knife upside down), I always switch hands.


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## chinacats (Aug 31, 2016)

Only thing I've found my left hand capable of doing (believe it or not) is using a straight razor to shave. I flip...


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## OneS (Aug 31, 2016)

Swopping hands just feels more 'natural' to me, I feel like I dig the edge of the knife into the stone more when the edge faces me.


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## daveb (Aug 31, 2016)

Flipper.


Watching a lot of Utubers is good for the exposure but suggest at end of day to pick one you're comfortable with and spend the bulk of your time there. Active on this forum, Jon is a flipper, Vincent at Korin is a switcher. You'll do well to avoid the guy with the tree stump.


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## foody518 (Aug 31, 2016)

Changing to switcher over the past month or so. Didn't like how poorly I handled knives with greater curvature (for example some pocket and fixed blade knives) when sharpening on the edge away side of the flip sharpening, didn't feel like I had any connection to what was going on with feedback on curves and also not seeing the blade, in a sense.
Now it's edge towards myself on each side, roughly 30-45 degrees from vertical angle of approach to the stone


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## Badgertooth (Sep 7, 2016)

Flipper. But I also rotate my stone through 45 which a was a game-changer for me in terms of the consistency I was able to get on the reverse side of the knife. 

Not the best video but:

https://youtu.be/l62ECivm56A


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## Mucho Bocho (Sep 7, 2016)

Like a BOSS. Nice badger!


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## bennyprofane (Sep 7, 2016)

Badgertooth said:


> Flipper. But I also rotate my stone through 45 which a was a game-changer for me in terms of the consistency I was able to get on the reverse side of the knife.
> 
> Not the best video but:
> 
> https://youtu.be/l62ECivm56A



What is it that you do at the end with the white cloth?


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## Badgertooth (Sep 7, 2016)

bennyprofane said:


> What is it that you do at the end with the white cloth?



It's what Takayuki Shibata does to deburr. It's better to use an old tshirt with some stretch but you step on one end, pull it taut with your hand and scrape/wiggle your edge on the tautly pulled material all along the edge.


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## bennyprofane (Sep 7, 2016)

Thanks, is there a video where I can see this?


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## Badgertooth (Sep 7, 2016)

I'll load one up. A guy who learnt to sharpen under him showed me and it works a charm for the tougher burrs on stuff like PM steel


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## bennyprofane (Sep 7, 2016)

Great, thank you!


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## spoiledbroth (Sep 8, 2016)

Toward the stone :wink:


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## mcritchlow (Sep 8, 2016)

really interesting approach. i've been experimenting between the traditional flip and ambidextrous. Not really settled on which I like more, or rather can see myself doing longer term. But this style I hadn't seen before, looks like it works really well for you. Thanks for sharing!



Badgertooth said:


> Flipper. But I also rotate my stone through 45 which a was a game-changer for me in terms of the consistency I was able to get on the reverse side of the knife.
> 
> Not the best video but:
> 
> https://youtu.be/l62ECivm56A


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## MaumasiFireArts (Sep 29, 2016)

Sorry to only be jumpin on this thread just now. I'm a flipper too and its so cool to see that I'm not the only one who turns their stone 45º. BK gave me a 5 min demo before sending me off on my own. The stone was set up perpendicular to the edge of the counter, and because thats the way he did it, that's how I did it too. It was only a couple years ago that I thought, "This sucks! Sharpening should be more fun and relaxing than this." That's when I first turned the stone 45º and my whole experience changed. It didn't feel awkward anymore and felt like so much more of a joy than a chore. For me it feels way more natural and ergonomic. I also feel like I have a lot more control of my angle and isolation of my body.


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