# Edge Leading Finishing/Deburring?



## Marek07 (Dec 30, 2016)

I've learnt a lot about sharpening from this forum. I've watched and listened to many people, foremost among them Jon Broida's many excellent sharpening videos - I still revisit them. Many other forum members have contributed to my education - Badgertooth and ThEoRy seem fresh in my mind. Thank you all.

I'd like to ask your opinions about a method I came across before finding KKF. It was posted by Leigh Hudson from Chef's Armoury. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/0TPDgdo7jfM

He demonstrates a fairly conventional sharpening - nothing very different about how he goes about it: 400 > 1k > 4k - until ~6'35" in his video. At this point he says the sharpening is over but he needs to remove the final burr from the edge. He achieves this by edge leading strokes that he calls "slicing the water from the stone". He does this in a series of strokes on both sides. I haven't seen anyone else do this. 

I've tried a couple of very light strokes myself but can't tell if it's helping the final edge. I aim for no (minimal?) burr at the end of each stone but most of the time, I strop on leather after the stones to be sure. Does his method have any merit? Is there any danger that poor technique might damage the edge? I welcome any opinions.


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## RDalman (Dec 30, 2016)

I do something similar. But less pressure from what it looks like, and alternating strokes at a little lower angle. Can't say I'm sure of what's happening, but it's what I feel I get the best edge with  And I strop on loaded balsa after


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## Sharpchef (Dec 30, 2016)

Edge leading strokes make sence! (this is like razor sharpening) He could have a really sharp and especially longlasting knive without that dawn Cromox stropping, this is counterproductive.

I know i`am controversial, but stropping is always not good for edge retention, even with razors.....

Greets Sebastian.


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## dwalker (Dec 30, 2016)

Chris Anderson does something similar to finish but alternates edge leading and edge trailing strokes. He explains why in the video. I've been practicing with this and I think there is some benefit - for my edges anyway. 
https://youtu.be/qhs7d5rANdY


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## Badgertooth (Dec 30, 2016)

It's a very good way to de-burr and "slicing the water" is a great visual aid for stone contact with the edge. Think of the edge trailing version as buttering your stone in one even smear or applying icing to a cake. I still like to catch the rats and mice of the burr through a soft piece of pine after some
edge trailing strokes on leather. you'll have something pretty clean at the end of it.


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## leansmancave (Dec 30, 2016)

My understanding is that the deburring motion is basically moving the knife along the edge on a stone ( or a piece of leather, newspaper, etc). You can start this motion from the tip of the knife or the heel of the knife, and from the far end of the stone or the near end of stone, and I believe this makes the deburring appear edge-leading or edge-trailing, but it should be essentially along-the-edge.


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## zitangy (Dec 31, 2016)

My thoughts....

*Edge Leading* or cutting into the stone effect:

It should break the burr/curl after which... its a matter of further refinement of the apex

*
Spine Leading effect:* tends to uncurl the burr and most of time.. it is a weakened edge; be it on stone or leather.... Unless one does it at a higher angle which has a higher probability of breaking it and then drop to lower angle to chase for the apex

Pick your comfortable method and do what it takes to break the burr/curl and chase for the apex

and Happy New Year.......

Rgds
d


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## Unstoppabo (Jan 4, 2017)

http://thejapanblade.com/blog/2016/04/03/why-develop-a-false-edge-on-purpose/ great article on the benefits of edge leading strokes to deburr. U-Y-V!


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## Marek07 (Jan 4, 2017)

@Unstoppabo - thanks for the link to the article. 

In case people haven't seen it, Robin Dalman posted a link to his sharpening action outlined above in Post #2. It's on his Vendor's page - Dalman Knives. Here's the link to his video: https://youtu.be/oDOkvimabSs
Definitely worth a look! Nice one Robin. :thumbsup:


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## Nemo (Jan 4, 2017)

There was a section on this in the scienceofsharp blogs. From memory, the SEM showed that a razor sharpened with edge leading strokes had almost no burr and the one that was stropped developed a very thin (I think about 1-2 micron wide) but quite long foil burr. When this eventually snapped off, it left a 1-2 micron wide edge (which may be ok for kitchen use, but not razor use?)


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## partykrew (Jan 4, 2017)

I've always finished by alternating edge leading strokes. I tend to use the same pressure as when im sharpening too. 

I tried the hanging hair test with different knives after sharpening and finishing using trailing and leading strokes, and the edge leading ones left a sharper and more defined tooth on the edge. It's counter intuitive, but it whittled the hair better and has always left me with more bite, which i prefer, when i finished with leading passes. I also run the edge on the corner of a poly board lightly and also a cork to really make sure the burr is off. I noticed if i strop a knife after sharpening, it would refine the edge more than i normally like it to be and takes away much of the toothiness i prefer for my prep knives, so i generally dont do that anymore.


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## alfreedo (Jan 4, 2017)

I've been watching a number of sharpening videos. Some sharpeners appear to use both edge leading in edge trailing techniques. Is this a personal preference, or is there a technical reason. I have been sharpening with edge leading until I get to the strop phase, where I use edge trailing.
Thoughts?


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## Mucho Bocho (Jan 4, 2017)

Alfreedo, Their are a lots of way to sharpen a knife. I've been at it for years and learn something new every day. For this discussion though, we're talking about deburring techniques and approaches not sharpening per say. But to answer your question, It is perfectly reasonable to sharpening both edge trailing and edge leading strokes. I'm a flipper style sharpener, that is, I flip the knife over to sharpen the left side. In other words, I sharpen the right side with edge trailing strokes and the left side with edge leading strokes. 

Back to the topic, ever since I saw Chris Anderson demonstrate "slicing the water" technique. I think its given me an edge with more bite. The movement is still a little awkward for me but I'm going to keep at it and incorporate the move with my finishers.


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## panda (Jan 4, 2017)

Interesting, I've always finished with spine trailing. I'll give it a try


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## chinacats (Jan 4, 2017)

My final move is neither...I use heel->toe...for whatever reason, it allows me to use the lightest amount of pressure. I bang it on the cutting board a couple times to ensure no false edge.


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