Leading edge or trailing edge? Does it matter?

[6Cuda6]

Ok i think ive been watching to many videos...leading edge or trailing edge? Does it really matter?

I did tried circles on my last group of road razor touch ups and im not overly impressed.....so time to change it up.....

 

[David]

I hone edge leading 99.9 % of the time. The only time I do spine leading is if I'm playing around, and even then it's a very few number of strokes.

 

[eKretz]

Edge trailing can give a keener edge with a small number of strokes at the end of the (majority edge leading) honing process but they need to be a very few laps or a wire edge/foil will form and give a harsh edge which fails rapidly.

 

[lightfoot]

6cuda6, would you care to tell us more about your hone selection and setup? Perhaps you could have an issue not related to circles and X-strokes and the like.

 

[6Cuda6]

I have the choice of a JNat or coticule...last tound was circles on Jnat

 

[lightfoot]

Early on each one of my jnats left me perplexed and with razor burn! I usually do edge leading X-strokes or C-strokes if I'm hanging on to the slurry. I've been finishing on plain water with several Drops of Smith's oil. I've found that if I wait till the blade starts dragging a bit I've honed a bit too long. From that point it's slow, steady, & thoughtful stropping on linen then plain horse hide.

 

[kelbro]

Never got a wire edge off edge-leading strokes. Can't say the same for edge-trailing. I can say that on occasion, edge-trailing on the 1K helped finalize the bevel. Just a few strokes and jointed off the wire edge on the 4K to move forward but I never do edge following on finishing stones.

 

[Barncat]

I just bought some Shapton stones a few weeks ago and I took a 2 hr course on honing at a local shop specializing in high end kitchen knives and all manner of wet shavers. The guy instructing was the store manager and a wet shaver himself. While I was there I saw a steady stream of local chefs bringing their knives in to be sharpened so professionals seem to go there for equipment servicing. The staff there seem to use Japanese stones exclusively to sharpen with and he started on a 1000 k stone using leading and trailing edges for a brief period but when he went to the 4, 8 and 10 k stones afterward it was all leading edge work. The trailing edge work was done on the linen and leather strop after. Just my observations for what they are worth.

 

[lightfoot]

To the OP: Keep in mind that not all jnats and coticules are created equal. You may wind up having to get a couple more of each in hand to get the edge where you want it. My Nakayama doesn't seem to provide the same edge that my Shubodani or my Oozuku does no mater what I do.

 

[6Cuda6]

Yah i beleive that but perhaps this JNat just needs me to figure it out a bit more....i know its a good stone and perhaps.. actually im sure its just me....lol

 

[Jnatcat]

Yah i beleive that but perhaps this JNat just needs me to figure it out a bit more....i know its a good stone and perhaps.. actually im sure its just me....lol

After you come off your mid stones and go to your finisher try doing some sets of circles then regular strokes and work that slurry, I normally do two sets of 20-30 circles then regular strokes, actually slight X strokes, I don't really count I just watch the undercut and feel for the blade starting to grab then I water the slurry down to almost straigt water and the last 20-30 strokes are pretty much weight of blade and I never finish on plain water as I have never had much luck with plain water and the hint of slurry I think allows the blade to kinda float on top, I am no scientist and don't have much to use other than a 60X loupe but my edges treat me well.

One thing I got caught up in was trying to do to manny different honing styles, its very easy to do but it's almost sure failure, your best bet is to pick a very basic honing style that has been tested and for most that is either start with circles and finish on regular strokes with edge leading then concentrate on just that one style until you can achieve repeatable results and then test other methods.

I remember not that long ago that I was scouring the internet and trying a different way every time I honed and never could get a decent edge but then my Mentor pointed out to me that I need to pick one way and one way only and work on that before doing other styles and it has worked out well.

 

[Kentos]

Stropping on a pasted strop is edge trailing and my edges get much keener and longevity doesn't seem to suffer. I would think edge trailing on finer stones would be fine, and any possible foil edge would come off after a good stropping. In the end experimentation on your part would be the definitive answer.

 

[eKretz]

Some of those foils/wire edges can be very tenacious. Better to avoid them if possible by using very few edge trailing strokes. It takes some playing around with different razors and stones to find the sweet spot, but it gives up some pretty sweet edges when you find it. I've been getting JNat edges that feel pretty close to as sharp as new Feather AC Professional edges.

 

[Bobski]

As a general rule, I don't do edge trailing on the finishing hone. The exception is when you have done a lot of strokes. If you have had a long stint re-profiling a bevel on a 1k, then at the 5k level, I do a dozen edge trailing laps, to get rid of any possible burr. Now you could do the same on a 20k Suehiro, but, in a few experiments, haven't found it to be of much use.

 

[eKretz]

Edge trailing is more likely to create a burr/foil than remove one in my experience. Todd S has shown some pretty convincing electron microscope photos of edges from the SG20k that show edge trailing with that stone would be pointless - it already creates a high quality edge using edge leading strokes. Many stones do a little damage (very tiny microchipping) with edge leading strokes, so edge trailing creates a little narrower apex with less damage. The trick is getting it to a nice narrow apex without forming the foil/wire.

 

[SliceOfLife]

4k to 10k spine leading Edge is not thinning. Bevel is receiving rapid polish, but wire is forming.
followed with 10k edge leading Wire removed, leaving highly polished bevel but overly thick edge.
4k to 10k edge leading Bevel polish follows edge refinement/thinning
followed with 10k spine leading Bevel polish rapidly improved, but edge damage amplified.

 

[6Cuda6]

4k to 10k spine leading Edge is not thinning. Bevel is receiving rapid polish, but wire is forming.
followed with 10k edge leading Wire removed, leaving highly polished bevel but overly thick edge.
4k to 10k edge leading Bevel polish follows edge refinement/thinning
followed with 10k spine leading Bevel polish rapidly improved, but edge damage amplified.

Very interesting! Thanks for the pics as well.