Do you guys switch hands when doing different sides of the blade as Korin's Vincent suggests here?
Or do you just flip the blade like when sharpening a gyuto, etc.
Or do you just flip the blade like when sharpening a gyuto, etc.
Cleaver sharpening: to switch or not to switch?
- Thread starter chiffonodd
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I’m a lover, not a fighter
I’m a switcher, not a flipper
Except when I get tired and lazy
I’m a switcher, not a flipper
Except when I get tired and lazy
Switching hands is hard tho
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
I flip, but hold basically the middle of the blade and kinda ignore the handle. I find it balances better on the stone this way.
So no hand switch, just flip, but hold toward middle of blade for balance and control?
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
Yea. For sharpening a normal gyuto shape knife, I grip the handle. For cleaver, I instead grip around the middle of the spine area
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I for sure will give it a try. I guess, the problem isn't that much in the blade's width, but more in the weight. Experience similar problems with a yo-deba, particularly if it is a long one. When scrubbing as I do for the very edge, I find holding the angle a real challenge.
I switch hands for all knives so blade is always facing away from me. Just how I learned to sharpen. Been playing around with technique on cleavers a bit though lately
Always switch so blade faces toward me. 
Chasingsharpness
Senior Member
I've been experimenting a bit lately with ambidextrous cleaver sharpening.
With some cleavers I have also played around with holding the cleaver by the blade around the middle and leading with the edge facing the same direction on both sides, just flipping the cleaver.
I think with practice both can work very well. Whichever muscle memory you invest in will be better.
Im also experimenting a bit with finger positioning and grip, as this can change a depending on the cleaver size and balance.
With some cleavers I have also played around with holding the cleaver by the blade around the middle and leading with the edge facing the same direction on both sides, just flipping the cleaver.
I think with practice both can work very well. Whichever muscle memory you invest in will be better.
Im also experimenting a bit with finger positioning and grip, as this can change a depending on the cleaver size and balance.
I'm a flipper. Put an edge on used once in a while Kau Kong chopper. Lobster rolls.
A little over kill for lobster but does the job. Toasting rolls in leftover butter used for cooking lobster cool mayonnaise mix with fresh saffron, celery, chives, lemon zest & juice. Mix with warm lobster on butter toasted buns. It's all quick last steps. We were eating them forgot to take pictures so sharpening thread.
A little over kill for lobster but does the job. Toasting rolls in leftover butter used for cooking lobster cool mayonnaise mix with fresh saffron, celery, chives, lemon zest & juice. Mix with warm lobster on butter toasted buns. It's all quick last steps. We were eating them forgot to take pictures so sharpening thread.
Dan-
Senior Member
Flip
Switch for scrubbing
Flip for sweeping
Flip for sweeping
Haven't watched a Vincent sharpening thread in a while. My first sharpening dvd bought when first came out 2003 Chiharu Sugai. Same time bought my first Yanagiba from Korin. Wanted to learn how to sharpen my Yanagiba.
I switch hands no matter what shape knife I’m sharpening.
ModRQC
Just shutup n' grabbit!
Ain't it weird to fight when you're tired and lazy?
ModRQC
Just shutup n' grabbit!
I remember a thread about that, but more general.
I learned to sharpen with the flipping technique. But then, I had 20-some blades at one point, a lot of them from the low-end segment of the market, and I started thinning a lot and practicing polishing as well. And with as many blades for a home cook, I really didn't need to sharpen so often, even when inventing every reason to do so, but most of half of them could do with some slight thinning, let alone that I embarked in more and more advanced project to do so. At some point in late 2020 I was thinning/polishing more often (well can't be entirely true since I did have to resharpen those blades after, so lets's say I was spending way more time thinning/polishing) than I was sharpening, and I had discovered that it was way easier for me to do so switching hand, I cannot exactly fathom why. Something my body told me to try that worked.
In early 2021 I was getting very good results sharpening with flipping, but at some point (I'll always remember it was on NP400, and I remember it was some stainless knife) my body also told me to switch hand when sharpening. Never went back, although I do use flipping in some situations. Mostly short blades, or when stropping/touching up. My body telling me I have more of the lightest possible touch with my right hand (for touch ups, one handed, perhaps the left middle finger helping slightly with following curvier tips), and my head being rather bored and uninterested with sharpening shorter knives meant it became a chore more than an activity I liked to do, and somehow short-cutting switching hands because it took slightly more time and finicking there than using a flip.
Only time I did a cleaver (a western one) it was so wide and heavy than @tostadas method was what my body resolved to do: holding it by the middle of the blade.
There might be a better method to everything I do, or it might be like most things knives that it is a personal preference. But since then I just listen to what my body tells me to do. I also use flipping when I'm doing a full "vertical Kasumi", which is something I've done a lot, and still prefer to do it in many cases or on most Migaki blades.
What I mean is... listen to yourself. No one can really tell you how and why you'll feel more comfortable any way vs. any other. Results are what matter in the end, and once you've spent some amount of time on the stones, your head can often sort of complicate or get in the way of what natural muscle memory and instinct will tell you to do. So I always at least try to do what the latter tells me to do and see how it goes.
I learned to sharpen with the flipping technique. But then, I had 20-some blades at one point, a lot of them from the low-end segment of the market, and I started thinning a lot and practicing polishing as well. And with as many blades for a home cook, I really didn't need to sharpen so often, even when inventing every reason to do so, but most of half of them could do with some slight thinning, let alone that I embarked in more and more advanced project to do so. At some point in late 2020 I was thinning/polishing more often (well can't be entirely true since I did have to resharpen those blades after, so lets's say I was spending way more time thinning/polishing) than I was sharpening, and I had discovered that it was way easier for me to do so switching hand, I cannot exactly fathom why. Something my body told me to try that worked.
In early 2021 I was getting very good results sharpening with flipping, but at some point (I'll always remember it was on NP400, and I remember it was some stainless knife) my body also told me to switch hand when sharpening. Never went back, although I do use flipping in some situations. Mostly short blades, or when stropping/touching up. My body telling me I have more of the lightest possible touch with my right hand (for touch ups, one handed, perhaps the left middle finger helping slightly with following curvier tips), and my head being rather bored and uninterested with sharpening shorter knives meant it became a chore more than an activity I liked to do, and somehow short-cutting switching hands because it took slightly more time and finicking there than using a flip.
Only time I did a cleaver (a western one) it was so wide and heavy than @tostadas method was what my body resolved to do: holding it by the middle of the blade.
There might be a better method to everything I do, or it might be like most things knives that it is a personal preference. But since then I just listen to what my body tells me to do. I also use flipping when I'm doing a full "vertical Kasumi", which is something I've done a lot, and still prefer to do it in many cases or on most Migaki blades.
What I mean is... listen to yourself. No one can really tell you how and why you'll feel more comfortable any way vs. any other. Results are what matter in the end, and once you've spent some amount of time on the stones, your head can often sort of complicate or get in the way of what natural muscle memory and instinct will tell you to do. So I always at least try to do what the latter tells me to do and see how it goes.
