favorite people to watch sharpening?

[Garm]

I really like MrEdgy on YT. His videos are often long and quite slow paced, but he provides some insights and viewpoints I haven't found many other places.
I've seen him referenced as the sharpener(Jason Bosman) in some of Larrin's articles on edge testing.
Not the best videos for introduction to sharpening basics, but well worth watching IMO.

Most of my favourites have already been mentioned, but I'll echo Jon, MC, and P. Nowlan. The latter has become the calming voice inside my head whenever I get stressed or frustrated during sharpening and don't get the desired results.
"..manage your expectations.."

 

[daveb]

I dont know.

Learning the basics, it doensnt really matter who you watch. The basics of sharpening are very easy and simple and get explained in more of the same way by all the videomakers. Mastering it is hard, and watching a video doesnt help you with that. The thing is also, there are multiple ways to do it and none of them is really wrong. Try out what you see i guess and make up what style you want to follow.

Most videos are helpfull if you want a solution for a special kind of problem or knife.

Gotta respectfully disagree.

Anyone with a cell phone, a rock and a knife can make a UTuber. (And many have) The better ones, such as cited throughout here, explain what the user is doing and why and take the time to show proper motions and technique. A newcomer can probably not discern between which is good video and which is crap until they themselves develop some proficiency, which is not likely to happen if they've subscribed to Bonzai Billy's channel.

The value of threads such as this is that they distinguish the better ones for the newer user and can recognize newer good material for those that have been sharpening awhile.

 

[M1k3]

I really like MrEdgy on YT. His videos are often long and quite slow paced, but he provides some insights and viewpoints I haven't found many other places.
I've seen him referenced as the sharpener(Jason Bosman) in some of Larrin's articles on edge testing.
Not the best videos for introduction to sharpening basics, but well worth watching IMO.

Most of my favourites have already been mentioned, but I'll echo Jon, MC, and P. Nowlan. The latter has become the calming voice inside my head whenever I get stressed or frustrated during sharpening and don't get the desired results.
"..manage your expectations.."

Peter's voice is calming.

 

[Blank Blades.]

Gotta respectfully disagree.

Anyone with a cell phone, a rock and a knife can make a UTuber. (And many have) The better ones, such as cited throughout here, explain what the user is doing and why and take the time to show proper motions and technique. A newcomer can probably not discern between which is good video and which is crap until they themselves develop some proficiency, which is not likely to happen if they've subscribed to Bonzai Billy's channel.

The value of threads such as this is that they distinguish the better ones for the newer user and can recognize newer good material for those that have been sharpening awhile.

Ken Schwartz is a good example of this. He sharpens in the weirdest fashion I have ever seen. He sharpens with the edge away, and switches hands. So the edge is always facing away from him.



I'm sure all his knives get just as sharp as anyone else's. I just think his technique is peculiar, and probably wouldn't be the way someone should learn to sharpen.

 

[M1k3]

I think @ian sharpens that way? Unless I totally misunderstood what he meant?

 

[ian]

I think @ian sharpens that way? Unless I totally misunderstood what he meant?

I do the opposite. I switch hands, but the edge always faces me. I think edge always facing you allows you to use more pressure (when necessary) without stressing your body as much, since you can press sort of down and away from you, instead of wrapping your fingers over to the other side of the knife and pressing down and toward you, which I find awkward. Also, it's nice that the edge is more visible when it's facing you. I feel like I might end up extending my back too much to get over the knife if the edge was always facing away.

But whatever, I'm sure it works fine for him.

 

[Blank Blades.]

I do the opposite. I switch hands, but the edge always faces me. I think edge always facing you allows you to use more pressure (when necessary) your without stressing your body as much, since you can press sort of down and away from you, instead of wrapping your fingers over to the other side of the knife and pressing down and toward you, which I find awkward. Also, it's nice that the edge is more visible when it's facing you. I feel like I might end up extending my back too much to get over the knife if the edge was always facing away.

But whatever, I'm sure it works fine for him.

Switching hands makes perfect sense. I do it when I polish, of coarse keeping the edge facing me.

I think he does it the hardest way possible. I guess he just learned that way. Not saying there is anything wrong with it, if it works for him.

 

[ian]

Switching hands makes perfect sense. I do it when I polish, of coarse keeping the edge facing me.

I think he does it the hardest way possible. I guess he just learned that way. Not saying there is anything wrong with it, if it works for him.

Yea, edge facing you also keeps the handle out of the way, so you don't have to go perpendicular to the stone when sharpening the heel. Long live the edge facers.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

I really like MrEdgy on YT. His videos are often long and quite slow paced, but he provides some insights and viewpoints I haven't found many other places.
I've seen him referenced as the sharpener(Jason Bosman) in some of Larrin's articles on edge testing.
Not the best videos for introduction to sharpening basics, but well worth watching IMO.

Most of my favourites have already been mentioned, but I'll echo Jon, MC, and P. Nowlan. The latter has become the calming voice inside my head whenever I get stressed or frustrated during sharpening and don't get the desired results.
"..manage your expectations.."

Thanks. I didn't know Jason had a YT channel. He's an excellent resource. Triple B Handmade (DeadboxHero) also did a lot of sharpening for Larrin's edge testing. He used an Edge Pro to minimize human influence.

 

[M1k3]

I do the opposite. I switch hands, but the edge always faces me. I think edge always facing you allows you to use more pressure (when necessary) without stressing your body as much, since you can press sort of down and away from you, instead of wrapping your fingers over to the other side of the knife and pressing down and toward you, which I find awkward. Also, it's nice that the edge is more visible when it's facing you. I feel like I might end up extending my back too much to get over the knife if the edge was always facing away.

But whatever, I'm sure it works fine for him.

Ok. I do the same, usually. I'm still better at holding the angle with my right hand. Working on switching. I definitely switch when thinning.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Gotta respectfully disagree.

Anyone with a cell phone, a rock and a knife can make a UTuber. (And many have) The better ones, such as cited throughout here, explain what the user is doing and why and take the time to show proper motions and technique. A newcomer can probably not discern between which is good video and which is crap until they themselves develop some proficiency, which is not likely to happen if they've subscribed to Bonzai Billy's channel.

The value of threads such as this is that they distinguish the better ones for the newer user and can recognize newer good material for those that have been sharpening awhile.

I wholeheartedly agree. I also like the folks who tell you about the steel, the stone, why they are choosing a certain grit, etc. More of an all around information based video than pure technique.

 

[daveb]

Ken Schwartz is a good example of this. He sharpens in the weirdest fashion I have ever seen.....

Let us not speak of Mr. Schartz, his stones, his blades or his tree stump held together with hose clamps cutting boards.

 

[ian]

Ok. I do the same, usually. I'm still better at holding the angle with my right hand. Working on switching. I definitely switch when thinning.

Yea, it's gonna take a while before my left hand on the handle feels as natural or smooth as my right hand on the handle. Getting better every day, but that side still feels a bit awkward. I always have to stop myself from sharpening more on the right than the left, since it feels nicer to hang out there.

 

[Blank Blades.]

I always have to stop myself from sharpening more on the right than the left, since it feels nicer to hang out there.

Agreed. I definitely find I have to force myself to keep going with my left hand when I do it. There is something about the control, and dexterity I have with my right hand that makes using the left hand for sharpening/polishing so much less satisfying. I'm decent at switching hands, but it just doesn't have the same feeling of control the right side has.

 

[Lars]

Ken Schwartz

Please don't mention his name. I had to spit on the floor and throw salt over my shoulder to avoid a curse.

 

[ian]

What's everyone's beef with him? Idk anything about him.

 

[Garm]

Peter's voice is calming.

Agreed. Most things about him seem very pleasant.

I also like the folks who tell you about the steel, the stone, why they are choosing a certain grit, etc.

This is part of the reason why I really like Jason's videos. His explanations about how he keeps a steady angle with his point pressure "system" also gives a much more nuanced account than most other videos who simply tell you to "keep a consistent angle". I don't try to emulate everything he does, and don't necessarily agree with all his opinions, but he's extremely informative and manages to convey and express details or aspects that are absent in most sharpening videos.

 

[Blank Blades.]

What's everyone's beef with him? Idk anything about him.

Yeah. I have no idea, I only know about him because his videos would come up when I search for videos about stones, and remembered his name because he says it at the beginning of all of them.

 

[Jovidah]

I gotta agree with dave that not everything on youtube is good. There's some people (you might have been lucky enough to not run into them) who simply shouldn't be making tutorials, yet do it anyway. Some who make 20 minute videos with a mix of true, false and contradicting information. Some who have outright horrible technique... Sadly the YT algorhitm doesn't really have any way of noticing the difference.

 

[Kawa]

Gotta respectfully disagree.

Anyone with a cell phone, a rock and a knife can make a UTuber. (And many have) The better ones, such as cited throughout here, explain what the user is doing and why and take the time to show proper motions and technique. A newcomer can probably not discern between which is good video and which is crap until they themselves develop some proficiency, which is not likely to happen if they've subscribed to Bonzai Billy's channel.

The value of threads such as this is that they distinguish the better ones for the newer user and can recognize newer good material for those that have been sharpening awhile.

Ready your comment I see I put my message with too little nuace.
'It doesn't really matter who you watch' referred to the people and names allready mentioned in this post; I did not make that clear at all. The ones mentioned are indeed the best sources available. Between them, there is a lot of different styles and advices 'and non of them is really wrong (they are all right)'.
I totally agree that if you are new and don't know where to start, it is hard to know who to listen to and who talks rubbish. I even think I mentioned this in a topic a while ago (not meaning U should remember that .)

 

[Kawa]

I think @ian sharpens that way? Unless I totally misunderstood what he meant?

I do it this way, the opposite of ian.
With the edge towards me, I feel like i cant put a steady pressure on the knife when doing the leading stroke (so, the edge comes towards me). That is also the reason why I started to switch hands in the first place. Especially when I do a knife with a low angle (so the knife if relatively flat), I had a hard time controlling the pressure with my left fingers when the edge comes towards me. I never understood (and still dont understand) how you can 'pull' the knife towards you without pressing with your index finger (which is on the spine) or with your angle controle hand (which is right in my case). The right thumb is on the blade near the heel.
In practice this means I always switch pressurepoints (and therefor in my case angle consistancy) during a complete stroke: moving the edge away from me, i put pressure with my left fingers, which are on the edge. And then I switch pressurepoints (index finger, right thumb near the heel) because those same fingers can't 'pull' the knife enough towards me (since the angle of the knife is like a 'ramp' this way, the fingers slide from the blade when you 'push from behind'.... I hope you can still follow what im trying to describe)

Any tips or videos who handle this problem are appreciated

With the edge away from me, I always can put pressure with my fingers on the edge, since the angle is upwards, seen from the top of the stone (or North side?) towards the 'bellyside'.

Yes it felt awkward for a few weeks, and the 'other side' still doesnt feel as comfortable as my strong hand. I've learned to compensate for the 'difference in feeling' somehow.

But then again, I'm a mediocre sharpener and I dont know if Im holding myself back from better results in the future by continuing this way. I'm not really doubting here, but if there are seriouse arguments for this, id be happy to hear (since @jwthaparc mentioned this style as 'he learned the hardest way')




I'm off, watching Ken Schwartz, ive just learned he might be my mentor

 

[Jovidah]

For me, rotating the stone clockwise fixed most of my left/right inconsistencies. It's worth giving a try. Heck there's even plenty of (European) instructions that basically tell you to put the stone parallel to the countertop. At least some of those people must get a half decent edge out of it...
I agree that in the end it's the result that matters.

 

[Kawa]

For me, rotating the stone clockwise fixed most of my left/right inconsistencies. It's worth giving a try. Heck there's even plenty of (European) instructions that basically tell you to put the stone parallel to the countertop. At least some of those people must get a half decent edge out of it...
I agree that in the end it's the result that matters.

Im not sure how to see this. Do you mean a 90 degree rotation? i can only imagine it this way, but then your stroke is from left to right?

If people find this too much offtopic, im happy to hear from you through PM, since im really interessted in your solution.
I think we are both Dutch, might help to understand the picture aswell.

 

[spaceconvoy]

I'm trying to understand exactly what you mean... Does this mean the stone is at a 45 degree angle, from SW to NE if north is assumed to be forward (and assuming right-handedness). I'm imagining you'd hold the knife pointing north when sharpening the right side, and west for the left side.

edit: I type slow

 

[Qapla']

Ken Schwartz is a good example of this. He sharpens in the weirdest fashion I have ever seen. He sharpens with the edge away, and switches hands. So the edge is always facing away from him.

I'm sure all his knives get just as sharp as anyone else's. I just think his technique is peculiar, and probably wouldn't be the way someone should learn to sharpen.

It doesn't seem that far from what Kramer does, though Kramer doesn't always keep the blade away from him.

 

[Jovidah]

Personally I rotate the top of the stone stone to 1-2 oclock... but there's plenty of more European rooted videos that just rotate it all the way to 3/9 o clock. I'm not saying you should copy a certain direction, but if you're struggling to get both sides consisten facing north, then it's worth experimenting with.
That Kramer-ish technique I found quite effective on some of my knives with tougher (Chinese VG10 and that kinda crap).

 

[Blank Blades.]

It doesn't seem that far from what Kramer does, though Kramer doesn't always keep the blade away from him.

Idk if I would quite agree with that. Kramer's technique is a lot different, at least from what I see him doing.

 

[ian]

I never understood (and still dont understand) how you can 'pull' the knife towards you without pressing with your index finger (which is on the spine) or with your angle controle hand (which is right in my case).

98% of the movement of the knife comes from the hand you have on the handle, despite what people say. You gotta lock your wrist, have most of the movement come from the shoulder, some from the elbow. A lot of the angle control comes from your handle hand, too, with a bit of a guide coming from the pressure from your other hand.

In practice this means I always switch pressurepoints (and therefor in my case angle consistancy) during a complete stroke: moving the edge away from me, i put pressure with my left fingers, which are on the edge. And then I switch pressurepoints (index finger, right thumb near the heel) because those same fingers can't 'pull' the knife enough towards me (since the angle of the knife is like a 'ramp' this way, the fingers slide from the blade when you 'push from behind'.... I hope you can still follow what im trying to describe)

Ya, this’ll make it hard to go fast, and make it harder to be consistent. To hold a good angle, you want as little variation in what’s happening with your fingers / wrist as possible. Guide the motion from your upper arm and have everything below that either fixed or just moving in a way dictated by what’s happening farther up. It’s ok to lean into the push stroke a bit, but don’t try to vary things a ton between push and pull.

For me, rotating the stone clockwise fixed most of my left/right inconsistencies. It's worth giving a try. Heck there's even plenty of (European) instructions that basically tell you to put the stone parallel to the countertop. At least some of those people must get a half decent edge out of it...
I agree that in the end it's the result that matters.

I think this does help. I sometimes rotate the stone clockwise 45 degrees when doing “edge leading, edge away from me” deburring strokes at the end. (I don’t switch hands for the final alternating deburring strokes.) I often don’t do the rotation, though, because even though it’s nicer, it takes time to rotate. Another way is to sharpen on the corner of the counter, so that you can just step around the corner when it’s time to rotate. But I don’t do that either much, just because I like being in the middle of the counter.

 

[Blank Blades.]

Oh yeah I just remembered. This is always a fun sharpening video to revisit.

Warning: very bloody.



Virtuovice is something else.

 

[Kawa]

I dont know man, smells like attention to me (I skipped/watched some of the video without sound, he might just explain why he does it...)
If he gets a knife that sharp 'just freestyling' a bit on a wobbly stone, he is just 'very good'.

Is he showing the world you can sharpen with blood (why, are we searching for a water or oil replacement?) or is he encouraging the world? Whats the meaning of this.