josemartinlopez
我會買所有的獨角獸
One thing that still confuses me: How exactly do you apply pressure while sharpening? Is it from one hand or both, and does it change when pushing versus pulling?
And if you see a YouTube video that seems to criticize a popular sharpening video and the YouTube video insist you need to apply pressure with both hands, you should disregard this? A chef friend pointed me to this YouTube video.
I like edge trailing sharpening most of the time. Pressure while trailing, no pressure while leading.
That's what the girl of the sea said!by constantly nagging at it and telling it to hurry up
It also seems wrong to say that your blade hand is controlling all the back and forth movement, while your handle hand just holds the angle. I mean, when the blade is moving “toward you”, how exactly are your fingertips pulling the knife toward you? Are you an octopus? (I’m assuming the edge is facing you, which is how I always do it.)
And even on the “away from you” strokes, your handle hand is going to be very much a part of the back and forth. I guess if you push almost parallel to the stone you can get the knife to move just with your blade hand, using your other hand to keep the angle constant, but I imagine most people don’t push with that shallow an angle. I’d bet most of it is coming from your handle hand. Plus, you don’t want to be constantly trading off which hand you’re using for movement. That’s a straight line to inconsistency. And finally, some of the time you use light pressure when sharpening. There’s no way you’re moving your knife with your feather light blade hand pressure.
So, what is the point of this? I see this recommended a lot, but I don’t do it anymore. I find that if you’re constantly changing the amount of pressure you’re applying, it’s harder to maintain a consistent angle and consistent pressure (when you want the pressure). Plus, it’s slower. Is there any actual reason why it’s better to have the pressure on an edge trailing stroke?
Edit: On second thought, I may increase pressure automatically on edge trailing strokes, which are the “away from me” strokes, since my pressure isn’t directed straight down, but rather down and away, in a direction more perpendicular to the knife face. With this angle of pressure, it’s naturally easier to exert pressure on the edge trailing strokes. But when I sharpen, the change doesn’t seem so extreme. So many people talk about doing it consciously, though, which makes me think they’re using MUCH more pressure on trailing strokes. So, again, what’s the point? Trying to learn.
I feel it creates a bigger burr, so it's easier to know when to flip (if you are those who flip), specially on higher grit stones.
So, what is the point of this? I see this recommended a lot, but I don’t do it anymore. I find that if you’re constantly changing the amount of pressure you’re applying, it’s harder to maintain a consistent angle and consistent pressure (when you want the pressure). Plus, it’s slower. Is there any actual reason why it’s better to have the pressure on an edge trailing stroke?
Edit: On second thought, I may increase pressure automatically on edge trailing strokes, which are the “away from me” strokes, since my pressure isn’t directed straight down, but rather down and away, in a direction more perpendicular to the knife face. With this angle of pressure, it’s naturally easier to exert pressure on the edge trailing strokes. But when I sharpen, the change doesn’t seem so extreme. So many people talk about doing it consciously, though, which makes me think they’re using MUCH more pressure on trailing strokes. So, again, what’s the point? Trying to learn.
May I ask what is your way to sharpen your knives?
If you're referring to burrfection.. you're gonna want to go ahead and forget everything you've learned from him.And if you see a YouTube video that seems to criticize a popular sharpening video and the YouTube video insist you need to apply pressure with both hands, you should disregard this? A chef friend pointed me to this YouTube video.
Now that's a personal question.
What are you looking for? I think I said what I do with pressure in the post that you quoted. Probably a bit more pressure on edge trailing strokes because of body mechanics and because the pressure is exerted in that direction, not because I'm really concentrating on changing the pressure. I was kind of ornery when I wrote the last post... maybe my issue is I think "more pressure on edge trailing strokes" isn't a good pedagogical tool, since it makes you focus on something that you shouldn't, and overdo it.
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