Single Handed vs Switch Handed

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Do you sharpen with the handle only in your dominant hand or do you switch it up?

  • I sharpen both knife faces with the handle in my dominant hand

    Votes: 36 54.5%

  • I sharpen one face with my right hand and one with my left hand

    Votes: 14 21.2%

  • It depends...

    Votes: 16 24.2%

  • You know nobody ever really answers KKF polls, get a life

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    66
  • Poll closed .
SeattleBen said:
As a lefty I feel like I'm more ambidextrous than a lot of people but flipping has felt really strange.
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Yes, this is what I was getting at. Lefties are living in a right handed world thus making us more ambidextrous perhaps. Therefore we might be more likely to switch hands when sharpening as opposed to just flipping the knife over.
 
Switcher reporting in. I don't have to change my finger positions so there is only one way I have to learn to hold the knife, just different hands.

Also, the handle issue with flipping.
 
I'm a flipper, hold a more steady angle that way, my bevels are more uniform. Have never had the handle problem spoke of, didn't even know it was a thing.
 
I am currently practicing sharpening with my teeth. Inspired by One Piece.
 
ian said:
Wow. I had to start using my left for various things this past year because of tennis elbow, and it’s been incredibly frustrating. I go out to teach my son how to throw a baseball and he can already do it better than I can. :)

Wonder if there’s any benefit to cutting food with both hands, beyond the double cleaver chop... petty on one side of the cutting board, gyuto on the other, efficient workflow!
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Off topic but after 20 years of tennis elbow pain, I had surgery on both elbows.
They are almost like new now.
 
kwk1 said:
Off topic but after 20 years of tennis elbow pain, I had surgery on both elbows.
They are almost like new now.
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Wow, that's heartening. In my case, I think my whole body is just shot at age 36. Haven't been able to type for more than 5 minutes at a time for the past 12 years due to carpal tunnel, and I even gave myself a multi-year rotator cuff repetitive stress injury from playing too much pool a while ago.

Takeaway: if I had decided to work in a kitchen instead of as a mathematician, I'd be dead by now.
 
Sometimes I flip and sometimes I switch,depends on the knife.I can switch on the shorter ones.My edges always come out better if I just flip.I am still wobbly with my left hand on the switch.Been practicing for awhile now but I think I will just keep at it with the dominant hand.
 
stringer said:
So when I sharpen single bevels use my dominant (right) hand to hold the knife for both faces of the blade. I do the bevel and then flip it over and do the flat all with the handle in my right hand. I do it this way because I don't do too much single bevel sharpening do when I do I want the full control of my dominant hand.

However, for double bevel I prefer to switch hands. So I do the right face of the knife with the handle in my right hand and the edge facing me. Then I do the left face with the handle in my left hand and the edge facing me. I do it this way because I find it easier to keep everything apexed throughout my progression if I'm always facing the edge. The handle gets in the way when you need to sharpen the heel otherwise. And my back, neck, and shoulders seem to hurt less when I switch than when I do everything righthanded.

So, I'm just curious what other people do and why.
Please discuss.
Thanks
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I'm about 80% ambi (trained it up) but i still do mainly right hand. i just adapt my technique. I feel adapted tech is better than switching hands for me. But I can do both if required.
 
I just flip myself over and hang from the ceiling when it's time to change sides. This way I can keep the knife in my dominant hand, and sharpen with the edge facing me on both sides.
 
i hold a hockey stick left, and a baseball bat right, so i thought i might be a candidate for switching hands while sharpening, but nope, i vastly prefer flipping. i think the common theme in all three cases is left hand regulates power, right hand regulates angle.
 
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