Sharpening without overthinking it

Most people sharpen too aggressively and too late. The better habit is a strop every few uses and a stone only when stropping stops bringing it back.

A loaded leather strop takes thirty seconds and realigns an edge that has rolled rather than dulled. Most edges that feel dull are rolled, not worn. Ten passes a side, spine-leading, no pressure.

When a strop no longer does it, go to a stone. A 1000 grit will re-establish the edge on any of the carbon steels this shop uses; a 4000 will refine it. You do not need a progression of eight stones. Keep the angle consistent and let the stone cut — pressure is what causes a wire edge, not lack of skill.

Raise a burr along the full length on one side, flip and do the same, then alternate light passes to remove it. Finish on the strop.

If you have never done this, practice on a kitchen knife you do not care about first. It is a physical skill and reading about it does about a tenth of the work.