Excessive Amount of "Waste" material from Honing Wheel?

[cbookwal]

Bought the Handyman system at the Indianapolis show.  Wow!.  Had pretty good luck sharpening old knives - could cut paper like video, etc.

My question is that I seem to have a LOT of little black particles coming off the honing wheel.  How long should I be honing?  How much pressure?   Also, I am a periodic user only, so how much should I be re-conditioning the honing wheel after a period of time (2-4 weeks) - both mineral oil and honing compound?  

[Jeff Farris]

It is not unusual to have some residue (which is mostly old honing compound) come off the wheel.  

Honing time is a matter of preference.  There is no down-side to more honing.  The only time honing is counter-productive is if you make your angle too steep, in which case you can round over your edge.  Other than that, more is better.  I use what I consider moderate pressure.  You don't have to lean on it, but it doesn't cut as quickly if you try to baby it.  Angle is much more critical than pressure.

Be very careful about repeated application of mineral oil.  After an initial break in period, I recommend that you only use the honing compound.  If the wheel is extremely dry, then a little bit of mineral oil might help.