With the Wicked Edge™, it is easy to sharpen in either direction and with any particular bias from either tip to heel or heel to tip. It is safer to use an "away" motion. We've tested the sharpening direction on literally thousands of blades and found the practical result to be the same whether sharpnening into the blade or away. Examined under a microscope, the edge has a very similar appearance except that there is less fragmented metal deposited along the bevel of the blade when it is sharpened from the spine outward.