A method of sharpening face-sharpened cutting blades for gears and the like comprising engaging a rotating grinding wheel and the cutting blade in a manner whereby the grinding wheel traverses across the cutting face along a grinding path wherein at least a portion of the grinding path is defined by a feed vector directed generally toward the cutting edge, with respect to the axis of rotation of the grinding wheel. The feed vector comprises components of (1) a first axis located in the sharpening plane and extending substantially perpendicular to the top of the cutting face, and, (2) a second axis located in the sharpening plane with the second axis being substantially perpendicular to the first axis. Preferably, the feed vector is directed perpendicular to the cutting edge.