Angle sharpener vs freehand

RugerNurse said:
Not a debate on which is better but does one offer better long term results that the other?
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That is going to depend on your skill level, but I believe a monkey could use a WE. With freehand you are going to remove material slower and be more aware of the material you are removing. You can eat a lot of material if you are'nt careful with a WE.
 
I still need to get a set of stones to start practicing on. I have the Worksharp Precision which works well for a beginner like me.
 
I just don't have the talant to freehand sharpen anything. I have, for years, used a Lansky system on my small pocketknife blades.

Wish there was something similar that would handle a 5"-7" fixed blade or even a kitchen knife.
 
I do the angle on my better knives, but free hand/angle on my beaters/works. I find that the edges on the newer better knives the angle just touches it up perfectly. My users get the rough grit and sand stones and that works too. But your mileage may very.
 
Honestly I've looked into buying one of those sharpening systems, but I've never pulled the trigger because it's pretty costly and I can do pretty well by hand.
My personal opinion is that freehand sharpening is good for personal development and it's a point of pride when you can do it well.

Now I can't argue with the beautiful results that some of those systems get- impossibly even bevels look great.
I don't personally feel it's worth it, however, and it's nice to know that I can do it myself if I just have some stones.
 
EngrSorenson said:
Honestly I've looked into buying one of those sharpening systems, but I've never pulled the trigger because it's pretty costly and I can do pretty well by hand.
My personal opinion is that freehand sharpening is good for personal development and it's a point of pride when you can do it well.

Now I can't argue with the beautiful results that some of those systems get- impossibly even bevels look great.
I don't personally feel it's worth it, however, and it's nice to know that I can do it myself if I just have some stones.
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Any tips for getting started with stones?
 
VS, it’s not so much talent as practice and muscle memory, and to some extent familiarity with your stones/rods/plates/whatever. Freehanding is not only a valuable skill in itself, but gives you a good understanding of abrasive fundamentals if you want to move to power equipment.

It’s not for everybody though, it can be messy and fussy and of course, time consuming.

For some people, it depends on the results you’re shooting for, and your budget of time and money. If you need perfectly symmetrical bevels polished to 10K, you can get there faster on some kinds of guided systems. If you just want to cut stuff effectively, the freehand method can produce that level of sharp on more different cutting tools much cheaper.

Also, abrasives come in some pretty small packages these days, very pocket portable. If touchups anywhere anytime appeal to you, freehand methods accommodate that easily. Guided systems are generally heavier and more bulky.

Parker
 
RugerNurse said:
Any tips for getting started with stones?
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Sure- get yourself a knife to practice with, or one you're comfortable practicing on, and then invest in a nice enough set of stones.
If you're looking for an inexpensive way to break into it, I've been having good luck with FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades brand of sharpening stones for an inexpensive but effective choice.
I also have DMT stones from Extra Coarse through Extra Fine.

I personally recommend getting a course and fine stone, and learning on the course. Many mistakes I've made sharpening have been due to fatigue from working longer on a finer stone than I had to.

Then finally- and this is the painful bit- go slow and visualize the angle you're trying to get. perfection isn't required.
I don't know what I freehand my knives to- the exact angle isn't important to me: I aim for consistency.

There's lots of different ways to check to see if you're sharpening the part of the blade that you're intending.
Most folks with run a sharpie along the bevel so they can see what they're sharpening.

After a while, it will become second nature, and pretty fast.
FortyTwoBlades has a pretty good video of using a pocket stone, because it shows how you can effectively apply an edge without too much fussing around.
 
Lighter pressure than you think. Just let the weight of the knife and the cutting ability of the stone to do the work for you. If you press the edge into the stones you remove too much material, cause rolls and even micro chips on the edge (depending on which alloy you are sharpening) and make it more difficult to hold the desired angle.

Focus on the desired angle and not pushing. Also realize now that you will be creating a slightly convex edge because its impossible to hold the perfect angle every second you are working.

Color the edge with a sharpee and you will be able to see which part of the edge you are removing material from as you work.

I do 10 strokes on one side, ten on the other. 9 and 9, 8 and 8, 7 and 7 all the way down to one.

Then, if you need to, move to a finer stone and repeat.

Finish on a strop.

I use spyderco sharpmaker rods or pocket stones and for most applications.

As long as you dont allow the knife to become dull beyond a working edge and are smart about what and or how you cut, you will only need to do touch-ups and rarely if ever actually re profile.
 
Also, I hold the stone in my hand, but a spyderco sharpmaker using the base will absolutely make it easier for you to keep a pretty accurate angle.
 
RugerNurse said:
Any tips for getting started with stones?
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Gitcherself some stones and scrape yer knives across’em.

Seriously, many people have done fine (with basic steels) on a $6 combination stone from the nearest hardware store. I’d buy 10 bucks worth of garage sale paring knives and focus on holding your desired angle at first. Try to make a smooth stroke that abrades the length of the blade in the length of the stone.

Practice a lot. When you get them sharp, dull them on a scrap piece of steel and sharpen them again.

Choose a method of gauging sharpness, paper cutting is good. Then you can see what works.

Parker

Edit to add: Riz’s tips are better than mine. Do what he said. Except try finishing on a smooth butchers steel for simple carbon steel blades. Not that stropping is bad, just try both and see which one you like.
 
project farm tested knife sharpeners that use angles, and a stone by hand. he tested sharpness, then tried to dull them to find out which held an edge better. only the $900 wicked edge held a better edge than the stone and he claims to be a rookie at using stones
 
I might grab some cheaper stones and practice. Honestly the Worksharp thing gets good results. I just didn’t know if constantly using it would start to hurt the angle after awhile. But as Riz! Stated, it’s easier to keep them honed and stropped than always sharpening
 
It depends on the guided sharpener but I find that with mine I can remove the least amount of metal to get the edge back to being sharp. I do believe a good guided sharpener can make your knives last longer. A good guided sharpener will always be more stable and repeatable than any other method of sharpening. Bear in mind that I don't think there are that many "good" guided sharpeners.
 
I think people make free hand sharpening more complicated than it really is. It's a real simple thing. It takes a little practice but there is no reason at all for someone not to get good results right away.
Just pick out a simple sharpening video like this one and don't over complicate it with to much information. There will be plenty of time later to dig into all the nuances you could ever imagine.

 
Knife sharpening comes down to a few basic skills. Both freehanding and guided systems have their place; but for most people, high-quality guided systems will produce better results.

Picking the edge angle and edge width: Knowing how to match the edge angle and edge width (behind the edge width) to the steel alloy, the heat treat and the use of that knife is important because it optimizes the knife's performance. Edge width usually requires a blade reprofiling, although either freehand or guided systems can grind off the shoulders to get a poor man's regrind. A guided system can give you an exact angle -- any angle. Highly skilled freehanders can hold a fairly consistent edge angle, but they cannot usually dial in any angle without a jig.

Holding a consistent angle: Guided systems are superior, although highly skilled freeholders can hold a pretty constant angle and definitely create a super sharp edge.

Stone quality and grit progression: Freehanders definitely have an advantage in choice of high-quality stones and grit progression, especially over cheap guided systems. However, quality guided systems, such as Wicked Edge or EdgePro, offer a wide selection of high-quality stones and grits.

Burr management: Not a lot of difference.

Stropping: Guided systems can have a big advantage for less experienced sharpeners, because the angle of the strop can be held perfectly parallel to the bevel, with only light pressure needed to give the edge a performance boost.
 
Part of freehand sharpening - in fact, maybe even the BIGGEST part - is acquiring a sense for the difference in feel of contact with both the bevels and the apex. If that feel is adequately developed, the notion that freehand sharpening removes too much metal or somehow is less reliable in producing a sharp apex goes right out the window. That acquired feel is what's responsible for extending the life of the blade, instead of shortening it. This means, in a single pass, a skilled freehand sharpener can make an immediate adjustment to angle and pressure simply by feel alone. So an edge can be brought back to optimum sharpness in an absolute minimum of passes, taking maybe 30 seconds to a minute's time. Another aspect involves making wise choices of the stone grit needed to give the edge just what it needs and no more. That also helps extend blade life, as overgrinding sometimes is the result of using coarser stones than necessary, or using additional, unnecessary grit progressions. So, the greatest benefit, long-term, to learning freehand sharpening, is when the process becomes purely based on feel and intuition, and no longer reliant on specialized gear to get it done.

Now, until one acquires the feel for contact and the intuition for what is actually needed to restore the edge, it's possible that the process of learning freehand will result in overgrinding and the shortening of a blade's life. That's where a guided system can help. But in training the hands for freehand, that overgrinding tendency is part of the learning process and an obstacle to be overcome, and therefore a big motivator to improve freehand skill.
 
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