Can you get wide bevels free handing?

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knifeandgun

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Aug 10, 2013
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I bet this is a stupid question but I'm pretty new to the real world of freehand sharpening and I was wondering if you can make those beautiful bevels made by WEs and EPs completely free handing
I assume the answer is yes and it takes practice to get it right and keep both sides consistent, but I thought I'd ask. I got a knife from someone who used a WE to sharpen it and it's been killing me that I can't replicate something similar( because Im a noob ha..)
I see a lot of people on here saying that they set the bevel on their WE/EP then switched to their free handing stones to do the rest.

Sorry for the dumb question but any help to push me in the right direction would be sweet!
Thanks!
 
knifeandgun said:
I bet this is a stupid question but I'm pretty new to the real world of freehand sharpening and I was wondering if you can make those beautiful bevels made by WEs and EPs completely free handing
I assume the answer is yes and it takes practice to get it right and keep both sides consistent, but I thought I'd ask. I got a knife from someone who used a WE to sharpen it and it's been killing me that I can't replicate something similar( because Im a noob ha..)
I see a lot of people on here saying that they set the bevel on their WE/EP then switched to their free handing stones to do the rest.

Sorry for the dumb question but any help to push me in the right direction would be sweet!
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Its hard to do without jigs/clamps, when I'm totally freehand, or just guided freehand (reference angle wedge), there is always convexity to the bevels
If I build up a mud/slurry on the stone, the finish looks uniform, but its still rounded/convexed not v-flat

On the other hand, if I use a clamp on the spine of the blade, then I can get them pretty flat
I used clothespins to make this fancy primitive clamp
jig2.jpg


Might also be possible with this simple jig, I've not tried it, if you don't have wood you can try it with two or three magazines, put one magazine on edge of table, and then use the other two for your wooden block, one magazine for raising a burr (lower angle), two magazines for cutting the burr off (double angle), raising the burr takes the most time, if its taking more than 5 minutes increase the angle (move closer to edge of table)
Simple sharpening jig - stefanwolf88
How to Sharpen a Knife with Paul Sellers
PaulSellersKnifeSharpeningSystem.png
EDy3aAk.png
 
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knifeandgun said:
I bet this is a stupid question but I'm pretty new to the real world of freehand sharpening and I was wondering if you can make those beautiful bevels made by WEs and EPs completely free handing
I assume the answer is yes and it takes practice to get it right and keep both sides consistent, but I thought I'd ask. I got a knife from someone who used a WE to sharpen it and it's been killing me that I can't replicate something similar( because Im a noob ha..)
I see a lot of people on here saying that they set the bevel on their WE/EP then switched to their free handing stones to do the rest.

Sorry for the dumb question but any help to push me in the right direction would be sweet!
Thanks!
Click to expand...

You can for the most part. Anytime a secure jig is used the bevel is going to be more flat than what can be done freehand. At the outside it might take a bit of observation to tell the difference, but the freehand edge will always have some curvature IMHO. It is possible to get it down to a very subtle shift though - a degree or less per side, but won't happen by accident or even with a lot of practice unless you actively work at eliminating any undesirable shifting of the tool as you work.

Whereas when sharpening is understood you have to inspect the edge as you work (often), when trying to improve your freehand precision you have to study your hands, the tool you're sharpening, unintended play in the tool as it moves across the abrasive and the effect it has on the edge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuGwd9YZ8_g
 
When freehanding a low edge angle, it's important to not try to do too much at once. Let's say you're trying to drop an edge from 20 degrees per side (dps) to 10 dps... a HUGE change! If you immediately aim for 10 dps, you're going to find it difficult to do. Why? For several reasons. One is, you're going to be grinding up on the shoulder of the blade to start with. This gives you very little stability, as the shoulder is rather rounded by comparison to the edge bevel. So you will wobble around and probably be fairly inconsistent.

Second, you won't have a very good way of determining how much progress you are making. Sure, you'll see the sides of the blade becoming flatter and developing a scratch pattern, but this is gradual. It's hard to really keep track of this, particularly if you're not very experienced.

[continued...]
 
Instead, you should aim for gradually dropping the edge angle. Try to drop the angle a few degrees at a time. This will work REALLY well! Why? First, the feel of the bevel on the stone will be maintained. If you're only dropping from say, 20 dps to 17 dps, you'll be grinding with a good part of the original bevel touching the stone to start with.

[continued]
 
This will help you FEEL the bevel flat against the stone, thus promoting better angle holding. This is an extension of Secret #1 of sharpening. As you grind a bit further, the shoulder will blend into the bevel, making an even wider, flatter bevel for you to reference against.

[continued]
 
Thanks for the advice guys! This info is quite helpful:)
Can someone post a picture example of what kind of bevel they can achieve?
This isnt a great example of my sharpening skills But it's the only one I have taken on my phone recently ha
As you can see it's not very wide
View attachment 624144
 
Bucketstoves jig works well. The only thing I add is a little piece of metal behind the blade as a rest. Very similar to an EP. I do not generally do high polish full bevels so no pics of that.
 
But if you use clamps and jigs, that's not really "freehand". ;)

And yes, wide bevels can be produced freehand (just knife, hand, and hone). I've done it several times to thin-out an edge. The results may not win any bevel beauty contests, but they work.
 
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