circular motion?

B

bennyG19

Joined
Sep 22, 2007
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When I was a kid I always watched in amazement as my grandpa sharpened his little pocketknife on a stone and then it would be sharp. He showed me how but I never really paid attention. I'll probably ask him to show me how he did it this weekend when I go over to his house. I always remember him using small circles on the stone instead of a slicing motion, and it seemed to work for him. I've got a sharpmaker that I use but I'd like to learn freehand sharpening. Just out of a habit from watching him I started using the circular motion and it seems to work okay. I ordered a Norton India stone but for now I've been using the little pocket sharpener from CountyComm.com. I can't get the knives near as sharp as I did on the sharpmaker, but I understand it's a learning process. I guess my question is: Is it okay to use circular motions, or do you have to 'slice' across the stone?
 
Whatever works and is comfortable for you is the correct technique, but I encourage you to try a variety of techniques and see what works best for you. I personally use a "slicing" technique, allot of people use a back and forth technique using both hands with the edge facing towards or away form them, there are many techniques you can try. Also keep in mind that the technique isn't nearly as important as how consistent you are when using it.

There may be several reasons other than technique that your not getting as good of an edge;

1. The stone your using is not as fine as the Sharpmaker finishing stone, and thus is leaving a coarser edge.

2. Your not getting the two planes of steel to meet and form a sharp edge, this could also be because of the grit of the stone, if its not coarse enough, you may not be removing enough metal to actually form an edge. The ideal solution is to have a progression of stones form coarse to fine grit, this also makes sharpening allot faster.

3. you could be forming a burr that you're not getting rid of. With the sharpmaker you stroke on both sides of the knife at the same time (usually), thus burr formation is minimal. When sharpening one side at a time, a burr usually forms on the opposite side (you can feel it with your thumb), if you don't eventually get rid of the burr, you will not have a sharp edge.

I'd be happy to try and help you trouble shoot what is going wrong if you would like. I applaud you for wanting to learn freehand! It's a very useful thing to be able to do, and very rewarding.
 
My dad taught me to sharpen a knife using a circular motion. Starting from the tang and working towards the tip of the knife. It worked for him his whole life and it works for me too. It's all about maintaining the angle, no matter what method you use.
 
The circular motion is not precise, and thus will give you a quick convex edge. Its how I rebevel my knives.
 
i use the circular motion for touch ups with my tiny stone, as it is too small to hit the entire edge with a slicing motion.

with my big stone for actual sharpening i use a slicing motion.
 
samhain73 said:
The circular motion is not precise, and thus will give you a quick convex edge. Its how I rebevel my knives.
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A circular motion can be just as precise as any other method. I think on average people find it more difficult to hold a consistent angle with it, but that doesn't mean it's not possible to be precise. Like I said, he should experiment with different techniques and find what works best for him.
 
I tend to use a circular motion on the courser stones when reprofiling and a slice motion on fine and polishing stones. Different strokes for different folks I suppose.
 
Congratulations on your interest in free hand sharpening! As others have said "different strokes for different folks". Maintaining blade angle is your biggest enemy when sharpening regardless of your method with the ultimate goal to bring both sides of your sharpened edge together. If you're having trouble, consider using a stack of coins on both ends of the stone to help you maintain your blade angle. Don't flip your blade until you get a burr on the side you're working on (the entire edge). Once you've raised the burr on your other edge, raise the edge just a bit (another dime) and work your edge lightly until you've removed the final burr. Give both edges a little more work at the new angle and you should be good to go. If you have access to a strop or some cardboard (a legal pad works great), give your edge a few strokes spine first to finish the edge.

NJ
 
My dad used a figure 8 motion to sharpen the tips of knives. He did alot of whittling.
He said he learned it from his stepdad, and boy does it sharpen the hell out of the tip.
Also eats metal like crazy, but his knives were tools, when the blade was ground all the way down, he just bought another one.
 
The circle method can be quick-n-dirty or as fussy as you choose to make it. It can be done in a way that hogs off large amounts of steel and makes the knife all scratchy looking or done to lightly polish the edge with barely any steel removed. The edge might end up lightly convexed and seemingly flat or highly convexed, but that's what always happens when human hands sharpen freehand.
 
I'd agree whatever stroke your using doesn't matter as long as you get both sides to meet at a fairly shallow angle. I even believe that it doesn't matter if you hold the same angle for each stroke. Like said before if your angle isn't the same all your doing is creating a convex edge witch is just as sharp as any other type edge. I personally use a back and forth scrubbing motion with some circles also and then finish with a slicing stroke.
 
The cicular motion is good and quick, but doesn't leave a very homogenous edge grind. By that I mean the microserrations are incohherrent. This, as opposed to a slicing motion, tends to leave an edge volunerable to degration.

That said, I use the circular motion very often to form the edge up then switch to slicing for a little bit to align all the micro serrations and get a good, refined edge. This technique is especially usefull with an arkansas stone (like my pocket stone).
 
A couple of points:

Angle is important, but grinding all the way to the edge and forming a burr on the other side is more important. You need to create a burr on each side of the edge, then lightly remove it. I form a complete burr a couple of times per side, just to insure the edge is clean.

You can get the correct angle by marking the edge with a Sharpie marker. Watch as you grind to make sure you remove marker from the entire edge, not just the shoulder or edge itself. Each time you work an edge, mark it first. If you go up in grit, mark it each time you do. You will be surprised at what a difference this makes.

As you refine your edge, use lighter and lighter circular motions. This will make a huge difference. On your final passes, you should barely grind away any steel at all.

Keep your stones absolutely flat. Grind them against the concrete sidewalk if you don't have another way to lap them. Throw sand on the driveway and grind them flat--anything to keep them flat. On my waterstones, I flatten between each knife I'm sharpening (esp. on the coarser stones). Absolutely flat stones = sharper knife.
 
RobbW said:
grind them flat--anything to keep them flat. On my waterstones, I flatten between each knife I'm sharpening (esp. on the coarser stones). Absolutely flat stones = sharper knife.
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:thumbup: Preach on, Brother RobbW!

If only one stone is being used and the knife isn't single-bevelled, it probably doesn't matter too much, but it makes a world of difference if two or more stones are used.
 
thanks for all the tips guys. this should help me a lot.
i have another question. i got the norton india coarse/fine stone, but for the life of me i can't tell which side is coarse and which side is fine. one side is orange and one is gray. This is the stone I got.
Thanks again
 
I started dancing with live rattlesnakes and speaking in tongues after RobbW's witnessin' and Thom's testifying!
 
In the beginning Shapton created stone and base. But the stone had no form. It was dished, covered with pits and gouges. Then Shapton said, "Let there be referencing surface". And there was surface. Shapton saw that the surface was good. But surface alone was not enough, so Shapton said, "let there be abrasive media". And there was media. Shapton commanded referencing plate and abrasive media, "Go forth and bear flat". And they did, and Shapton saw that flat was good. And knife saw that flat was good. Thus knife and stone begat sharp. And sharp married with OCD to beget knifenut.
 
ninjajoe said:
In the beginning Shapton created stone and base. But the stone had no form. It was dished, covered with pits and gouges. Then Shapton said, "Let there be referencing surface". And there was surface. Shapton saw that the surface was good. But surface alone was not enough, so Shapton said, "let there be abrasive media". And there was media. Shapton commanded referencing plate and abrasive media, "Go forth and bear flat". And they did, and Shapton saw that flat was good. And knife saw that flat was good. Thus knife and stone begat sharp. And sharp married with OCD to beget knifenut.
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