Don't overthink it

[Blade Lab]

Freehanding an s30v blade from no edge to shaving sharp in 90 seconds using nothing but an Edge Pro 220 stone and a strop:

Of course it helps to be freakishly skillful at freehand sharpening!

 

[Guy McVer]

Yikes. This is ugly, but it works and that's what matters.

it helps to be freakishly skillful at freehand sharpening!

There's nothing mystical, magical or freakishly skillful here. It's mainly down to just holding the same angle consistently. Easier said than done, but that's basically all it is. Well, that plus using a very low grit stone.

If your goal is only to get a sharp edge, the specific angle itself is not even important so long as you simply keep it the same throughout the entire sharpening process. Anyone can do this with practice.

 

[Bill3152]

Muscle memory. That's it. And 220 grit deburred is a darn good edge.

 

[tinfoil hat timmy]

I genuinely enjoyed this

 

[Triple_D]

He has a bunch of videos on sharpening knives, and he always gets good results, with minimal effort.