Free hand vs sharpening system

Draglid

Draglid

Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Messages
24
Hey guys, new to the forum, long time lurker tho. I was simply wondering, what are your opinions on freehand sharpening vs a system like the sharpmaker or edgepro ? I see a lot of people saying they prefer freehand, and am wondering if that is simply because they like the feel, or does it actually tend to yield better results ?
sorry of this is the wrong place to post this :S
 
Both can have their place. What you use to get the sharpest blade you want is the best system for you. The bottom edge of a coffee cup can be all you need. [emoji58]
 
I don't believe it matters what you use to sharpen as long as you understand what is being done to the edge as your sharpening. If you have a handful of knives that need sharpening, each knife is an individual project and should be looked at in this manner, the user making choices, what angle, what medium, how much pressure is needed, how much sharpening is needed for each individual knife. Do I have the knowledge to know when the edge has reached its optimum sharpness.

IMHO its not the system used its understanding the sharpening process.

Enjoy, Fred
 
The biggest difference it the increased ease of consistency when using a guided system like the edgepro, or something that sets up your angles for you like the sharpmaker. I've been hand sharpening ALL of my knives religiously since I was 15 in boy scouts...I'm 26, and 11 years later I finally feel like I've progressed to the point that I can maintain consistent angles, produce different angles depending on the blade and keep those different angles through grit progression, and in the last year or so I feel like I've actually started to really refine my edges beyond basic hair shaving edge. All that to say, hand sharpening is difficult to learn and develop consistent edges. It can be done, and IMO its way more rewarding. There's something really therapeutic about pulling out a couple of bench stones and knives and being able to turn out beautiful even bevels that are almost mirrored. Thats fun. But it takes work to get there.

If you like tinkering and doing things with your hands, and don't mind sharpening taking some time, then try free hand! If you're simply trying to get your knife as sharp as possible, without wasting time, then go with something like a sharpmaker and it will save you frustration.
The people you see raving about free hand sharpening enjoy the process and have spent a lot of time practicing. I think its something every knife nut should at least have a basic understanding of, but some people value efficiency over the process.
 
This. You really need to practice and master some of these methods to find out. There are many factors along the way. I have screwed up alot of blades when I was a kid free handing.
Now I always do most of my edge free hand and often finish and maintain on my sharpmaker. But even then I manipulate the knife in such a manner that I do not always just follow the rods. Even with something like that you can screw up.
I think if I ever tried to use one of these guided rod , clamp systems I would not have single clue how to achieve the final product and work the tip.

Fred.Rowe said:
I don't believe it matters what you use to sharpen as long as you understand what is being done to the edge as your sharpening. If you have a handful of knives that need sharpening, each knife is an individual project and should be looked at in this manner, the user making choices, what angle, what medium, how much pressure is needed, how much sharpening is needed for each individual knife. Do I have the knowledge to know when the edge has reached its optimum sharpness.

IMHO its not the system used its understanding the sharpening process.

Enjoy, Fred
Click to expand...
 
Yup....as mentioned above whatever works for you.
I prefer to sharpen by hand since it was how I was taught.
I have waterstones,ceramic stones,diamond stones and strop with leather afterwards.
most of the time I use ceramic stone & strop.
The secret is to not let your knife get too dull...but if you do,just requires a diamond DMT or a dc4.
If you get good results then that's all you need.
Practice & ask questions as you learn.
 
f250 said:
It can be done, and IMO its way more rewarding. There's something really therapeutic about pulling out a couple of bench stones and knives and being able to turn out beautiful even bevels that are almost mirrored. Thats fun. But it takes work to get there.

If you like tinkering and doing things with your hands, and don't mind sharpening taking some time, then try free hand! If you're simply trying to get your knife as sharp as possible, without wasting time, then go with something like a sharpmaker and it will save you frustration.
The people you see raving about free hand sharpening enjoy the process and have spent a lot of time practicing. I think its something every knife nut should at least have a basic understanding of, but some people value efficiency over the process.
Click to expand...

Well said! The Journey is the destination. It is fun to learn and to improve, new challenges on the way from small knives to big ones to recurves and convex etc. It is often frustrating too but at the end rewarding.
 
Another way to go about things is start on a guided system to establish the bevel and finish by hand.
 
I have both I like the easy of the guided system. I have some trouble keeping my angle consistent so if i do it by hand my bevels are more convex
 
Thanks for all the replies guys ! I own an apex edge pro, and after reading all this want to get into freehand, any recommendations for some high end stones/diamonds/ceramics ? again, thanks for all the great replies !
 
I free hand with A coarse DMT, and fine DMT. Then I switch to a ceramic plate like the sharpmaker has.
 
I prefer freehand. It takes longer to develop the skill needed, but once you've got it down, I feel there's a greater degree of satisfaction knowing that you sharpened the blade without assistance. I also feel that learning to sharpen freehand provides a foundation of skill on which you can eventually build more advanced skills, such as beveling, blade reprofiling, tip repair, etc.

And if you're an outdoorsman, it's nice to be able to just pack a small stone or a few pieces of sandpaper for field sharpening.

But as others have said, either is fine. It's ultimately a matter of preference. The most important things are to understand the process of sharpening and to develop proficiency with whatever sharpening method you select.

Enjoy the journey.
 
I've been free-hand sharpening for around 35 years. That's the way I was taught, and it's always worked for me producing shaving-sharp edges and keeping my recreational and work knives cutting like I need them to. So I never saw any reason to try or buy any sharpening "system".

One of the things I like about free-hand is that I can easily carry a small hone with me wherever I go, and if my knife gets dull or the edge gets damaged I can just pull out my hone, sharpen my knife, and get right back to work. Since I've never used a sharpening "system" I don't know if a table or some sort of stationary rest is required. With a hand-held hone I can sharpen a knife fairly quickly, standing up, and without the need for a table or any sort of staging or set-up.

Of course, if I am completely re-grinding the edge of a knife I will mount the hone to a table because that sort of task takes awhile.

I say, use whatever works for you. However, I recommend learning and knowing how to sharpen free-hand in case you find yourself in a situation where you don't have your "system" with you.

I use DMT Dia Sharp diamond hones these days and I've been very happy with them. Coarse and fine for basic sharpening, and extra-coarse for re-grinding edges. I used to use the cheaper DMT colored diamond hones but I prefer Dia Sharp because the entire surface area of the hone is diamond-encrusted, whereas the colored DMT hones have holes in the hones surface (less sharpening media).
 
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BellaBlades said:
I free hand with A coarse DMT, and fine DMT. Then I switch to a ceramic plate like the sharpmaker has.
Click to expand...
X2....I've always sharpened with king Japanese water stones, but since I've graduated to some knives with super steels, soft water stones no longer cut it.

DMTs are great, cut fast and a pleasure to use. They will cut even really hard steels well and consistently. A spyderco ceramic extra fine stone is next on my list!
 
I've always free hand sharpened simple because that was the way we did it in the 1950's when I was in the boy scouts and learning to sharpen our scout knives. Gizmos and gadgets were many years in the future, and when I was a kid, if you needed to shapren your knife, you sat down with a stone and did so.

I find it easy, and very convenient to carry a small diamond hone in my wallet so I can sharpen anywhere at any time. Once you get the feel of it, it only take a few minutes to touch up your edge. Won't matter if I'm sitting on a stump out in the woods or in a diner using the bottom of a coffee mug.

I still don't own any sharpening 'systems' and never will.

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Old boy scout stone I use just for yuks. It works great. Strop on the back of an old belt and it'll shave.
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