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Free Style sharpening, a dying art?
- Thread starter Carney C
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2008
- Messages
- 26,045
A belt grinder or paper wheels still count in my book as long as you aren't using a jig. You still have to hold a consistent and appropriate angle against the stone on your own.
I like what I am hearing. It's therapy for many of us. I admit the only thing I like more about my knives than using them, is sharpening them.
It's. not unusual to hear me at 3am stopping a 3/8" tall convex bevel. I spent a few hours getting right. I like Hard Use knives & maintaining is the key. Don't. give it a chance to get dull. Saves alot of steel removal .I call it Free style cause I grant you, not one of us do it the same. John Lee Hooker & Lightning Hopkins , rest there souls where 2 of the greatest country bluesmen, ever. They called them "air preachers" cause neither ever wrote a song on paper, (Hopkins had close to 600), they where Free Stylers .
My style changes from what I am going to use it for & I like knowing I can sharpen a knife for one job today & differently if needed.
For starters , don't get one of your $700 folders & go to town.But get you a good knife, a stone& learn
A young man came over trying to sell me some very sharp cutlery the other day, & very expensive . His last test was he drew a small thin paring knife pretty easy through some 1" manilla . I pulled my Trex from behind my back and told him to watch. I set the edge I had just sharpened on the rope, & gently with my thumb on spine , pushed the edge through the 1" rope.He tried his, wouldn't dent it. He asked to try mine & was blown away at the task. I showed him how to do his that way, cause he had never Free Styled before.
Sorry for rambling. I am Proud of the men &women on this forum who take the time to learn the dying art, & develop Knife Sharpening Free Styles that are unique as the person, the knife& its intended use
It's. not unusual to hear me at 3am stopping a 3/8" tall convex bevel. I spent a few hours getting right. I like Hard Use knives & maintaining is the key. Don't. give it a chance to get dull. Saves alot of steel removal .I call it Free style cause I grant you, not one of us do it the same. John Lee Hooker & Lightning Hopkins , rest there souls where 2 of the greatest country bluesmen, ever. They called them "air preachers" cause neither ever wrote a song on paper, (Hopkins had close to 600), they where Free Stylers .
My style changes from what I am going to use it for & I like knowing I can sharpen a knife for one job today & differently if needed.
For starters , don't get one of your $700 folders & go to town.But get you a good knife, a stone& learn
A young man came over trying to sell me some very sharp cutlery the other day, & very expensive . His last test was he drew a small thin paring knife pretty easy through some 1" manilla . I pulled my Trex from behind my back and told him to watch. I set the edge I had just sharpened on the rope, & gently with my thumb on spine , pushed the edge through the 1" rope.He tried his, wouldn't dent it. He asked to try mine & was blown away at the task. I showed him how to do his that way, cause he had never Free Styled before.
Sorry for rambling. I am Proud of the men &women on this forum who take the time to learn the dying art, & develop Knife Sharpening Free Styles that are unique as the person, the knife& its intended use
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2008
- Messages
- 26,045
LOL it was a Cutco salesman wasn't it? Those demonstrations are awful silly. KA-BAR (which is awesome) makes those knives, by the way, but they're marketed by Vector (which is slimy)
What surprised me is, how many knife knuts get taken in by the knife sharpening gizmo salesmen's hype. They've made knife sharpening into some hard to do task that seems impossible without the latest miracle gizmo. People just don't realize that there is no rocket science to this, no mysterious arcane art, but just a simple task that if you can walk and chew gum at the same time, you can sharpen a knife with a 5 dollar stone from Lowes.
I've met too many young knife guys that think unless they have a hundred dollar piece of equipment, they're doomed to a dull knife. I don't know where these guys fathers or grandfathers were, but they really fell down on the job.
It's a damm shame that such a simple thing has become a almost lost art.
Carl.
I've met too many young knife guys that think unless they have a hundred dollar piece of equipment, they're doomed to a dull knife. I don't know where these guys fathers or grandfathers were, but they really fell down on the job.
It's a damm shame that such a simple thing has become a almost lost art.
Carl.
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2008
- Messages
- 26,045
I know! It's literally as simple as keeping a consistently angled stroke against an abrasive surface. Sure there are nuances to it, but I firmly believe that ANYONE can learn to freehand well enough to at least put a working edge on a knife.
For the time being I only freehand convex edges + stropping. I'm sure I could get a decent edge freehand on a stone, but the thing is: a little over a year ago I didn't know what "sharp" was. Or rather I didn't know how sharp I could get a knife. I feel like I've taken a good road by starting with the sharpmaker to get a hang of the basics, then getting an edge pro to see how sharp I can get a knife. It really helps to have a benchmark to see what's doable. Then adding stropping and sandpapers. Next step for me is freehand sharpening on stones. Sure, I could have gone straight to the stones, but odds are that I would've given up or settled for a mediocre edge since I'm learning this on my own.
And I've learned a lot from my father and grandfathers. Knife sharpening just wasn't one of those things.
And I've learned a lot from my father and grandfathers. Knife sharpening just wasn't one of those things.
Ha ha, you nailed it
He came back with a clip point hunter, & wanted me to do a hard use test & put it on the net(when he found out this my thing) Lets just say I wouldn't post it & damage there reputation over this knife. Blade.was.barely 1/16" thick. He says he has a drop.point that's thicker he is sending me next week. Anyway i asked the guy if Kabar made them because of the Olean NY stamp on it. Again i get alot of knives to test, not saying Cutco has an inferior product , but there camp knives are in the $100's and a $13 mora. would held up better anyday . If the drop point isn't thicker than the clip I am gonna just tell him since in breaking another knife......anyway, lets hear some of the families Free Style techniques
I think that's the best way tobreak into it bro , &you will have a heads up on what you want to achieve
See, another good reason to Free Style
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2008
- Messages
- 530
GREAT story!
I usually use a small grinder for my edges. But nothing beets the feel of free handing something.
I freehand all my kitchen knives, chisels and plane blades.
This was by hand 100 percent.
This was off the grinder. The busse ak is way to big to do by hand haha
GREAT story!
I usually use a small grinder for my edges. But nothing beets the feel of free handing something.
I freehand all my kitchen knives, chisels and plane blades.
This was by hand 100 percent.
This was off the grinder. The busse ak is way to big to do by hand haha
Nice my friend
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 990
I bought myself a Sharpmaker about three years ago, and it works great. But I also wanted to learn to sharpen my knives freehand. I can get SAK steel, 1095, and Case CV pretty sharp with a Smith's medium stone, and hone it a bit on the back of a coffee cup or one of my white Sharpmaker rods. I haven't really tried any of my one handers recently because I haven't carried them in a while. I like the simplicity of the sharpmaker, but also content myself in the knowledge that I could field sharpen my knives, if need be.
I currently use a Lansky system now but would like to soon get a couple stones and learn how to sharpen freehand. I think more than people not knowing how to sharpen their knives freehand is not knowing how to sharpen at all. There are quite a few guys in hunting camp that I sharpen their knives for every year because they simply do not know how or don't want to know how.