Freehand sharpening... Maintaining a consistent angle?

Heheheheheheh... As I've just committed myself to improving my low skill at freehanding, you can take this with a grain of salt. In my opinion, the answer is practice, practice, practice :)

- Tim
 
This might sound stupid but I have zen'd out while thinking about sharpening and how to improve my skills during the process of sharpening knives.

I do a few things now to try to maintain consistency.

1. I try not to be robotic about the process. I look at each side of my blade now to check if there are even grinds to begin with.
2. I set the bevel and then work on a micro bevel
3. I try to keep my eyes a bit out of focus when sharpening, meaning I try to keep my focus on my fingertips and what I am feeling in terms of resistance in addition to the position of my wrist that is holding the knife and the fingertips of my other hand that is on the blade as I sharpen all at the same time. This out of focus-ness tends to give me a better feel fo what I am doing as well as the firm but loose wrist that I need to keep the blade at the proper angle to sharpen the blade.

More importantly I just sharpen a little bit and then I stare at the edge that I am creating to make sure that I am doing everything evenly. The hardest part right now for me is to go to a lighter and lighter touch. In most cases I'm not trying to get a super thin edge sharpened at a very narrow angle though as its not as usable as an edge that is just very sharp. If I can think slice a soft fruit or vegetable I just leave it be at that point vs the hair shaving sharp which takes a lot of stropping.
 
Lots of concentration

Shorten the stroke and use a scrubbing fore and aft type of pass.

Work shorter stretches of the edge and overlap where you work. Only work where you have to.

Put the fingers of your off hand right on top of where you're grinding

Make the fingertips of the off hand the dominant force - they push/pull and inform the hand gripping the handle where the apex is/ what your angle needs to be/speed/pressure, the grip hand follows. Those fingertips are right on top of where the steel is moving across the abrasive and have much better access to tactile feedback - tactile feedback and tons of observation are the key to consistent freehand sharpening.
 
One thing that I discovered recently that helps me get the feel of maintaining a consistent angle is Post-It paper. Most of my knives have a fairly long bevel and I can feel the difference very easily when the bevel is flat on the paper at a consistent angle and when it's riding the shoulder of the bevel or the edge.

I've been practicing this, but not long enough to know if it will help me with free handing. I do know that I get much less feedback on a leather strop or a stone.

Has anyone else tried this? Any success with it?
 
You can use a marker; mark the edge and look at it after a few stroke- adjust and continue. Later when you has got use to it, you just do freehand without marking the edge.
Did work for me. Good luck:thumbup:
 
In the beginning I always went too fast.

now ive learned to use long slow strokes, and SLOWLY speed up.
 
This is how I do it...
[video=youtube;XgOXvtJDm5E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgOXvtJDm5E&feature=c4-overview&list=UUfsHYm19KjjnUlpG8WVMZOA[/video]
 
All you need to do for a recurved or serrated blade is drop a triangular prism or 1/2 round stone on the rig. If the recurve is slight, you can use the edge of a rectangular stone. You would have to clamp wooden blocks to the flat sides to keep the stone from rolling.
 
I use an ancient Buckmaster angle guide from time to time. It clamps on the back of the blade and is useful in reprofiling the edge angle. 99% of the time I sharpen freehand, though. It's best not to be in a hurry, and to have a good base like a solid workbench for your hones.
 
cchu518 said:
I try to keep my eyes a bit out of focus when sharpening, meaning I try to keep my focus on my fingertips and what I am feeling
Click to expand...

I thought about this... Use feel as much as sight. Use as many senses as possible. I'm not sure what to listen for, exactly anyway. Yea, I don't think I was feeling the apex/bevel touch the plate as well as I could have been.
 
HeavyHanded said:
Put the fingers of your off hand right on top of where you're grinding

Make the fingertips of the off hand the dominant force - they push/pull and inform the hand gripping the handle where the apex is/ what your angle needs to be/speed/pressure, the grip hand follows. Those fingertips are right on top of where the steel is moving across the abrasive
Click to expand...

This... and what I wrote above. I need to better recognize what is going on with this.
 
I try to use my off hand as HH described, however, I seem to always have a problem with whichever lubricant I'm using (mostly usp mineral oil) getting on my fingertips which makes it impossible to use them effectively.

In fact, I've even had my fingertips slide over the apex and cut myself.

Still gotta sort that out. :cool:
 
For sharpening when slippery and off-day, I do *as pics* to keep steady angle and more importantly keep my fingers safe. For small knives, the blade holding hand mostly involve the thumb & index. If I am ambidextrous (obviously not), just mirror-flip the first pic around (ie. swap hands), would add better consistency for the right side of the bevel.
IMG_0819.JPG
IMG_0818.JPG

YMMV
 
Blunt, that seems pretty simple. :)

The part that caught my attention is the word ambidextrous. I've been working on my ambi skills. I actually find it easier, but when I think about it, it was indeed my dominant hand that slipped over the apex. Seems so simple, but obviously I'm going to have to work on it.
 
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