I can sharpen free-hand!

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JTR357

JTR357

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And I didn't even know it!I've been watching videos & practicing sharpening here & there.Well,I think I finally got it.:)

With a cheapo aluminum oxide double sided stone,I was able to put a working edge with even bevels,from being very dull,on my Case Slimline Trapper within 10min.


It really is easy once you get the hang of it.

So now what the heck am I going to do with the hundreds of dollars of sharpening jigs & equipment I have?:o:D
 
Too funny.

I put a new edge on my Case Barehead Slimline yesterday with a Home Depot stone too. :D

If you're like me, all that other sharpening equipment will get put away (for a while) and then you get it out at some later date when you go back to compare it to the edges you're getting freehand. Then it'll stay out for a while, get put away again, etc.

B
 
Way to go! I remember the first good free-hand bevels I put on a knife. I'd been working with a homemade jig and finally managed to get a decent bevel along most of it but it was totally awkward to use. It did show me what all the relationships were between the edge and the stone, especially going around a radius. I said to myself "soo that's how it works", set the stone flat down on the bench and whipped off a nice bevel free-hand. You never stop learning/improving, but it all starts and ends with the basics.

HH
 
Congratulations!


JTR357 said:
So now what the heck am I going to do with the hundreds of dollars of sharpening jigs & equipment I have?:o:D
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Sell them to fund the hundreds of $$$ in stones you can now confidently use :)
 
Congratulations!

Free hand sharpening can be useful.....

I was at a friend's house many years ago and he had a cleaver that was extremely dull. Did he have a stone? No. The edge was so bad that the bottom of a ceramic bowl wouldn't work. What to do? Free hand it on the cement sidewalk curb in front of his house. Not my prettiest sharpening job, but it was much better than it was and it was functional.

Ric
 
Thanks guys.I really do need some better stones now.

What do you all use to hold your stones in place?I was thinking of getting one of those rubber mats,since I don't have or have much room for a bench vise.

Also,I'm having some trouble being consistent near the tip of the edge(where it curves on a typical drop-point).I need to work on that some more.Any tips would be appreciated.
 
Stone holders are great and can make a world of difference, woodcraft is where I got mine but most places that sell stones will carry them.

Put your blade edge down on a cutting board (like your cutting something) and lift the handle rolling the edge on the cutting board up to the tip, stopping movement once you reach the tip. Now repeat this movement but while holding at a sharpening angle, use your index finger as a pressure point on the choil area (as shown on page 3 of "The first sharpening"), and let the blade follow its own curve. You will notice a pitch and roll of the blade as it moves through the belly, this is the part most miss which causes uneven grinds or dull areas near the tip.
 
Congrats! Bench stones are my favorite, at 1 time i bought a Lansky but never liked it much, with all the tinkering with different angles, sones and such it went into the junk drawer. I learned at a very early age on a stone from my Grandpa and its always been my choice ever since. I use an old Ez lap diamond stone and strop, or an old 2 sided ??? bench stone that is cupped to hell, but it still does the trick.
Good luck with your new aquired skill, you will have all your friends knives coming over for a "Spa Treatment" once they hear about it... I sharpen more knives in a week than you can shake a stick at. A couple of my friends drop off a knife and pickup a knife in rotation every week, they think its GREAT. LOL
Trust Me.....;)
 
I use a piece of board with some peg holes in it to hold the stone slipping. The board gets clamped to the work bench. This arrangement works well for me because have additional holes to accommodate the different sized stones.

When traveling, I just take a piece of the rubberized non-slip self liner to use.

Ric
 
JTR, Congrats!

i use wood panel, wet. It holds somewhat.Better solution: put some wet newspaper or paper towel below the stone ..

Sharpening belly to tip is tough. I tend to thin it too much. Good for daily use, but got damaged much easier. There's a video on Youtube showing sharpening the tip of Japanese kitchen knife. Perhaps that'll be useful. I also watch repeately how Murray Carter sharpen the belly to tip :)

Not there yet, still learning... :D
 
Thanks for all the tips guys.I went & got a small rubber mat & it holds the stone pretty well.I'm still working on refining my technique around the tip of the edge.
 
I'm far from being confident enough to try freehand on my higher end knives.I'm practicing on low priced slip-joints & cheap kitchen knives almost every day.
I still use my sharpmaker & wicked edge for the high end stuff.Hopefully soon I'll be good enough to strictly use stones & diamond plates freehand on everything.
My main problem areas are angle consistency & the area where the tip curves up.
 
I know it sounds a little strange, but a good way to understand exactly what happens around the radius is to hold the knife with the bevel flat on a table or countertop, and lower yourself down till you can see the plane of the blade itself in relation to the bevel. Rock the knife along on its bevel and note what happens to the angle of the handle and rest of the blade as you maintain that bevel/blade relationship around the curve of the blade. It used to be the tough spot for me, now its where my edges tend to be at their best. There's a lot that goes into the "basics" and as with any other craft most of us are always refining our technique long after becoming proficient. Sounds like you're getting pretty close to flying - just keep the Sharpie handy and you'll do fine.

HH
 
Per your original question, of what to do with all of your jigs & such, AND your comment about trying to refine your prowess on/near the tips of the blades:

I learned a lot about doing the tips, when using my Lansky guided setup. My clamp was mounted in a vise, so I didn't have to worry about anything moving. Allowed me to pay very close attention to the sharpening stroke, while using a magnifier to frequently inspect what I was doing. Focused on using strokes directly perpendicular into the edge (NOT sweeping along the length of the edge), when near the tip. Also places a premium on going VERY LIGHT with pressure near the tip, so as to avoid bending or rounding/blunting the tip. I've since applied that knowledge to my free-hand sharpening, and it's helped me quite a lot.

Utilized for such a purpose, some of your jigs may still have some value. There's nothing wrong with going back occasionally, and using them to fine-tune specific parts of your technique (use of light pressure, and direction of stroke), without the other variable of maintaining the angle distracting you. It helps.

And CONGRATULATIONS!, on your new-found skill. :thumbup:
 
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HeavyHanded,That doesn't sound strange to me at all.I never even thought of that & I'm going to try it right away.It makes a lot of sense.Thanks!

Obsessed with Edges,I was thinking about selling my WE,but decided to keep it.If only to rebevel with completely even bevels,it's worth keeping.My sharpmaker is so old & well used,I may as well keep that too.Plus it's so convenient for a quick touch up.Thanks for the tips as far as:
"going VERY LIGHT with pressure near the tip, so as to avoid bending or rounding/blunting the tip"
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That's something I've had a problem with from the beginning,but I'm getting better each time.

I need to get a small magnifier,like one of those jeweler's ones,because I can never "feel" the burr with my fingers.Maybe it's from my roofing days,handling shingles all the time,or maybe it's from playing guitar that de-sensitized my finger tips,but for the life of me I can not ever feel this burr everyone's talking about.Maybe I'll be able to "see" it with a magnifier.

Thanks much guys!:thumbup:
 
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