I just realized that I can sharpen freehand

Kaizen1

Kaizen1

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Woohoo! After sharpening endlessly on the Sharpmaker, I decided to try freehand sharpening my Leek. A few hours later, I have gone through 6 of my knives and have been able to get them as sharp as I was able to with the Sharpmaker. It's actually pretty fun. I still don't know what "burr" is and how to get rid of it. Help please...
 
The burr is the ultra thin strip of steel you get when you sharpen your knife , most commonly removed by stropping on a piece of 'charged' leather , that is , leather with a buffing or polishing compound on it.

Congrats on learning how to sharpen freehand , now practice your new skill.
:)
 
Big time CONGRATS! I have been chasing the perfect edge for about 40 years. Welcome to the quest.
 
I recently cast off the 'restrictions' of using a guided system (lansky). I have moved on to sandpaper and a leather strop, and convexing edges...
It is a good activity to get into when you are bored in the evening and have the tv on for a distraction. Get into the zen of it, and after a little practice (I still consider myself a noob), the so-called sharpness you were able to achieve before seems laughable.
Good luck!
David
 
next you will start collecting stones. So many stones that you will have to stop collecting knives. It is a very calming activity however. That zen can last for hours. dropped by BP by a noticeable amount!
 
No stones! None! I will get a belt grinder before I slide down that slippery slope!
David
 
No more 'training wheels' ? Congratulations !!! When I started out there were no 'systems' ,just stones and steels .I hope more follow you're lead !!
 
I love seeing threads like this. Free hand really is much easier than people think it is. Congrats.
 
Thanks guys. I'm already thinking about stones. As if knives weren't expensive enough...
 
I'm also able to take chips out WAY faster than on the Sharpmaker. I love this skill.
 
you know it... I'm torn between going for a decent bali (spyderfly was fun to play with, but you cant go wrong with the BM 42 I've heard) or a set of sypderco benchstones (M,F,UF) to go with my corborundum (that thing is just too course to get a good finished edge, great for a field edge though as the micro-serrations it leaves makes for one hell of a slicer!).
 
If you want to really know what a burr is then use a coarse stone and sharpen a knife till it's sharp, then make a few dozen more passes on ONE side only, you should be able to feel it quite easily :) The burrs we commonly talk about here are a bit smaller, but exactly the same sort of thing.
 
You know whats funny... When I was a kid my Gradpa Reynolds tried to tech me how to sharpen , now bear in mind this man was a man's man. Lumberjack , farmer , grew and hunted most of his own food. The knives I inhereted from him and nothing fancy , most of you would probably walk away from them in a flea market but they worked and back then our hobby/knifestyle was nothing compared to what it is now.
Anyways , he tried to teach me on a Boy Scout knife I had and a little cheapie sharpening stone , Grandpa's stone lube was spit , lol.
Finally I got it... after a few hours of alternatly practicing sharpening , eating watermelon and dodging my older cousins dirt clods , I got the gist of it.
When I was a kid I could sharpen fine , it didnt look good but it was functional.
Then in my teens I lost the skill completly , tried sharpening my Dad's filet knife I recall and failed miserably. It was not until a few years back , after a lot of practice and cursing and cuts I had my old skill back.
Now I can sharpen by hand with the best of them , and without a scratch on the blade. :D
As a223cat said , now you'll start getting stones , you'll realize what stones are relegated to 'dirty work' and which stones are your finishing touch stones.
You'll know what ones are crap and what ones will offer a lifetime of service.
 
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