Need one handed sharpenin' help.

T. Erdelyi

T. Erdelyi

Joined
Feb 3, 2001
Messages
32,359
Alright any of you fine folks who know me here probably know I had shoulder surgery a few days ago, now I'm basically house bound for now, I can go out but because of the surgery and the meds right now I'm limited to my activities.

I'm already goin' crazy 'cause of the lack of ability to use my right arm but I'm workin' around most of the normal one armed obstacles, the one that's got me temporarily stymied is sharpenin' my knives.

I do 90% of my work on bench stones and hones, I have a Sharpmaker, rarely used except for some quick kitchen touch ups, actually my 8" fine eze-lap takes care of most of that work, I have a custom stocked Lansky sharpenin' system, haven't touched it in 15 years, several bench wet stones and diamond hones plus an EdgePro Apex all loaded out.

I've been freehand sharpenin' for 35 years and my muscle memory is such that I can freehand without lookin' what I'm doin', (although I always watch anyway outta habit) but now I only have use of my left hand and even though I'm basically ambidextrous I'm predominately right handed when it comes to sharpenin, (never thought to practice both hands, I will when I get better though).

Now short of buyin' a belt grinder or paper wheels, which right now, even paper wheels aren't in my budget, based on what I have, how would ya sharpen my knives one handed and the weak hand at that?
 
The same way as you would with your right. Many people freehand sharpen with just one hand, because they can't use their weak hand for precision tasks.
 
I feel your pain brother, I'm coming off of some very involved wrist surgery. I used to switch hands and then I had to relearn how to use just one hand for control, and one for guidance, both sides. I actually improved my edges a bit. Get a Sharpie and some not so favorite knives (you must have a couple that get called upon to test out new stones or technique), and get to it. At the very least, you'll have learned something that will help when you get your shoulder back. The really tough part, you need some help from your off hand no matter what hand you use, so being down one entirely is a whole other ball game.

Do your PT and best of luck,
HH
 
I guess there's no time like the present to sharpen my off hand skills, (pun intended), I'll use my fingers on the spine as a consistent guide/gauge and just have to practice my smooth transitions as I come to the curved portion, (belly of the blade).

I can probably pinch the blade along the spine between my thumb and other four fingers and draw it across the bench stone pretty good, now I wonder what would be the best blade pattern to start with, sheepsfoot, single edge bevel, chisel grind?

I'll have to try some out, set the camera up on a tripod and set the selftimer to take a pic, this could take a while. ;)

I have an old pedal powered sharpenin' wheel, I could try that. :)
 
The Sharpmaker comes with four mounting holes in the base. I would suggest mounting it to a work bench/ sacraficial board and use your off hand. Maintaining your vertical angle and building your muscle memory will be the important part to be aware of at first. I would say only sharpen for 3-5 minutes at a time or until you feel slightly fatigued, then stop for a while and do something else that is restful. Then when you feel like you are ready again, give it another go. I had surgery on my right hand a few years ago, and I learned the Sharpmaker with my "off hand".
 
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