Need some help with getting an edge

Megabassx7

Megabassx7

Joined
Jan 1, 2016
Messages
354
Hey everyone,
Name is josh and I have a terrible problem getting a blade sharp with freehand sharpening. I look at all your tips and I try them and still I stink. I have a coarse dmt whetstone 6" a fine eze lap 6" stone a lansky deluxe system and a lansky turn box. The lansky deluxe system in my mind stinks. It takes ages to do anything with an edge and when I do get a burr and progress through the stones the burr goes away and the knife is dull as hell. The turn box on 25 degree can get that same knife to shave hair with about 20 passes. When I actually feel like going to a bench stone I can never get a burr to pop up no matter how many times I pull across the stones. I use a sharpie to check and everything looks fine but no burr. I also find the curve of my blades tent to get "sharper" than the straight parts. Can anyone tell me what is going on and what I can do to properly get a decent edge freehand? Thanks for any input and sorry it's so long!
 
I'm guessing your angle holding with free hand isn't very consistent. It's possible to wipe off all of the sharpie by rocking your hand while you sharpen. So as it rocks around, you're removing sharpie from near the edge, then the middle, then up near the shoulder... but you don't grind a consistent flat bevel, and you never really reach the apex. If this is true, your bevels are probably kind of uneven looking, and you may some scratches up above the shoulder of the bevel.

If you want to get better at freehand, good angle holding is essential. You don't need to be any kind of machine, but you need to hold the angles relatively consistently with minimal rocking. Try reading Secret #1 of the Seven Secrets of Sharpening and see if that helps you at all:

Secret #1: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...Secrets-of-Sharpening?p=15569281#post15569281
Seven Secrets Main: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1353408-The-Seven-Secrets-of-Sharpening

Secret #2 might help you get better control over the entire blade and increase your angle consistency. You say you've already read a lot and I don't want to confuse matters. But the Seven Secrets work for me. Good luck!

Brian.
 
Thanks Brian. I will try this a little later tonight and post some results. You are pretty much right on with bevels looking different. I feel like such a helpless little kid haha. Thanks again for advice
 
The lansky stones cut the steel very slow, takes some patience to form an even burr along the edge.

Bgentry stuff is great.

Just don't get frustrated,

Nothings going to solve this over night, just takes practice, trial and error.
 
Thanks deadbox. I went to the lansky and put the edge at 20 and kept grinding till the bur was even. Repeated the process through stones until I completely knocked the burr off with with 1000 grit ceramic and then ran it over an unloaded strop and can now make an s cut in phone book paper. For me that's pretty neat!! I will take a break tonight and try my seal pup on the bench stones tomorrow and use the tips Brian suggested. One day I hope to be as good as all of you on this forum that can freehand. To me it's an art and would be so cool to just have the ability to whittle hair with what ever knife you want. I'll keep you updated on my slow painful journey ha.
 
Megabassx7 said:
Hey everyone,
Name is josh and I have a terrible problem getting a blade sharp with freehand sharpening. I look at all your tips and I try them and still I stink. I have a coarse dmt whetstone 6" a fine eze lap 6" stone a lansky deluxe system and a lansky turn box. The lansky deluxe system in my mind stinks. It takes ages to do anything with an edge and when I do get a burr and progress through the stones the burr goes away and the knife is dull as hell. The turn box on 25 degree can get that same knife to shave hair with about 20 passes. When I actually feel like going to a bench stone I can never get a burr to pop up no matter how many times I pull across the stones. I use a sharpie to check and everything looks fine but no burr. I also find the curve of my blades tent to get "sharper" than the straight parts. Can anyone tell me what is going on and what I can do to properly get a decent edge freehand? Thanks for any input and sorry it's so long!
Click to expand...
From the description it sounds like the entire blade isn't making even contact with the stone. Not uncommon really, as I have a tendency to do that myself. You just need to consciously make sure even pressure is applied to make sure the entire length of the blade gets scraped in the stone and remember what the sensation feels like. I generally catch myself if I hear a different noise on the stone, which is usually the flag for me that only a small part of the edge is actually rubbing on the stone.
 
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When do you guys sharpen do keep constant contact with the stone or so you do single swipes toward you then away from you? I have always thought it was easier to pull toward me with the blade facing me and then lift up the blade reset and pull again. Almost every video I see the guy keeps blade on stones constant and sort of rocks it back and forth a bunch of times and then gets the burr and flips it. Again thanks for all of your help. It is greatly appreciated!
 
I think you're asking about single direction strokes, versus "scrubbing" back and forth.

Scrubbing seems to work very well for a lot of people. For me, it speeds the process WAY up compared to single direction strokes. However, you do need to pay a lot of attention when scrubbing because it's easy to lose your angle control and start getting very "wobbly" when scrubbing. As Heavy Handed has said a bunch of times, the shorter your stroke, the more controlled it will be. Scrubbing over a small range of movement can REALLY help your angle control.

The key though is to find what works for YOU. If single direction strokes (with a lift and reset in between) give you really good angle control, then that's a good method for you.

I've found that rocking my entire body at the hips and/or ankles can give me really good consistency because I can (mostly) lock my shoulders, elbows, and wrists and let the body do the moving. I've seen/read others that do that too. It might work well for you, or it might not.

Brian.
 
Megabassx7 said:
When do you guys sharpen do keep constant contact with the stone or so you do single swipes toward you then away from you? I have always thought it was easier to pull toward me with the blade facing me and then lift up the blade reset and pull again. Almost every video I see the guy keeps blade on stones constant and sort of rocks it back and forth a bunch of times and then gets the burr and flips it. Again thanks for all of your help. It is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
I scrub:
[video=youtube;26YYh9JV5JQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26YYh9JV5JQ[/video]

I put a finger on the blade itself to try and keep it evenly on the stone. I can usually tell if the blade is only partially on the stone by how much resistance I get during the stroke.
 
Noctis3880 said:
I scrub:
[video=youtube;26YYh9JV5JQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26YYh9JV5JQ[/video]

I put a finger on the blade itself to try and keep it evenly on the stone. I can usually tell if the blade is only partially on the stone by how much resistance I get during the stroke.
Click to expand...

This is the exact way how I do it.
 
Scrubbing to get the burr.

Edge leading strokes without pressure for removal.
 
Hey guys. Sorry it's been awhile since I updated. Expecting a new baby to come any day now and it has been hectic! I did finally get my problem fixed and it was that I wasn't keeping the blade constantly on the stone. I slowed down and watched as I was pulling the blade across and could see that the apex wasn't making constant contact with the stone! Now I have my knifes hair popping sharp and slicing through phone book and magazine paper with ease..thank you all for your help!!
 
DeadboxHero said:
The lansky stones cut the steel very slow, takes some patience to form an even burr along the edge.

Bgentry stuff is great.

Just don't get frustrated,

Nothings going to solve this over night, just takes practice, trial and error.
Click to expand...

I would agree with this. I've been sharpening like 3 years now and I still run into certain knives I have a hard time sharpening.
 
You are doing doing something wrong with the lansky. My knives pop hair after the 280 grit. I hold the knife itself instead of the clamp while grinding so there's no flex and I deburr with gentle edge lead strokes.
 
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