On a scale of 1-5 where would you rate your sharpening ability?

[T. Erdelyi]

I figure on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being able to blunt a perfectly sharp edge, and 5 being able to put a hair poppin' edge on a butter knife, where would you rate your abilities?

I personally would put myself at a high 4 I can put a hair poppin' edge on most things, but until I can master VG10 and ceramic I'll be a 4 none the less.



I apologize for the mispelled words

 

[ZENGHOST]

I'd probably give myself a 4 on this scale, but it'd be the low end of a four. I gotta say, though, there are some days when I feel like a "1" .

ps...your fourth option is missing a number...

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Originally posted by ZENGHOST
...ps...your fourth option is missing a number...

Shh, don't tell anyone, I'm trying to see who doesn't notice.

 

[grommit]

3 to 4

I can usually manage to scrape off hair, but have never really got any to run in terror.

Usually end up using a jig, not freehand.

I think I need to learn how to steel well, but would probably end up dulling anything. Maybe get some steel rods in a crockstick type angle holder to keep from folding over the edge? hmmmmm......

 

[TheBadGuy]

I can put a wicked edge on a knife with a Sharpmaker and Stromp. Give me a plain stone, and your going to get a scratched up, dull, rolled edge

 

[Gary W. Graley]

I put it up to the 5 mark, but then I've been doing it since before 1st grade, or so my grandmother told me, I'd sit on a curb and rub the blade against the concrete, must be in the blood? Now I use a set of Norton Tri-Hones and then on to Spyderco flat stones and then to a leather strop, often touch ups only need the Spyderco Profile and strop to bring them back to a fine edge.

G2

 

[T. Erdelyi]

The 2 best things I ever bought for sharpening were a jewelers loupe,(I have loupes, and magnifiers from 3X to 20X) and a Diamond Bench Hone.

The loupe helped me to learn what sharp looked like,(I learned by looking at the edges on new BMs and Spydies I'd bought) and comparing it to my attempts at sharpening.

The Diamond Hone sped up the re profiling process on the harder steels.

The last piece of unsolicited advice I'll give here is practice, practice, practice, your body and brain learn through repetition.

The ability to maintain a constant angle will come with repetition.

 

[Kennieyk]

I guess A 4 . I aint tryed freehand in years so I guess I could make a usable edge freehand. I do very well with my lansky and apex .

 

[VampyreWolf]

I'd say 5, but I can't vote until I pay...

Been sharpening since my first knife, 5th bday gift from my grandfather, and only bought a 204 in 01... freehand for 14yrs so far though.

Butter knife to shaving off an 800grit stone is 15-20min. If I hit the ceramics(spydie doublestuff) and strop I'm looking at 20-25min and the hair runs.

Always learning new stuff though...

 

[John R. Fraps]

I can get to the 5 but I use my 2 x 72 variable speed belt grinder and a strop stick loaded with green chrome rouge. Put me on stones or diamonds and I doubt I could be any where near a 4, let alone a 5.

If you want to see one of the masters with a stone, sit in on Wayne Goddard's seminar at the BLADE Show sometime!

 

[J. MacDonald]

I'd put myself at a 4.75 because there's always room for improvement.

My Jr. High school metal shop teacher was a knifemaker and taught me how to sharpen freehand way back then (41 now). Prior to his instruction, I also used the curb, or more often a red brick as it seemed to let me get a better edge (finer grit?). Cinder blocks were too coarse to be useful .

I've been working freehand for all those years and only bought a sharpmaker about a year ago. It makes touch ups easier, but If I really need to do major work (on somebody else's knife, I never let mine get real dull) it's still back to bench stones.

jmx

 

[Matt Shade]

I went for 5. I sharpen free hand on about a 6 different stones and then strop with green compound. Haven't found a quality knife I couldn't get hair poppin sharp yet, and I'm a fair hand with gouges and other tools. I'm sure a few folks can get stuff a little sharper than me, but I bet I've got em on variety

 

[SilverFoxKnows]

With sandpaper and a mousepad I can get a fair working edge on 1095. With my Henckels grooved steel I can get 'em to scrape hair off but not scare the hair off.

Frank

 

[allyourblood]

i'm a -5, all the way. the one knife i "practiced" on, freehand with a stone, is less sharp than when i started! i need a sharpmaker, and someone to use it for me. i'm that bad.

abe m.

 

[Roadrunner]

I had to vote a 5 as well, without trying to be egotistical. I do my best work with my Edge Pro, but I've been doing more and more freehand lately and have gotten pretty good. Granted it takes longer, but the results are getting to be similar. I recently sharpened my BM 42SS using only a double sided Norton stone and a strop to shaving sharpness, although granted it was a fairly thick edge. It took me about 3 hours, but I was bored that night so I didn't mind.

 

[Bruz]

but not without a rig,(Harpmaker, Lannsky, ect...)

Reckon I be a 4, but I'm a tad upset cause I thought I owned all the "rigs"...where ya get the Harpmaker at?

 

[trldad]

5 with a spderco sharpmaker but a low 4 when it comes to free hand. Been out of practice that sharpmaker makes it so easy. At five or six years old my dad used to give me his dull knives, they were dull from cutting sod and into dirt, they would have made a butter knife look like a razor and he would say "Have at it boy". there was always a dull knife to practice on. Practice makes perfect or at least pretty sharp.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

None of the above. I can put a pretty darn good edge on any steel and prefer to do so free hand. There are steels that do give me problems though.

 

[panella]

With my rig, an EdgePro Apex and a leather strop I'd rate myself a 4+. I can always get my blades shaving to hair poppin' sharp. Sometimes even sharper.

On stones I'm about a 2-3. On a freehand ceramic rod I'm about a minus1. But I'm workin' on it.

Problem is that I'm good on the blades and steels that I know. But my experience is very limited in shapes and steel types.

 

[loodieboy]

Maybe I'm the reverse of the trend, but I'd say I'm only a 3 on the sharpmaker but 5 freehand. I bought the sharpmaker in search of a magic bullet, but after it ate the point of two blades, I realized it takes a touch.