PLEASE HELP an idiot sharpen his knife

Torogoz said:
Thanks! Still learning my way around. This is helpful.
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Practice is key also.
You have to grind away on a stone to get a feel for everything and develop your technique.

Good lighting and magnification are a must.
You have to be able to evaluate the edge so you know how to proceed with stones, grit etc and if you cannot see the edge it is hard to evaluate the edge.

After you finally apex and get a burr you really need to watch pressure.
At this point only the weight of knife is normally needed.

Get some old knives out of the kitchen or garage and sharpen them.
You will see also that no two knives sharpen the same (feel similar on stone) so you will adjust to that also.

Get a lot of practice in , be aware of the pressure used and inspect your edge often when grinding and you will be getting sharp edges soon.
 
The suggestion to watch some videos is a great one. Nothing like watching someone else do it the right way. For burr removal, personally I like a strip of leather from an old belt. I had a lot of trouble before I got burr removal down pat. If you have been sharpening for ages, but it still seems blunt, then strop to remove that burr. If it doesn't seem any sharper, try cutting a bit of cardboard. If its sharper after the cut, then you were getting it sharp, but you just hadn't gotten rid of the burr.
 
Maybe you try another technique? There are several ways to sharpen a knife freehand. Some prefer a wiping movement, that means you move your blade with the edge ahead from heel to tip over the stone. Or you could try a circular movement, make small circles and work your way from heel to tip. Recently I got hands on an old Bushcraft manual. The knife sharpening advice was to hold the blade at a slight angle on the stone and draw the blade toward you (with the handle towards and the tip away from you). I am sure that there are other techniques.
When I started to sharpen freehand I had problems to keep the angle steady. A circular movement instead of a wiping one helped me. That was easier to feel and keep the right angle. Maybe you try something different and see what happens.
Another mistake was that I used too much pressure. Just a slight pressure (more or less the weight of the knife) helped to get a much finer, sharper edge.
And the stone shouldn't be too fine because you need to set an edge first before you polish it.
And you need to spend the same number of strokes on each side of your knife. But I am sure that you know all that already.
I mention those thinks because that were the reasons I weren't successful at the beginning.
 
Papilio said:
Maybe you try another technique? There are several ways to sharpen a knife freehand. Some prefer a wiping movement, that means you move your blade with the edge ahead from heel to tip over the stone. Or you could try a circular movement, make small circles and work your way from heel to tip. Recently I got hands on an old Bushcraft manual. The knife sharpening advice was to hold the blade at a slight angle on the stone and draw the blade toward you (with the handle towards and the tip away from you). I am sure that there are other techniques.
When I started to sharpen freehand I had problems to keep the angle steady. A circular movement instead of a wiping one helped me. That was easier to feel and keep the right angle. Maybe you try something different and see what happens.
Another mistake was that I used too much pressure. Just a slight pressure (more or less the weight of the knife) helped to get a much finer, sharper edge.
And the stone shouldn't be too fine because you need to set an edge first before you polish it.
And you need to spend the same number of strokes on each side of your knife. But I am sure that you know all that already.
I mention those thinks because that were the reasons I weren't successful at the beginning.
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I think anyone new to sharpening should get some inexpensive knives of good steel. Then you can practice without being nervous. I was a jeweler for over 35yrs. Many times a practice on samples before doing the job. When you are confident and relaxed you do a better job. Plus this is something we do for fun....
 
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