proficient at freehand sharpening?

M

microtech85

Joined
Dec 1, 2015
Messages
468
Hello, i am curious, how many here on this forum are proficient at free hand sharpening on stones? I consider myself proficient, i have been steadily improving over the past ten years. I can get cpm steels "push cutting reciept paper sharp" using spyderco ceramics.
 
I consider myself proficient doing free hand. I have tried a few of the systems and have never been all that pleased with any of them. As far a push cutting paper goes its ok to test but I like to push cut with a piece of wood. I really like aggressive cutting edges. There is always room for improvement using stones.
Just my 2 cents.
 
I do freehand sharpening.

Just ordered some sharpening compound and stropping leather.

It takes time to get better.
 
I'm pretty good at it. I normally use 3 Shapton stones (1000, 4000, 8000) and give all of my edges a nice, hair popping mirror polish whether they're convex or V edge. In the case of extreme damage or re profiling I'll break out a coarser grit, but that's usually not needed.

I got there by practicing, plain and simple. It takes practice. Start with some knives that you aren't afraid to mess up on.
 
Not proficient enough. I used to do all my pocket knives freehand using King waterstones in 250, 1000 and 6000. Same stones as I use for tools. Results were OK but I struggled with larger, more curved or more flexible knives. Should really get back in practice but recently I've been using the Sharpmaker more than freehand.
 
I've sharpened a few knives freehand ;)
 
I am inconsistent with stones, and need to practice a lot more! I have water stones and diamond stones and tend to do better with the water stones.
 
I love freehand and I took to it really well. I can typically get hair whittling edges. There is always room for improvement and I love that about freehand

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
 
free hand can never beat a guided system in terms of the symmetricity, evenness, and sharpness of the resulting edge, although I do see many very proficient free-hand people on this forum. If your knife can clean cut toilet paper, it is very sharp.
 
[video=youtube;LB-sm7M0d_I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB-sm7M0d_I[/video]
[video=youtube;DkwOw0AuEOc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkwOw0AuEOc[/video]
 
While I can get all my knives "push cutting paper" sharp, including s90v, I still cannot get perfect symmetry that is achievable on sharpening systems, but I am getting better. I feel that freehand or system sharpening both require skill, I feel that freehand is a life long learning process. As an earlier post stated, there is alway room for improvement and I agree.
 
Recently, I have also been using the fine sharpmaker stone freehand. I take a seat and stand it on my thigh. I feel like this gets very good results and is a good way to practice learning the basics of freehand.
 
Proficient. Not fast. I sharpen all sorts of drill bits and cutters free hand using my diamond paddles / diamond files or stone slips.
I even refresh the edges on my pile of box knives / razor knives rather than replace the blade and have been doing that for thirty years . . . shave sharp in not too much time.

BUT

For my nice knives . . . to get a first class edge that makes me very satisfied, thrilled, easily hair whittling, for the longest cutting, best edge . . .

I turn to my Edge Pro . . . NO QUESTION.
 
I was taught my Dad to use a Norton pocket stone to keep things working sharp on the construction job. Dad also taught me to use Bench stones like an 8 inch Norton dual grit and a Hard Arkansas Bench stone. It trail and Error some time even now. I use Sandpaper more than ever for basic maintenance.
 
sharp_edge said:
free hand can never beat a guided system in terms of the symmetricity, evenness, and sharpness of the resulting edge.
Click to expand...

That probably is true as far as the symmetry is concerned, but I would take issue with the sharpness. I have several guided systems, bought them long after teaching myself how to sharpen free-handedly because comments in forums got me thinking that they are superior. They are not -- provided you allow yourself lots of time to practice free-hand. Take a look at all the videos shown here and elsewhere featuring free-handers who demonstrate their amazing sharpening skills.

Aside from that, a guided system resembles training wheels on a bike or painting by numbers. What are you going to do out in the woods or on a boat if your well-sharpened knife is put to the test for some time and needs another sharpening? If you don't have your work bench within reach or a kitchen table to mount your guided system on, which you probably won't have with you anyway, you're lost. Or what do you do when you are far away from home and without your guided system in your suitcase, and someone who knows how proficient you are at sharpening knives that slice through toilet paper asks you to improve the edge on their favorite kitchen knife? Free-handedness does take a lot of practice, and in the end it means a lot more freedom.
 
This ^

One I started to get better at freehand I realized how many knives have warps or uneven grinds from the factory. Added precision brings them out, but you can cosmetically correct a lot of this if you care to when sharpening freehand. In that respect they turn out more even and symmetrical than on a machine or guided system.

Another thing I've noticed with my one guided unit - a wet wheel 10" grinder. It doesn't make better edges than I can do freehand but it is relentlessly consistent both in the edges it makes and time to make them. It still requires some form of manual finishing though, and is far from a no-brainer except on the simplest of tools.

While it might take added QC to freehand, actual grind time is generally less as I'm not influenced in any way by the robustness of my system. As I get older it does get tougher to pound out a number of knives by hand in succession, but I don't do a ton of serial sharpening anyway.

Another thought I trot out when this topic comes up - CATRA deliberately induces a slight convex on the edge bevel off their higher end powered sharpeners. It cuts better. The curvature being about a degree or so, comparable to a better freehand edge.
 
Novaculite said:
That probably is true as far as the symmetry is concerned, but I would take issue with the sharpness. I have several guided systems, bought them long after teaching myself how to sharpen free-handedly because comments in forums got me thinking that they are superior. They are not -- provided you allow yourself lots of time to practice free-hand. Take a look at all the videos shown here and elsewhere featuring free-handers who demonstrate their amazing sharpening skills.

Aside from that, a guided system resembles training wheels on a bike or painting by numbers. What are you going to do out in the woods or on a boat if your well-sharpened knife is put to the test for some time and needs another sharpening? If you don't have your work bench within reach or a kitchen table to mount your guided system on, which you probably won't have with you anyway, you're lost. Or what do you do when you are far away from home and without your guided system in your suitcase, and someone who knows how proficient you are at sharpening knives that slice through toilet paper asks you to improve the edge on their favorite kitchen knife? Free-handedness does take a lot of practice, and in the end it means a lot more freedom.
Click to expand...

While the "freehand vs. guided" debate is, in some respects, rather meaningless, since a lot of it relies on the skill of the sharpener, I think you might have inadvertently hit on one benefit of guided systems.... that is, it can be good "training wheels" to learn to sharpen. It allows the sharpener to learn the various aspects of sharpening while eliminating the one factor that can be the most difficult to learn... holding a consistent angle. It can also be of benefit if a sharpener wants to transition to freehand in that it gives them a nice bevel to work off of, (and a way to reset it if it gets totally messed up). ;)

Not disagreeing with you, but I think both have their place, and if you enjoy sharpening, both methods can be fun to play around with... and is a great way to continue learning IMO.
 
cbwx34 said:
While the "freehand vs. guided" debate is, in some respects, rather meaningless, since a lot of it relies on the skill of the sharpener, I think you might have inadvertently hit on one benefit of guided systems.... that is, it can be good "training wheels" to learn to sharpen. It allows the sharpener to learn the various aspects of sharpening while eliminating the one factor that can be the most difficult to learn... holding a consistent angle. It can also be of benefit if a sharpener wants to transition to freehand in that it gives them a nice bevel to work off of, (and a way to reset it if it gets totally messed up). ;)

Not disagreeing with you, but I think both have their place, and if you enjoy sharpening, both methods can be fun to play around with... and is a great way to continue learning IMO.
Click to expand...

That.^^

It's certainly not the only way to learn. But, it's exactly the path I went down, in learning to sharpen, and I recognize the value in it. The best aspect that a guided system taught me, was the 'feel' through the fingertips of consistent & flush contact with the bevels created. The guide maintains the angle, so the focus can be tuned to the feel through the fingertips, with a minimum of other distractions.

From the outset, I'd only relied on the guide for rebevelling, finding it easy enough to do light touchups without it afterward. Once that feel for the bevels is recognized by the hands, it becomes much easier to transition to freehand, and even more so after new, crisp, flat bevels are created in the first place. There was a period for me, when I was apprehensive about rebevelling without the guide, and I lingered in using it for a while longer than I probably needed to. When I finally did set about it without the guide, I discovered my hands had 'learned', seemingly on their own, that feel necessary for consistent, flush contact, and it turned out to be much less daunting than I'd assumed. After that, when I did still occasionally pick up the guide to do some rebevelling, I started to feel like the guide was just getting in my way and holding me back. That's when I new I was ready to put it away for good.


David
 
Wait a second, I do use a guided system: There's a Sharpmaker on my shelf that I use for numerous things. I take out the rods and use them free-handed on all kinds of things, from knives to peelers, because the rods' shape allows me to get into corners.

I don't know if a novice who learns to sharpen with a guided system will then find the path to free-handedness easier to navigate. I did it the other way around and discovered later that for me, guided systems are something like wearing a brace on a healthy leg. For anyone starting in I would recommend he or she go to the trouble of learning it free-handed. You then will know how to do it, period. There will be no later transition from guided system to free-hand, and that person will have the freedom to sharpen things without having to depend on anything but a stone and muscle memory.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top