sharpening by freehand

[tenman]

For the better part of my life I couldn't put a decent edge on a knife. A bit over a year ago I purchased a sharpmaker and began learning as much as possible about sharpening through this forum. In very short order the SM allowed me to put a great edge on all my knives, but over the past year I think something else has happened- I have found I can now sharpen freehand. Maybe it has something to do with muscle memory and consistency, the SM does more or less force you to hold a constant angle. I have no doubt the info exchange through the board helped. I had no idea what a wire edge was (much less how to correct it), learned about it here.

I will continue to use the sharpmaker, its a great tool for touch-ups- but it sure is satisfying to be able to put a nice edge on a blade using only a stone

 

[bilrus61]

kitchen knife and a case carbon and a buck 154cm. The Case carbon steel knife takes a edge like a razor. I hold the stone in my left hand and sharpen with my right. I try to not let the stone wiggle back and forth while holding it. The less it wiggles the better the edge. Got the Case where it will shave hair with ease. Got the Buck where it will shave but you have to press a tad. Just got the kitchen knife good and sharp as I don't want any accidents in the there with the family. I used a DMT diasharp extra fine to put the edge on. Then I finished with a opaque black hard Arkansas stone that has become my fav stone of all. I'm kinda surprised the Xfine DMT won't put a shaving edge on a blade. It gets right to the hair grabbing stage,very sharp, but won't shave. About 10 strokes per side with the black Ark and man its sharp. Been freehanding blades since I was 7..........40 years ago...

 

[Buck268]

Keep practicing. I can put nice razor edges on about any knife I want with my DMT X-Fine (green) stone. Still cant master the fine stone as a finishing grit though.