Sharpening For a New Guy

bgentry said:
Like most things in life, I think very few people are naturally good at sharpening. Some are for sure. Some are simply more mechanically skilled than others. But I think most people can learn to sharpen reasonably well, as long as they have a foundation for how to do it, and how to observe their results.

In the martial arts, we often hear it repeated that you need something like 3000 to 5000 repetitions of a particular motion in order for it to become ingrained and "automatic". Some people call this muscle memory. Sharpening is similar. It requires repetition to build skill and experience. Much like any other mechanical skill in life: Driving, typing, riding a bike, or even performing a job function that you do many times over. The more you do it, the better you become.

Brian.
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This is the essence of it. Also one needs to practice or do with an eye to improvement. The toughest thing about getting good results freehand is knowing what to look for and remembering to do so. After that you can narrow down cause and effect leading to improvement. Like MA, after a while you understand good form, not just imitate it and will feel off when you aren't executing properly.
 
I have a Lanskey that you can use for a while if you'd like to see if you like it. Im a Sharpmaker and strop fan personally. Let me know.
 
What Skimo said.

Started off with a sharp maker, and I was just no good at it at all. Simple enough in design and theory, and all I had to do was keep the damned knife plumb. Nope- still couldn't get the hang of it. Ended up with a drawer full of dull $$$ knives. Took a step back and thought about it - grip load of dull knives or bite the bullet for a good sharpening system. Enter Wicked Edge, and now I have more knives in the rotation with SCREAMING SHARP edges than I can shake a stick at. Yes it's expensive, but not more so than buying yet another knife and relenquishing to the 'drawer of shame' once it's factory sharp edge is gone.

Do yourself a favor and go for it. Believe me.
 
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