Sharpening on the cheap

Thanks guys.
I would explain, I was hoping to encourage folks to give it a shot.
It is a special feeling though.
 
Assuming the base of your home made guide is square, if you rotate the angle guide 90 degrees and hold the knife vertically, it's the same angle as if you have the guide laying flat as pictured and you hold the knife horizontally. You might have to add a little shelf to stop the stone from sliding off the guide though.

Usually when I have seen people build guided setups to put their stones on, they build it in the vertical style. Is holding the knife horizontally easier for you than holding it vertically? Because I find that the opposite is true for me, since when I look down, I can more easily see that I am holding the knife straight when it is vertical as opposed to horizontal. I'm just trying to figure out why someone would do it this way as opposed to how it is done on something like the Sharpmaker or the Turnbox, with the knife being held vertically.
 
Guy McVer said:
Assuming the base of your home made guide is square, if you rotate the angle guide 90 degrees and hold the knife vertically, it's the same angle as if you have the guide laying flat as pictured and you hold the knife horizontally. You might have to add a little shelf to stop the stone from sliding off the guide though.

Usually when I have seen people build guided setups to put their stones on, they build it in the vertical style. Is holding the knife horizontally easier for you than holding it vertically? Because I find that the opposite is true for me, since when I look down, I can more easily see that I am holding the knife straight when it is vertical as opposed to horizontal. I'm just trying to figure out why someone would do it this way as opposed to how it is done on something like the Sharpmaker or the Turnbox, with the knife being held vertically.
Click to expand...

Quite simple! Horizontal arrangement is still quite accurate, but allows much better control of the sweep and pressure of the blade.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Quite simple! Horizontal arrangement is still quite accurate, but allows much better control of the sweep and pressure of the blade.
Click to expand...

I find that the opposite is true for me. It's easier for me to control the knife vertically than it is horizontally. That is one handed, anyway. Two handed with the stone laying flat in the normal way is another story. With two hands you have full control. So I guess now I'm wondering whether this home made guide is being used with two hands or not.

Is it being used sideways with one hand, or straight on with two hands more like a traditional setup? Straight on you might have to anchor the guide to stop it from sliding around. Sideways you could hold the guide in place with your other hand to stop it from moving.

These are the details I'm curious about. I'm kinda surprised nobody else bothered to ask first.
 
I’ll definitely give the vert. suggestion a try.

The first impression of moving the knife away and up, if you will, was awkward.
It didn’t take long to become very comfortable.
I use the handle hand to keep the knife horizontal with index finger or thumb to guide the knife through the stroke. Knife in off hand (left for me) poses no problem.

The hand sharpening seems to sharpen quicker than the Lansky.
Last night I reprofiled a 6” OKC (20* to 17*) and it seemed to be relatively effortless.
It may be due to the lack of mechanical steps required with the Lansky. (?)

I certainly understand why the hand sharpening crew claims, “it’s the way”
It’s a much more personal experience. Without getting all mystical, it’s altered a lifetime of knife enjoyment, I never expected.
And as the title says, no big $ here. Moving up will undoubtably happen, in time.
 
Guy McVer said:
I find that the opposite is true for me. It's easier for me to control the knife vertically than it is horizontally. That is one handed, anyway. Two handed with the stone laying flat in the normal way is another story. With two hands you have full control. So I guess now I'm wondering whether this home made guide is being used with two hands or not.

Is it being used sideways with one hand, or straight on with two hands more like a traditional setup? Straight on you might have to anchor the guide to stop it from sliding around. Sideways you could hold the guide in place with your other hand to stop it from moving.

These are the details I'm curious about. I'm kinda surprised nobody else bothered to ask first.
Click to expand...

Two-handed is the preferred method for bench stones. I do often hone horizontally one-handed on pocket/field stones that are held in the hand. The sweep of the blade is definitely much much easier to manage horizontally because you can see the edge's relationship to the stone. To maintain an accurate angle the edge should be engaging the stone squarely rather than at a skew or slant, meaning the handle must pivot away from the stone over the course of the stroke for most conventional knives. You want the position of the stone relative to the point of contact to align at the normal to the curve, in geometry terms. In practical terms, does the edge angle variation of not doing this make a big difference? Not typically, unless your blade has a VERY strong belly to it like a skinning knife, but it's a best management practice that's difficult to do in a vertical arrangement unless it's positioned very low relative to the user and you're looking at a slant, which defeats the purpose.

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GmpaJim said:
I’ll definitely give the vert. suggestion a try.

The first impression of moving the knife away and up, if you will, was awkward.
It didn’t take long to become very comfortable.
I use the handle hand to keep the knife horizontal with index finger or thumb to guide the knife through the stroke. Knife in off hand (left for me) poses no problem.

The hand sharpening seems to sharpen quicker than the Lansky.
Last night I reprofiled a 6” OKC (20* to 17*) and it seemed to be relatively effortless.
It may be due to the lack of mechanical steps required with the Lansky. (?)

I certainly understand why the hand sharpening crew claims, “it’s the way”
It’s a much more personal experience. Without getting all mystical, it’s altered a lifetime of knife enjoyment, I never expected.
And as the title says, no big $ here. Moving up will undoubtably happen, in time.
Click to expand...
Alternately you can just set the the angle next to the stone to give yourself a visual to match. Use the thumb on the spine of the knife as an angle guide and reference.

It's not a bridge too far from what you are doing now and the benefits of free handing on a flat stone are many, it's the ideal.
 
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