When did you first get "good" at sharpening?

Grease

Grease

Joined
May 10, 2012
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Prefece; I just got a blade to shave hair for the first time, and I'm feeling pretty accomplished for doing it all freehand.

Question; when did you guys first acquire the skill of successful freehand sharpening?
 
Interesting question. I got serious about sharpening about 2 years ago. Before that, I was so scared of sharpening (I was afraid I couldn't do it, afraid I was going to ruin the knife, etc.) that I would only buy kitchen knives with lifetime sharpening guarantees, lol. Then I decided to get serious about it: this was a skill I wanted to acquire. I started with the Spyderco Sharpmaker. The first knife I sharpened was a SAK Classic. I watched a ton of videos on YouTube and read lots of instructional websites about sharpening before I started. I was stoked. I carefully went through the different stones, per the Spyderco instructions and all the things I had watched and read, and the results were less than stellar.

My results were sharper than the factory edge, but still wouldn't even cleanly cut stiff magazine paper or "pop" hair. I was very frustrated. I followed all the instructions! Why wasn't I getting results?! I tried it again and again, and I tried other knives like my Buck folder, and I still couldn't get a scary sharp edge. I didn't realize at the time that there were major holes in my theoretical understanding of sharpening (as well as a lack of experience). I didn't understand how to apex an edge. I didn't understand burr formation and removal. I didn't understand why an edge gets caught on paper. Basically, I didn't really know what I was looking for, so it was impossible for me to achieve a goal.

I went back to the drawing board, read a lot more, watched a lot more videos. Slowly, the concept started to sink in. I bought some DMT stones, the Spyderco Ultrafine bench stone, and a KnivesPlus Strop Blok. I tried sharpening my knives again, and lo-and-behold... I still couldn't get a scary sharp edge. I still had much to learn; I didn't understand that I was making such deep scratches with the extra-coarse DMT stone, and I wasn't spending enough time on the finer stones to completely erase the scratch patterns. I also wasn't lightening my pressure or holding a consistent angle on the stones. Additionally, I didn't understand that it isn't the fineness of the grit that finishes an edge that can push-cut paper; it is the apexing of the edge and the complete removal of the burr. I mistakenly thought that the Spyderco Ultrafine stone and the strop would put the hair-popping edge on the blade. I was wrong.

So, I went back to square one, watched the videos again, read the tutorials again, and the concept sunk in a little more. I sharpened more knives and eventually realized what I was doing wrong. Now I can get a hair-whittling edge because I have the experience and the theoretical knowledge. I know that I need to fully establish my edge with the coarser stones before moving up in grit. I know that I need to erase the scratch pattern of the lower grits. I know I need to progressively lighten the pressure on my final stones. I know I need to knock that burr off and check the edge often for progress. I know I need to keep my angle consistent and sufficiently low to put a good edge on. I know that the final strokes on the ultrafine stone need to be feather-light to knock the burr off. I know the strop is to finish the edge and refine it yet more. I know that I am done with an edge when there is no trace of a burr and the edge slices newsprint without catching. I know that I don't atually need to finish on the ultrafine stone, and I can get a scary sharp edge on a lower grit stone that will be "toothier" which might actually be better for my needs.

But I still have much to learn. I just ordered a set of Japanese water stones (Arishiyama 1000 and 6000), and I'm excited about practicing with those. So the journey continues, and I still have far to go. :D
 
I'm not good at freehand sharpening, but I'm becoming a master at the Lansky clamp system and stropping. :) I have a $15 Boker Magnum that I reprofiled then stropped, and it shaved all the hair off my arm with no effort at all.
 
My edge pro taught me to sharpen, it took hours of practice to use it at first for edges that would barely sharp enough to shave.

After dozens of knives, I got it, coarser grits at higher pressure to finer grits at lower pressure.. after a while, I got stropping compound, I used to use the arm of my leather computer chair as my stropping surface and got good results, then I got rid of the chair as I had finally worn out the seat and on a whim, started using my pants leg to strop on and found even more success.

Later I found some double sided bench stones, 8" stone I think, and after a few hours practice I got razor sharp edges, but with horrible variations in the bevel angle. Then it hit me, I looked at the angle of the stone on my edge pro and mimicked the angle. Hours later and I could hit 15 degrees freehand -/+ a few degrees.

I still prefer my edge pro, eventually I'll probably make a strop for it, it just might be another eye opener on how a very consistent angle is better.
 
as soon as i realized to concentrate on each stroke rather than the final product i wanted.
 
I first started a few years ago, with an Edge Pro, then I heard the miracles of paper wheels. I can get a great edge on either device now, although the wheels are much faster. I would be interested to have Richard J sharpen a knife for me just so I can compare his to mine and see how much farther I have to go yet.

How does everyone test for a sharp edge? Whittle paper, shave arm hair, what's your test?
 
three finger test. Performance-wise, if it cuts newsprint along the entire blade cleanly and effortlessly without catching, it's sharp. That basically means the edge is apexed and the burr removed. I don't need to try popping hairs off my arm or whittling hairs...

But sometimes I still do just for fun. :D
 
My dad said I was a natural...had me sharpening all the family's knives when I was 6-7 years old.

I must be a sicko....
 
I got good with the sharpmaker after an couple of knives. I continued to learn more about sharpening on the sharpmaker. About 2 weeks ago I decided to sharpen free hand with the sharpmaker stones. After 2 or 3 knives I was getting shaving edges. Then I just went crazy and sharpened like 20 knives in 2 days. Now I just need to get the spyderco UF stones
 
Dabbled with freehand 1970-2006 using 60, 120, 220 grit bricks - lucky sharp once a while.

2006-2010 EP produced ~0.5micron edge (straight razor) - felt good after 1st year then overtime slowly getting more frustrated with reproducibility and edge durability for different steels & geometries.

2011-present freehand again because I need to teach someone how to sharpen for a living, of course I realized - much more to learn. Slowly progressing toward ~100nm, 99.9999% useless edge :p.

Next goal for me is a durable 0.5micron edge - i.e. steel+geometry+0.5u edge have optimal strength+toughness for given parameters.

Learn+practice == success --> knowledge & skill --> take them with you...
 
wildmike said:
My dad said I was a natural...had me sharpening all the family's knives when I was 6-7 years old.

I must be a sicko....
Click to expand...

Not so sick. When I was a cub scout my local shoemaker taught me how to sharpen knives. At 8 years old I could sharpen my scout folder well enough to easily cut shoe sole leather. As I got older, I learned more and better ways.


Stitchawl
 
I had proper instruction so within the first dozen I could produce a shaving sharp edge, I was around 10 when I first started. I did not understand my skill level until joining the forums though, before that time it was just something I did to keep my knife sharp.

When did I get good at sharpening? Still working on it ;)
 
When I was 11, or two years after I got my first sharpening stone, a pocket sized carborundum piece. Practiced on my only knife, a SAK Sentry.
 
My edgepro taught me how to freehand sharpen, believe it or not. I finally learned what a truly sharp edge was like, how to check for burrs, etc. Once I got really good with my edgepro (only took a couple of tries), then I was able to apply it to my freehand sharpening.
 
jdavis, and spyderco stones got me good, i just got a UF benchstone. iv been freehanding on a UF sharpmaker stone haha!
 
It was literally the very first time I ever sharpened a full convex (meaning FULL convex) blade that I realized sharpening was intuitive and easy and could be done with cardboard, leather, and smooth rocks. Now all my knives get stropped as if they were convexed, and over time my kitchen knives have lost their "shoulders" and are getting sharper every time I touch them up.

Basically any blade without a shoulder is easy to sharpen by hand with rudimentary and ad hoc tools and methods, including stuff you find in the wild. The same may be said for shouldered edge bevels but my experience thus far tells me otherwise.
 
I only became good at getting a knife crazy sharp when I picked up my Sharpmaker and then added a leather strop to the mix and honed my stroping skills. Now I can get a hair whittling edge every time if I want.
 
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