I tried to do freehand using an Arkansas/carborundum stone but ended up with a sharp but weird looking edge as i couldnt maintain the angle. There is lot of scope for human error using freehand or am i doing something wrong? What i want is an edge as sharp or more than what came from the factory and one which looks as clean too. Is it doable?
Yes, there is a lot of room for human error when freehanding. I think there are two *basic* ways of freehanding.
1. Trying to approximate the original factory edge angle.
2. Deciding on a new angle and sticking to it.
In my limited experience, I've found that people new to sharpening are better at #1 than #2. That really surprised me as I expected it to be the other way around.
Anyway, holding the same angle consistently is a big part of the equation, *especially* if you are trying to keep your edges "pretty". As I understand it, most factory edges are formed on either belt sanders or wheels, both of which give a very consistent angle very quickly. It's much harder to do that with your hand and a stone.
Tips for maintaining the same angle:
1. Watch the blade and try to memorize what it looks like when it is "at the right angle". Try to keep it that way on every stroke.
2. Keep your hand in the same position on the handle/spine/whatever so you can feel the same thing every time. Finding some point of reference with some part of your hand, either on the stone, on a table, etc may help you to start at the exact same angle for each stroke.
3. Feel the way the blade scrapes across the stone. If you vary the angle, the feeling will change. That's one indicator that you are either on the right track (angle) or not.
Here's a big one that a lot of beginners miss: If your blade has any curve to it, you must raise the handle of the knife and you go through the curve in order to maintain the same angle. How much? There's a geometric explanation that's going to be hard to type and hard to understand. Here's the easier way: Fold up a wedge of paper. If you fold over the corner of a piece of printer paper you'll get a perfect 45 degree angle. Fold it over again and you'll get 22.5 degrees, which is great for this experiment. Trim the wedge down if you need to for easy handling.
Put the wedge on the stone and lay the blade on it, using the wedge as your angle reference. The edge of the knife should be touching the stone and the side of the knife should be laying on the wedge.
If you hold the back part of the blade (near the handle) on it, you'll see what 22.5 degrees looks like for the straight part of the blade. Now move the blade so the middle part (where the blade edge is still not curved) onto the wedge. The angle should look similar and the handle should be in about the same position in terms of height. Now move the blade so the part where the curve starts is on the wedge. The handle should be higher now. Keep moving the blade so the curved part is on the wedge. The handle should be noticeably higher now. Keep moving it all the way out to the tip. The handle should be pretty high at this point.
That's how high the handle should be at each point along the curve of the blade in order to maintain a constant angle. You'll get used to it both visually, and from a feeling standpoint.
You'll need to learn to see and feel this both directions: When you're stroking away from you and when you're stroking towards you.
I pretty much disregard the factory angle on most knives now. I use paper wedges for references and just put a new angle on the blade, trying to keep it constant.
So that's the Angle fundamental. The two other fundamentals of sharpening are Abrasive and Burr. AAB. Angle, Abrasive, and Burr. You need to learn all three in order to be proficient at sharpening.
If you want to know more, I can provide some links, or give some more info myself. I'm sure many others here can help too. I'm practically a kindergartner compared to a lot of people here.
Brian.
