Who still sharpens freehand with oil stone?

I have been using a Lansky, but I am going to learn to freehand. I have a Condor Speed Bowie that I can't get sharp with a file and I am going to freehand it. I am also thinking about freehanding my Gerber Guardian Back-Up
 
Freehanding on whetstones for a few years now with fantastic results...just takes practice and you will surprise yourself.

My stone setup: DMT XXC, DMT C, Shapton Pro 220, *Chosera 600*, *Bester 1200*, *Naniwa SS 5K*, Naniwa SS 10K (*staples I couldn't live without*)

I've used edges made by people with jigs, and even tried and Edge Pro myself numerous times...but none have made a sharper edge or have better retention than my own freehand.
 
i used to have a red chert stone whose texture and yield was perfect for straight razors and thin blades. i lost it so now i use an oiled glass slab (slightly roughened with very fine grit.) when finishing on the glass, i just hold the knife angle-steady and move the blade left-right by less than 1cm per side (a bit like sharpening a carving chisel on the stone.) crimsontide_shooter (aka jdavis) does a similar thing using a spyderco triangular rod.
 
I have a nice set of 8x3 Nortons that I do most of my sharpening on: Crystolon in coarse and med., and India in coarse, med., and fine (these are all single grit stones). I use mineral oil on them. The only things I don't sharpen on them are hawkbills and recurves. For those I have several different ceramic and diamond rods (Lasnky turnboxes in ceramic and diamond, and a giant Super Stick 1" ceramic rod). I also use the ceramic rods to touch up all my knives in between sharpenings.
 
If it is an expensive knife, i do it by hand.

If it is a user or a new knife that has an uneven grind or an unsharpened knife/machete, i use my 1"x30" belt sander. If it needs reprofileing i use my 4"x36" belt sander. Those 2 machines save me a TON of time sharpening & reprofileing.

Once sharp, i always touch them up after each use on either my butchers steel or my jumbo ceramic stick. That works for knives, machetes, large knifes & axes too.
 
Thanks a million for all of the replies. You guys have given me confidence that I can keep practicing and most likely ditch the Lansky.

I'm going to have to do a search on some of the stones you all have suggested. Mine is a $5 old department story model, although I saw a vid of a guy who sharpened a knife on a brick and shaved his leg with it. Looked to be real. I think maintaining the angle is more important than the actual abrasive?

I'm not into spending alot on diamond stones at this point, since my knives just get light household use. I'd like to just get 2 or 3 different grits in a larger sized traditional oil stone, without spending a fortune. I seem to do a little better with a larger surface area, especially on longer kitchen blades.

What do you guys do to sharpen up the point on a clip blade when you get a used knife that has a dull rounded point. I know letting it drop off the edge of the stone will round it, but I haven't had alot of luck sharpening a dull point back up. Maybe I'm not spending enough time.

I'd be interested to see the glass / sandpaper setup also. Sounds interesting. Windex too. I thought water was for diamond stones. The Lansky and other stones I've seen come with a bottle of oil. I like the Marvel's. Thx again folks.

JT
 
guitar, A 2X8" Norton IB-8 twin grit India can be had for 20$ plus shipping. This stone will last you for 30yrs.. Pro-rated thats less than a dollar per year. Not bad. Its easy to use and puts a good edge on a blade.
Its what I use a lot. Thanks guys for all these posts and tips. I'm going to try the Marvel's oil. DM
 
I almost exclusively freehand my knives now, its just faster for me, and I get very flat bevels , as good as my home made guide sharpener, so why keep using the guide when I can do the same freehand. I dont really use an oilstone unless its all I have ( like when I went to school and needed a sharp chisel etc. )

These days my setup is crude and cheap.
2012-11-23_19-01-24_683.jpg


Sandpaper for reprofiling, I never really use it for a final edge, Micromesh for polishing fine, MDF boards for putting a more polished refined edge than my micromesh (seems more consistent) , sharpmaker is used in benchstone form because I like it like that, I only use it in V form when doing customer knives (faster) , I use a belt sander for reprofiling damaged knives. Everything I do is freehand. Here are some freehand edges:

2012-11-22_10-05-46_377.jpg

2012-07-14_13-29-35_265.jpg

[video=youtube;FmjllFdVArA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmjllFdVArA&feature=plcp[/video]
 
Dave Martin is right about the longevity of the Norton stone, my IB8 is 35+ years old and still in excellent shape. It is my most used stone.

Ric
 
I was taught when I was a boy 37yrs ago how to sharpen using a coarse/medium two sided stone and a fine oil stone to finish the edge. The stones I have always used and still use belonged to my father.
 
I use a combination India or silicon carbide to set the bevel and create an edge for EDU. For further refining I use a wide variety of finishing methods.
 
Yup. I love my old flea market dual stone, but I need to flatten the fine side still, because whoever had it before really dished it on one side. I am going to purchase some stones from Dan's in the near future, but for now my small stone arsenal is just fine.

Connor
 
I've gt a couple sharpening systems as well as a set of waterstones for free handing. I like te waterstones a lot better. I had to learn on my own (with help from bladeforums), but after I learned its all I do for my knives.
 
Guitar
Back in my shop days I would throw a little grit on the concrete floor and do a figure 8 pattern and rub the stone back flat.
 
i use a 2 sided stone I got from the hardwre store and a leather strop.

But I don't have any super steel knives either.
 
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