Who's good at sharpening freehand?

[fulloflead]

Up at 7200 foot elevation the air is so dry that hair get hard and it is more challenging to dry shave than at sea level. I have to put a finer edge on knives to maintain conspicuous bragging sharpness.

You're preachin' to the choir, buddy.

I adjust my sharpmaker angles by puting things under the base.

God I feel stupid! I never thought of that.

Part of the reason that I use a microbevel is for strength. The back bevel angle is so low that the edge can roll. The microbevel provides a bit more lateral support. There is a universal problem that as you sharpen a knife blade your bevel will get wider unless you are always working flat on the back bevel. Having a fixture doesn't change the problem it just standardizes it. If you don't sharpen flat on your back bevel the fixture insures that as you work that bevel will get wider and wider. When I go freehand I am free to attack the back bevel a little, the micro bevel a little, and the area in between a little.

Interesting. I've only done the double-bevel thing once on a chisel grind knife because I put a particularly low backbevel on it but I never actually used the knife to try it in practice.

On everything else I've lowered the bevel on, the rolling never bothered me that much because I steel and strop often and can straighten it out. However, I've gotten a couple D2 knives recently that are hardened in the 60-62 range and when they DO roll they won't budge. I'm going to have to try that on those.

 

[Dave Rishar]

Most of the guys at work carry folders. Most of them did not know how to sharpen them properly. Recently I got tired of doing it for them and gave a brief lesson.

The problem was not an inconsistant angle or the very poor quality of the mildly dished dollar store stone we were using. (You know the kind that I'm talking about...even yard tools deserve better than this.) Nor was the problem the junkyard stainless that most of these blades were made of. The problem was that they did not know about the burr.

Keep hitting one side, and one side only, until there's a burr along the entire length. Switch sides and do it again. Touch the first side with one or two very light strokes, strop briefly on a pants leg or hand to snap off the wire edge, and you're done. I don't even bother using the "fine" side of the stone anymore. I would not want to shave my face with such an edge but it will remove hair and it cuts paper cleanly...on a pocket knife, this is sharp enough for my needs. If I want sharper, I go straight to the sandpaper and mousepads.

I'm convinced that the burr is the single most important thing, and one that's often overlooked. Even remarkably coarse stones, working on very obtuse angles, will produce an edge that shaves if it's done correctly.

 

[GarageBoy]

well, i'll let jeff clark explain about the downsides of purposely raising a burr

 

[fulloflead]

well, i'll let jeff clark explain about the downsides of purposely raising a burr

I'd be curious about that because I didn't get GOOD with the guide systems until I started working the burr. Now, I can see the problem with LEAVING the burr when you're done, but I always work the burr off with a strop or going a couple alternate strokes with the stone or something. Other than the problem of leaving a brittle, foldable burr behind, I can't imagine any drawbacks. (But I didn't think of the teeter-totter Sharpmaker trick either. ) So, please, do tell.

 

[Sword and Shield]

I have always done primarily freehand, and I'm another one of those that likes using the stone in my left hand over on a bench. Better feel.

My EDCs will shave, easily. Considering I have arm hair like Scotchbrite pads, that's saying something!

 

[Jeff Clark]

I think I've talked way too much about how raising burrs is not necessary. It really comes down to a desire to balance out the discussions more than I am greatly opposed to raising any burrs. The trouble I am trying to counteract is a tendency of people to remove way too much edge material, create way too large a burr and cause themselves a lot of grief. Some amount of burr will always be formed if you hone all the way to the edge of your blade. It can be helpful to observe that burr. For example I reprofiled a new knife last night. I used a belt sander. I worked one side until I started to see the faintest glint of a burr when I held the blade under a strong light. Then I switched sides and worked until I got the slight glint of a burr on the other side. I don't really expect to ever intentionally raise a visible burr on this knife again. Maximizing that burr is counter productive. Here are a few forum threads where I have talked about burrs.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=280834
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=327884
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=331762

 

[Cliff Stamp]

For example I reprofiled a new knife last night.

I go to a burr there as well, I don't want to have to get rid of that material left there by hand. I almost never do it otherwise. It is a solid introductory technique though something you should at some point move beyond.

-Cliff

 

[Carl64]

I was very good at freehand sharpening until I started buying too many knives and I got tired of re-profiling the blunt edges. I bought a Smith's system (like a lansky) which I use because it makes it easier to make major alterations to the edge angle.

One thing that really helped me with freehand sharpening was an "angle guide" that came with a stone I bought long ago. It was not an attached device, with was just a 20(?) degree ramp that you set on the stone and match the blade angle to it before sharpening. It doesn't move with the blade. This helped because I still had to maintain the angle on my own, but at the end of every stroke I could tell if I still had the same angle.

Another way I made my sharpening more reliable was being aware of the movement of my bones. Mainly I make sure I always pivot at my elbow but never bend/rotate my wrist. I balance the stone on the edge of a table so it can freely rotate back and forth to match the curve of the blade. It does this naturally, you just need to lightly hold it in place with your other hand. 90% of your focus should be on the position of your hand/arm. Aside from being careful not to stab yourself, you almost don't need to look at the blade at all. If you concentrate on it (your body, NOT the blade), your body IS the sharpening system and the mechanics of your bones does all the work.

Like Lostmymirth, I mainly used diamond stones and ceramic rods for finishing. I have a triangular lansky rod similar to a Sharpmaker rod. It was supposed to go with a "system" but I used it freehand for many years. Later I switched the free rods for a Lansky V sharpener with 4" ceramic rods (like a mini Sharpmaker sort of).

But now I am lazy. I use a Smith's system at the lowest angle to bevel the edge with a diamond stone, go to a real stone for the next level, then remove the blade from the clamp and use the Lansky ceramic V to touch it up regularly. The rods are at a slightly steeper angle than the bevel from the clamp system, so it touches up very quick and I never need a flat stone again unless I use the knife too much without maintaining it.

 

[Cougar Allen]

We started a new forum!

 

[bendback]

Originally Posted by dsvirsky
...One thing I do differently that virtually anyone I've ever met is that I like to hold the hone in my left hand, rather than have it flat on a bench....

I, too, feel more ncomfortable with the stone in my left hand and the blade in
my right--Have never known many who sharpened like this - really freaks people out when I look at them and talk while sharpening!! It's all feel.

I must confess that I bought an EdgePro a couple of years ago and it is a dream - I sharpen a lot of hunting, pocket, kitchen knives, axes, hatchets mostly for fun but I charge a little for stone replacement.

I'm trying to teach a friend at work to sharpen freehand by using his thumb and end of the middle finger as a sort of angle guide while usins a 4" diamond hone. He'll probably wear that knife out (cheap ) but if he learns the "feel" it'll be worth gold!!

Ever notice how many people "can't" sharpen anything?? Guess we'er just blessed!!

bendback

 

[guy g]

I still use my EZ LAP for a qick touch up or as a steel. Heck, I use a steel freehand.

 

[me2]

First I have to ask a question. I have two blocks of wood I use to hold my stones. One is at 12, the other is at 17 degrees. They hold the stones vertically, and the stone just lays against the wood, like laying a stone against a Sharpmaker rod. Does this count as freehand sharpening? If so, then I do it this way to form a small burr, the cut it off on the 15 or 20 degree slots on the Sharpmaker. I also use a double sided Norton, course and fine, with the stone in my right hand and the knife in the left (I'm a southpaw). I use my thumb on the spine and the touch the side on the stone as a guide. Then I do about 10 light strokes per side on the fine side and I'm done.

 

[nedocervar]

This the method I ever read to maintain the right angle. But when we go to sharpen the point of a blade, I don't understand how my thumb can maintains the conctact with the stone! Again, if I really lean into the stone it is too squishy as it is flesh! Much more better this: put the tumb over the spine, parallel with the stone at the desidered angle and control the top of the tumbnail so it's costantly parallel during the sharpening job. Using tha magic marker trick you will noticed a perfect sharpening angle all along the bevels.
Try and see.
-Nedo Cervar