Would like to learn freehand sharpening; what do I need?

Bugs57

Bugs57

Joined
Jul 3, 2016
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Title pretty much says it all. The variety of options is the confusing part. What kind of stones do you use and/or what would you recommend? Strops?
 
With an open budget I typically recommend the Atoma 140, Shapton Glass 500 and Shapton Glass 2000. This gives you a very useable set of stones with very few limits as to what you can sharpen. Its the set I use most often when sharpening my customers and my personal knives.

So with endless stone options it would help to know what knives you will be sharpening and what type of budget you have to work with.
 
Sharpening folders Spyderco & Benchmade, Victorinox fillet knives, and probably the wives kitchen knives which are semi destroyed at this point. Just to make sure I understand:
-the Shapton 500 is to set the bevel @ $55
-the Shapton 2000 is for the fine edge @ $70
- and the Atoma 140 @ $78 is used to maintain (true/flatten) the Shapton water stones and develop scratch pattern in knife blade?
I'd like to keep it under $300 as this will be a hobby.
 
To learn free hand, I recommend www.washboardsharpening.com for the enhanced feedback it provides. Works on various steel and it also comes with general purpose compound that should also work for a wide range of use.

The maker is our own HeavyHanded.

I learnt a lot from his video and Jason's as well :thumbup:
Jason is a pro sharpener so he definitely knows his stuff :) .
 
Bugs57 said:
Sharpening folders Spyderco & Benchmade, Victorinox fillet knives, and probably the wives kitchen knives which are semi destroyed at this point. Just to make sure I understand:
-the Shapton 500 is to set the bevel @ $55
-the Shapton 2000 is for the fine edge @ $70
- and the Atoma 140 @ $78 is used to maintain (true/flatten) the Shapton water stones and develop scratch pattern in knife blade?
I'd like to keep it under $300 as this will be a hobby.
Click to expand...

Exactly, it's an investment but you are getting the best products on the market.
 
The key to freehand sharpening is not the stones but rather learning to hold a consistent angle and pressure. Once you have that then you can freehand sharpen... On anything. Some thing like the washboard system that gives more obvious tactile feedback may shorten the learning curve. But I have never used it.

Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk
 
Jason B. said:
With an open budget I typically recommend the Atoma 140, Shapton Glass 500 and Shapton Glass 2000. This gives you a very useable set of stones with very few limits as to what you can sharpen. Its the set I use most often when sharpening my customers and my personal knives.

So with endless stone options it would help to know what knives you will be sharpening and what type of budget you have to work with.
Click to expand...

As somebody who went all out, I can see how this would make for a very workable and effective set at a reasonable cost. I wish I'd come across this advice before. I do like the Shapton Glass series.
 
Bugs57 said:
Title pretty much says it all. The variety of options is the confusing part. What kind of stones do you use and/or what would you recommend? Strops?
Click to expand...
Hi,
have you ever sharpened on a stone before? coffee cups?
I think its best to try sharpening first using $0-$3 worth of equipment,
try it a few times until you're able to at least cut some paper
helps you figure out where to spend your next $300
$1 stones can be plenty decent (shave/whittle beard) :D especially for simple steels like found on a swiss knives
 
So I just started getting into freehand sharpening a couple months ago after many failed attempts. Since then I have bought a few DMT Diamonds stones and a ceramic stone but I started out with a cheap True Value 8 inch coarse/fine stone and a small Falkniven DC4 stone. I think the 8 inch stone was about $12 and that’s really all you need at first. I just happened to have the Falkniven sitting around. I made it my mission one weekend to keep at it until I got some good results on some cheap knives. Took a couple days but I finally got to that “Ah Ha” moment where everything started to work.

I think the biggest achievement was when I was able to consistently “feel” the angle on the blade sitting flush when placing it on the stone. At first I was never really able to make passes with the correct angle. Once I got this “feel” down, it all became much easier. It just takes practice and then some more practice. It sounds strange but closing my eyes for a bit actually helped me get the feel and touch down.

So, my advice would be to go get a cheap coarse/fine combo stone from your local hardware store or online and practice for a while with some cheap knives. Once you build your skills a bit, then move on to some more expensive and better quality stones. I would suggest getting an 8 inch stone. Just gives you more room to work with and this was a big help when starting out.
 
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This ^^^ is also very good advice. I use an ACE combo stone often and they work well.
 
i also agree with getting a basic stone first. a norton crystolon(silicon carbide, considered a good quality oil stone) coarse/fine 6"x 2" should be less than $20, a no-name even less. then find an Old Hickory knife to practice on. with the crystolon fine side, you should be able to create a shaving sharp edge. try it in the kitchen, it may be all you need. if you want to go to finer stones, water stones or diamond, here is a good cross reference for items made in USA: http://www.nortonabrasives.com/site...onIndustrial-7362-2015-Bookmarked.pdf#page=52
scott
 
Jason's advice is great. If you don't want to go all in at first I would recommend a simple oil stone or the washboard sharpening system provides excellent value, especially if only sharpening victorinox kitchen knives. If you get proficient, you will eventually buy Jason's set eventually, so it may just be cheaper to get his stuff now. As someone else stated, I wish I had Jason's advice prior. Have fun with it.
 
Bugs57 said:
Title pretty much says it all. The variety of options is the confusing part. What kind of stones do you use and/or what would you recommend? Strops?
Click to expand...

For a total beginner to freehand sharpening, all you need is something like a Norton India coarse/fine combination oilstone, some mineral oil, and some cheap knives to practice on.

You may also find this basic tutorial I made recently on burr based freehand sharpening for beginners useful. You will note in the video I don't demonstrate how to find and hold a consistent angle, this is because those skills can only be learned from muscle memory by repetition, and cannot (I don't think) be usefully taught by video.

[video]https://youtu.be/cWU_qTp3DLM[/video]
 
Steel_Drake said:
For a total beginner to freehand sharpening, all you need is something like a Norton India coarse/fine combination oilstone, some mineral oil, and some cheap knives to practice on.

You may also find this basic tutorial I made recently on burr based freehand sharpening for beginners useful. You will note in the video I don't demonstrate how to find and hold a consistent angle, this is because those skills can only be learned from muscle memory by repetition, and cannot (I don't think) be usefully taught by video.

[video]https://youtu.be/cWU_qTp3DLM[/video]
Click to expand...

As you can see with my thread I started yesterday (using benchstone), I'm not an expert like Jason and others. Sometimes even when you sharpen or have sharpened knives for years, you struggle with a particular knife or concept. The wire edge or burr has always confused me. The fact that it exists is not confusing, it is which side (sharpening) created it and how to remove it to get a real clean sharpened edge or apex.

Anyway, I would also start with the large Norton India Stone (<$20) with some WD-40 as the lubricant. If you are using super steels, it may be frustrating, but things like SAKs sharpen up really fast on the fine side of the Norton to an acceptable sharpness. It is an easy stone to practice on.

If you are sharpening some of the newer super steels (including D2), you may have some problems and should go to the diamond stones. There is a nice video over on Bob Dozier's site using the DMT diamond bench stones with an edge guide. I find it useful.

My suggestion is you start with some of the carbon steels like 1095 and build up your confidence and move to the harder super steels when the need develops.
 
Bugs57 said:
Just curious are these any good and could I start with this kit?
https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/DMT-6-Dia-Sharp-Kit-P404C3.aspx
Click to expand...

This is a very good set of stones, I have the 8in diasharps and you can follow the links in my sig line to see how well they work. I still use my Coarse and Fine DMT often, I find them to be the most useful sharpening high alloy steels.

DMT, Shapton, Suehiro, Nanaiwa, Norton, etc. all make very good sharpening stones so its 6 one way and half a dozen the other.

One thing I have learned after buying thousands of dollars in sharpening stones is that if I would have known what I know now I would have started with the best stones money can buy. Then, if I wanted to try cheaper stones and play with different sharpening methods it would be more for fun than to find a better way.
 
Give yourself the best chance to succeed. That is the advice I give anyone who asks.

You can play around with gadgets and cheap alternatives till the cows come home and still not get where you want to go. Its all part of the study of sharpening that you need to go through.

Best, I like this, and I like that's are worth nothing as all this information is subjective to the individual. Its a buy and try then sell and buy more deal in sharpening. No way around it.

Go with best bang for the buck, whichever way you go, to start out. There will be winners and losers along the way.
 
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