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

As Jason said, he has spent a lot of money over the years on bench stones. I have spent a fair amount myself off and on but as a hobbyist, your needs are less. But that is part of the process if you are interested in it as far as I'm concerned. Starting out with a Porsche may sound great, but you need to learn to drive first. Hence, I would get the inexpensive two grit/sided Norton India Stone first. I suspect the ACE Hardware version is the same or nearly the same thing. The larger surface makes it easier to sharpen with. After you get comfortable with using one, step up to the diamond bench stones (fine is most used, coarse second, and extra fine third); still pretty much the same process except you don't apply as much pressure sharpening. You'll still use the Norton. With the Norton, the amount of pressure doesn't matter much, but with diamonds, you can ruin them that way.

I asked Ethan Becker what he usually uses for sharpening.... the Norton for most things. He is pretty old school, but they work.
 
Scott,

While I personally use and advocate the three step method myself, I think someone brand new to freehanding is better served by initially learning burr based sharpening using a fairly coarse stone, and learning to deburr using high angle passes.

Based on my own experience learning to sharpen, and the issues I often read new people having, I believe that most beginners often struggle to reach an apex, and often end up getting very frustrated and trying different things when the problem is simply that they haven't reached an apex. Deliberately forming a burr can help eliminate the most common initial source of frustration by making it plainly obvious when the edge has been apexed.

Granted, in exchange for making it obvious that an apex has been reached, you end up deliberately creating the problem of a burr that needs to be removed, but I think learning to shear off a burr with high angle deburring passes is easier than learning to correctly identify when the edge has been shaped enough to be apexed in a three step method for a total beginner.
 
Would like to learn freehand sharpening; what do I need?
Click to expand...

Oh not much . . . a stone or two. And . . . oh I don't know . . .

  • Eagle sight
  • Cat box reflexes . . . errr. . . . I mean cat LIKE reflexes.

  • The ability to judge angles between the imagined center plane of an amorphous object and the flat face of the stone down to a quarter degree or less. That is assuming the face of the stone is flat.
  • The skill to keep the stones flat . . . and the tools to keep it(them) flat.
  • A way to judge sharp (since most knives do not come any where near sharp out of the box).
  • High magnification eye wear so you can have your hands free to keep that edge on the stone to a quarter degree or less for the length of the stone (so you don’t wear uneven spots in the stone and have to reflatten it) and to tell when you have actually abraded the unsharp bevels of the blade down far enough to revive the edge. This is where you get the all important and sacred
    BURR
  • Then you will need the patience of a saint and the knowledge of a metal urgist (I mean metallurgist) . . .

    a metal urgist is basically another name for a knife nut with the new knife catalog for the year’s offerings . . .

    where was I ? ? ? . . . oh yah . . . getting rid of the burr . . . you will need the patience of a saint and the knowledge of a metallurgist . . . nay a particle physicist if not a voodoo priest . . . to get rid of said burr that you have so carefully cultivated . . .
  • Did I forget to mention you will need the programming of an Electric Monk to deal with having at least two or more completely contradictory “Facts” in your data buffer simultaneously ?

    Well . . . you will. First create the burr . . . then get rid of ALL traces of the burr . . . while maintaining your bevel to a quarter of a degree or less . . . for tens of strokes . . .:) unless you find you have that insidious malady which propels one into the madness of stropping the poor edge on dirty animal skins then you could be there holding this bevel to a quarter of a degree or less for a hundred strokes there abouts . . .
    poor misguided sods. There’s a clinical term for that sort of behavior but it escapes me for now . . . :)

    Oh . . . what happens you may ask . . . will happen if you vary this bevel to a quarter of a degree or less by tilting shallower . . . well you are just wasting motion now and accomplishing nothing . . . make the bevel steeper ? . . . you have just made the edge inaccessible when you do come back to your originally, predetermined sharpening angle.

    Back to square one you will have to grind the whole bevel angle back to an even / consistent angle.

    Am I scarring you ? Scares the willies out of me . . .
    I just use a sharpening jig but you want to be a hero . . . one of the few . . . one of the proud . . .
    Sweet ! I love comic book heroes and stuff. Gives me something to dream about and aspire to.

  • Speaking of bevels you will need extensive experience in cutting many types of materials with all sorts of blade materials, shapes and thicknesses so that you can competently select an appropriate sharpening bevel (something , you will find, rather early on I’m afraid, that the manufacturer of the knife is completely hopeless at and so has as a default provided you with an edge appropriate for cutting pencils and nails in half. Personally I have never found that edge geometry to be the least bit useful or effective for cutting up much else . . . YMMV.

    That cuts-nails-in-half edge will stop being "Hair Whittling" after the first cut; if it ever does achieve Hair Whittling to begin with. If
    YOU
    are ever able to make it so.
  • You will have to achieve Hair Whittling edges, or at least claim it on your tax returns, or at the very least carelessly leave E-mails around which claim it, to be allowed to hang around knife dudes (not knife dudeetts how ever; they have better things to do).
    What is Hair Whittling and why is it important you may ask.
    No one knows . . . why exactly . . . this is important to have on a pocket knife.
    Trust me though it is important . . . frekin vital mind you.
  • Lastly you will require the good judgment while cutting to not cut stuff the edge is not designed for or capable of cutting for long . . . such as cutting carpet which is full of grit as hard as the stones you are sharpening on or cutting against marble cutting “boards” what is up with that . . . can someone for the love of Bob tell me that ?
  • oh and I almost forgot . . . it is a must that you gain physiological counseling skills to prepare and counsel those around you for the mental trauma of having "dangerous weapons" around and as to why you would want a knife with an edge that can split hairs when “all other normal people” get by just fine with knives with “normal edges” (that can only squish carrots in two by hammering on the blade with a mallet).

Yes I don’t envy you . . . you have your work cut out for you . . . good luck and God speed

PS: lay in a healthy supply of bandages and sutures for family members who can not break the insane habit of cutting carrots and celery against their lilly white uncalloused thumb pad.
PPS: if your mother in law lives with you perhaps consider upping your legal counsel as well as her health insurance . . . see "PS:" above.

There are probably countless imperatives I have left out but I am swooning from my efforts and now will seek sucker at the drinks trolley (and a much needed bathroom break).
I have done what I can.
Go pilgrim ! Find your destiny !
 
Last edited:
^^^
| | | Man. I'm not sure whether to buy you a drink or toss my waterstones out the window?!?! Maybe both!!!
 
Wowbagger said:
Oh not much . . . a stone or two. And . . . oh I don't know . . .

  • Eagle sight
  • Cat box reflexes . . . errr. . . . I mean cat LIKE reflexes.

  • The ability to judge angles between the imagined center plane of an amorphous object and the flat face of the stone down to a quarter degree or less. That is assuming the face of the stone is flat.
  • The skill to keep the stones flat . . . and the tools to keep it(them) flat.
  • A way to judge sharp (since most knives do not come any where near sharp out of the box).
  • High magnification eye wear so you can have your hands free to keep that edge on the stone to a quarter degree or less for the length of the stone (so you don’t wear uneven spots in the stone and have to reflatten it) and to tell when you have actually abraded the unsharp bevels of the blade down far enough to revive the edge. This is where you get the all important and sacred
    BURR
  • Then you will need the patience of a saint and the knowledge of a metal urgist (I mean metallurgist) . . .

    a metal urgist is basically another name for a knife nut with the new knife catalog for the year’s offerings . . .

    where was I ? ? ? . . . oh yah . . . getting rid of the burr . . . you will need the patience of a saint and the knowledge of a metallurgist . . . nay a particle physicist if not a voodoo priest . . . to get rid of said burr that you have so carefully cultivated . . .
  • Did I forget to mention you will need the programming of an Electric Monk to deal with having at least two or more completely contradictory “Facts” in your data buffer simultaneously ?

    Well . . . you will. First create the burr . . . then get rid of ALL traces of the burr . . . while maintaining your bevel to a quarter of a degree or less . . . for tens of strokes . . .:) unless you find you have that insidious malady which propels one into the madness of stropping the poor edge on dirty animal skins then you could be there holding this bevel to a quarter of a degree or less for a hundred strokes there abouts . . .
    poor misguided sods. There’s a clinical term for that sort of behavior but it escapes me for now . . . :)

    Oh . . . what happens you may ask . . . will happen if you vary this bevel to a quarter of a degree or less by tilting shallower . . . well you are just wasting motion now and accomplishing nothing . . . make the bevel steeper ? . . . you have just made the edge inaccessible when you do come back to your originally, predetermined sharpening angle.

    Back to square one you will have to grind the whole bevel angle back to an even / consistent angle.

    Am I scarring you ? Scares the willies out of me . . .
    I just use a sharpening jig but you want to be a hero . . . one of the few . . . one of the proud . . .
    Sweet ! I love comic book heroes and stuff. Gives me something to dream about and aspire to.

  • Speaking of bevels you will need extensive experience in cutting many types of materials with all sorts of blade materials, shapes and thicknesses so that you can competently select an appropriate sharpening bevel (something , you will find, rather early on I’m afraid, that the manufacturer of the knife is completely hopeless at and so has as a default provided you with an edge appropriate for cutting pencils and nails in half. Personally I have never found that edge geometry to be the least bit useful or effective for cutting up much else . . . YMMV.

    That cuts-nails-in-half edge will stop being "Hair Whittling" after the first cut; if it ever does achieve Hair Whittling to begin with. If
    YOU
    are ever able to make it so.
  • You will have to achieve Hair Whittling edges, or at least claim it on your tax returns, or at the very least carelessly leave E-mails around which claim it, to be allowed to hang around knife dudes (not knife dudeetts how ever; they have better things to do).
    What is Hair Whittling and why is it important you may ask.
    No one knows . . . why exactly . . . this is important to have on a pocket knife.
    Trust me though it is important . . . frekin vital mind you.
  • Lastly you will require the good judgment while cutting to not cut stuff the edge is not designed for or capable of cutting for long . . . such as cutting carpet which is full of grit as hard as the stones you are sharpening on or cutting against marble cutting “boards” what is up with that . . . can someone for the love of Bob tell me that ?
  • oh and I almost forgot . . . it is a must that you gain physiological counseling skills to prepare and counsel those around you for the mental trauma of having "dangerous weapons" around and as to why you would want a knife with an edge that can split hairs when “all other normal people” get by just fine with knives with “normal edges” (that can only squish carrots in two by hammering on the blade with a mallet).

Yes I don’t envy you . . . you have your work cut out for you . . . good luck and God speed

PS: lay in a healthy supply of bandages and sutures for family members who can not break the insane habit of cutting carrots and celery against their lilly white uncalloused thumb pad.
PPS: if your mother in law lives with you perhaps consider upping your legal counsel as well as her health insurance . . . see "PS:" above.

There are probably countless imperatives I have left out but I am swooning from my efforts and now will seek sucker at the drinks trolley (and a much needed bathroom break).
I have done what I can.
Go pilgrim ! Find your destiny !
Click to expand...

This is epic!

Though, after reading the requirements I realized I qualified, don't know if that's good or bad though, lol.
 
My internet has been down for a couple of days but I wanted to respond as everyone has been so helpful and willing to provide advice. I took the advice of several and bought an inexpensive stone to try free hand sharpening. Used a crappy NRA knife made in China. Boy am I glad I did because I absolutely suck at it. Seems I can do trigger jobs on expensive 1911's and hand fit parts but can't sharpen a blade freehand. Left me feeling somewhat inadequate. :( So now I'm wondering whether an Edge Pro may be a better option for me. Chef Knives to go has a kit with Shapton Glass Stone for @ $260. I guess my other option would be to utilize services here for sharpening and do minor touch ups on the Sharpmaker I have.
 
Bugs57 said:
My internet has been down for a couple of days but I wanted to respond as everyone has been so helpful and willing to provide advice. I took the advice of several and bought an inexpensive stone to try free hand sharpening. Used a crappy NRA knife made in China. Boy am I glad I did because I absolutely suck at it. Seems I can do trigger jobs on expensive 1911's and hand fit parts but can't sharpen a blade freehand. Left me feeling somewhat inadequate. :( So now I'm wondering whether an Edge Pro may be a better option for me. Chef Knives to go has a kit with Shapton Glass Stone for @ $260. I guess my other option would be to utilize services here for sharpening and do minor touch ups on the Sharpmaker I have.
Click to expand...
Hi,
DONT DESPAIR
you didn't learn to drive first time behind the wheel or to tie your shoes on first try ... it takes a minute,
so please, take a minute now,
and explain what you did exactly
which stone did you get?
did you raise a burr?
does knife wobble as you make passes?
how did you find angle? permanent marker trick? guess?
how long did you rub one side of the knife on the stone?
one minute? two minutes? ... how many minutes to do 300 passes?

if you're not having improved sharpness or burr after scrubbing one side for about 3 minutes max,
maybe press a little harder on the stone
increase your angle a little
scrub a little faster
and try again

First step is just make a burr, a big one,
it should take no more than 5 minutes
even if you're really really really wobbly like I was just a year or two ago
if it doesn't happen, increase the angle a bit,
and scrub a little faster,
and I do mean scrub the knife on the stone
sure your practice knife will get scratched up,
but the burr is the goal,
as long as you get burr the entire edge length,
you're getting sharp,
all the things to learn after that are small improvements to efficiency and cosmetics
 
Go ahead and get a guided system for now, but continue to practice free handing.
 
Wowbagger said:
Oh not much . . . a stone or two. And . . . oh I don't know . . .

  • Eagle sight
  • Cat box reflexes . . . errr. . . . I mean cat LIKE reflexes.

  • The ability to judge angles between the imagined center plane of an amorphous object and the flat face of the stone down to a quarter degree or less. That is assuming the face of the stone is flat.
  • The skill to keep the stones flat . . . and the tools to keep it(them) flat.
  • A way to judge sharp (since most knives do not come any where near sharp out of the box).
  • High magnification eye wear so you can have your hands free to keep that edge on the stone to a quarter degree or less for the length of the stone (so you don’t wear uneven spots in the stone and have to reflatten it) and to tell when you have actually abraded the unsharp bevels of the blade down far enough to revive the edge. This is where you get the all important and sacred
    BURR
  • Then you will need the patience of a saint and the knowledge of a metal urgist (I mean metallurgist) . . .

    a metal urgist is basically another name for a knife nut with the new knife catalog for the year’s offerings . . .

    where was I ? ? ? . . . oh yah . . . getting rid of the burr . . . you will need the patience of a saint and the knowledge of a metallurgist . . . nay a particle physicist if not a voodoo priest . . . to get rid of said burr that you have so carefully cultivated . . .
  • Did I forget to mention you will need the programming of an Electric Monk to deal with having at least two or more completely contradictory “Facts” in your data buffer simultaneously ?

    Well . . . you will. First create the burr . . . then get rid of ALL traces of the burr . . . while maintaining your bevel to a quarter of a degree or less . . . for tens of strokes . . .:) unless you find you have that insidious malady which propels one into the madness of stropping the poor edge on dirty animal skins then you could be there holding this bevel to a quarter of a degree or less for a hundred strokes there abouts . . .
    poor misguided sods. There’s a clinical term for that sort of behavior but it escapes me for now . . . :)

    Oh . . . what happens you may ask . . . will happen if you vary this bevel to a quarter of a degree or less by tilting shallower . . . well you are just wasting motion now and accomplishing nothing . . . make the bevel steeper ? . . . you have just made the edge inaccessible when you do come back to your originally, predetermined sharpening angle.

    Back to square one you will have to grind the whole bevel angle back to an even / consistent angle.

    Am I scarring you ? Scares the willies out of me . . .
    I just use a sharpening jig but you want to be a hero . . . one of the few . . . one of the proud . . .
    Sweet ! I love comic book heroes and stuff. Gives me something to dream about and aspire to.

  • Speaking of bevels you will need extensive experience in cutting many types of materials with all sorts of blade materials, shapes and thicknesses so that you can competently select an appropriate sharpening bevel (something , you will find, rather early on I’m afraid, that the manufacturer of the knife is completely hopeless at and so has as a default provided you with an edge appropriate for cutting pencils and nails in half. Personally I have never found that edge geometry to be the least bit useful or effective for cutting up much else . . . YMMV.

    That cuts-nails-in-half edge will stop being "Hair Whittling" after the first cut; if it ever does achieve Hair Whittling to begin with. If
    YOU
    are ever able to make it so.
  • You will have to achieve Hair Whittling edges, or at least claim it on your tax returns, or at the very least carelessly leave E-mails around which claim it, to be allowed to hang around knife dudes (not knife dudeetts how ever; they have better things to do).
    What is Hair Whittling and why is it important you may ask.
    No one knows . . . why exactly . . . this is important to have on a pocket knife.
    Trust me though it is important . . . frekin vital mind you.
  • Lastly you will require the good judgment while cutting to not cut stuff the edge is not designed for or capable of cutting for long . . . such as cutting carpet which is full of grit as hard as the stones you are sharpening on or cutting against marble cutting “boards” what is up with that . . . can someone for the love of Bob tell me that ?
  • oh and I almost forgot . . . it is a must that you gain physiological counseling skills to prepare and counsel those around you for the mental trauma of having "dangerous weapons" around and as to why you would want a knife with an edge that can split hairs when “all other normal people” get by just fine with knives with “normal edges” (that can only squish carrots in two by hammering on the blade with a mallet).

Yes I don’t envy you . . . you have your work cut out for you . . . good luck and God speed

PS: lay in a healthy supply of bandages and sutures for family members who can not break the insane habit of cutting carrots and celery against their lilly white uncalloused thumb pad.
PPS: if your mother in law lives with you perhaps consider upping your legal counsel as well as her health insurance . . . see "PS:" above.

There are probably countless imperatives I have left out but I am swooning from my efforts and now will seek sucker at the drinks trolley (and a much needed bathroom break).
I have done what I can.
Go pilgrim ! Find your destiny !
Click to expand...

LOL. This ^^^
 
bucketstove said:
Hi,
DONT DESPAIR
you didn't learn to drive first time behind the wheel or to tie your shoes on first try ... it takes a minute,
so please, take a minute now,
and explain what you did exactly
which stone did you get? Cheapo coarse/fine combo stone from Ace hardware & honing oil.
did you raise a burr? Yes
does knife wobble as you make passes? Actually the blade kept grabbing into the stone going in one direction. Other direction was fine. Too much angle? I did a really good job of turning a semi sharp blade dull.
how did you find angle? permanent marker trick? guess? Used a sharpie & folded paper to estimate 20 degree angle.
how long did you rub one side of the knife on the stone? @ 30 passes each side
one minute? two minutes? ... how many minutes to do 300 passes? did not get this far; seemed like any sharpening effort was proceeding in the wrong direction

if you're not having improved sharpness or burr after scrubbing one side for about 3 minutes max,
maybe press a little harder on the stone
increase your angle a little
scrub a little faster
and try again

First step is just make a burr, a big one,
it should take no more than 5 minutes
even if you're really really really wobbly like I was just a year or two ago
if it doesn't happen, increase the angle a bit,
and scrub a little faster,
and I do mean scrub the knife on the stone
sure your practice knife will get scratched up,
but the burr is the goal,
as long as you get burr the entire edge length,
you're getting sharp,
all the things to learn after that are small improvements to efficiency and cosmetics
Click to expand...

Yeah maybe I need to give this another try. I am having a really hard time working around the curve of the blade as it extends into the tip. Appreciate the advice. Will give it another shot this weekend.
 
Bugs57 said:
I took the advice of several and bought an inexpensive stone to try free hand sharpening. Used a crappy NRA knife made in China. Boy am I glad I did because I absolutely suck at it.
Click to expand...

How "inexpensive" did you go? Hardware store (Norton or ACE) stone for $9 to $15? Or something really, really cheap? Bad tools can make a job harder to do.

Brian.
 
Angle estimation for free hand sharpening on a bench stone..... knife edge vertical on stone = 90 degrees; half that and you have 45 degrees; half it again or add a tad more acute and you are about where you want to be free handing on a stone. Most of us can estimate these steps gradations in angles visually. The DMT folks explained it to me that way but then I really didn't need to have it explained to me. I listened though.
 
Bugs57 said:
>>which stone did you get?
Cheapo coarse/fine combo stone from Ace hardware & honing oil.

>>did you raise a burr?
Yes

>>does knife wobble as you make passes?
Actually the blade kept grabbing into the stone going in one direction.
Other direction was fine.
Too much angle?
I did a really good job of turning a semi sharp blade dull.

>>how did you find angle? permanent marker trick? guess?
Used a sharpie & folded paper to estimate 20 degree angle.

>>how long did you rub one side of the knife on the stone?
@ 30 passes each side

>>one minute? two minutes? ... how many minutes to do 300 passes?
did not get this far; seemed like any sharpening effort was proceeding in the wrong direction


Yeah maybe I need to give this another try.
I am having a really hard time working around the curve of the blade as it extends into the tip.
Appreciate the advice. Will give it another shot this weekend.
Click to expand...
Hi,
you're doing pretty good
and that stone is reportedly pretty flat (good thing)

Yes, when the blade starts digging into the stone, back down the angle a little bit
Its very common in freehand for everybody,
one side angle a little higher ,
other side a little lower,
as long as you remember to adjust, you'll get there

30 passes to raise a burr sounds like angle is sufficiently high/elevated
that you're basically microbeveling from the start,
and if that angle is ~20 degrees, thats great :)

so when you switch to other side,
back down the angle a bit, and do matching number of passes (like 20), and check if the burr has flipped
when it does flip, double the angle,
do 40 degrees per side,
and do 1-2 real light alternating edge leading passes to cut the burr off,
as long as you made contact with the stone
it should now slice real well , maybe a bit noisy
it should also shave
following that back down to 20 degrees
and do alternating edge leading single passes
do five of them per side, then check slicing paper,
when it stops being so noisy stop, you're done,
dont go too much past 10 passes per side,
you might need to deburr again

For sharpening the tip, rotate/pivot the blade, like you do when cutting with knife,
follow the curve, make sure edge is contacting stone (look)
here is animation of how to orient the blade to the stone
Im2fC0G.gif

whether you're doing scrubbing passes or one direction only passes,
just follow the curve, 90 to the stone, and when you do,
look to see that the edge is contacting the stone,
going away from yourself, look for daylight to diappear, shadow means contact

yes this means tilting the handle a little or pressing the edge with your other hand
but looking with your eyes is what you should focus on

Here is an example of a very recent video
[video=youtube;oRmcQ-MqbBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRmcQ-MqbBE[/video]

If that doesn't feel right, you can always go vertical to deburr/microbevel,
by leaning your sharpening stone against a wall or book to make a bench stone sharmaker and just slice down the stone and pivot for tip
FTHZV98H9T4QPH9.RECTANGLE1.jpg
 
another thing that might help, get a Mora or similar knife with a sabre grind. there is no finding the angle, you just lay the blade down on the stone and start stroking. it should help you get the Feel you need for other blades.
scott
 
There's another method which is keeping sharpening angle the same, i.e. tilt of the spine against stone. The belly and tip will not touch the stone. Now, without changing the tilt, lift the handle (or butt of the handle). You will see the belly will start touching the stone. The higher the lift, the belly will get in contact with the stone until you reach the tip. Don't lift further.

Now if this can be done with the sharpening motion, it should result the same as rotating method that bucketstove and I like. This is method preferred by Jason and HeavyHanded. You can search old post by HeavyHanded that he posted an excellent illustration of this.

Whichever is easier, but don't do both at the same time (rotation & lifting). You want the edge angle the same and during practicing period, reducing variables is important.

Good luck!
 
Chris "Anagarika";16389700 said:
There's another method which is keeping sharpening angle the same, i.e. tilt of the spine against stone. The belly and tip will not touch the stone. Now, without changing the tilt, lift the handle (or butt of the handle). You will see the belly will start touching the stone. The higher the lift, the belly will get in contact with the stone until you reach the tip. Don't lift further.

Now if this can be done with the sharpening motion, it should result the same as rotating method that bucketstove and I like. This is method preferred by Jason and HeavyHanded. You can search old post by HeavyHanded that he posted an excellent illustration of this.

Whichever is easier, but don't do both at the same time (rotation & lifting). You want the edge angle the same and during practicing period, reducing variables is important.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Here's the graphic showing the principle. You can backlight the edge contact area on a counter or bench and looking right across see how changing the position/angle effects contact area. The greater the swell of the belly, the higher you'll have to elevate the handle up to a maximum of the angle per side - that is the principle, on the flat regions of the edge, the angle is as simple as measuring down through the spine to the cutting edge. As you work into the belly, you have to imagine that same angle extending up through the plane of the blade. If you're working on something like a Panga patterned machete where the belly wraps 90° relative to the heel, when you reach the tip you'll have elevated the handle so the entire blade is now the same angle the flat was held at... if that makes any sense...the pictures describe it more clearly...

Edges that are relatively straight and have a gentle curve will require very little elevation.

Recurves are the opposite - you will have to lower the handle to hit them - again , stop and observe often and only do what's needed.

0612021230a.jpg


0612021231a.jpg


0612021231.jpg


Pics are from this post:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...sharpeners-(2015-updates!)/page1#post10961831

Other good content:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...t-is-sharpening-a-knife-about-(2015-updates!)

And the manual I include with the kit for the sharpening block I sell - some product specific material but a lot of general content in easy to digest comic format:

http://www.washboardsharpening.com/user-guide.html

Practice on knives you don't care about - no need to add the stress of learning by watching the slo-mo destruction of a favorite knife as well.

And don't be discouraged in any event, you'll get it - this is a skill most of great grandmothers could have taught us. The coarse stone is your best friend for learning.
 
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