First free hand sharpening

[ZMW]

I finally got a few bench stones and after practicing on junk knives I did my first reprofile free hand on a Spydie. pics are coming next of my set up.

My goal was for 25d inclusive. I’m not sure if I went that steep or not but it seems close. The dmt xcoarse is a beast! My dmt coarse was bought used and it’s super worn in, but still cuts.

The 8medium stone made quick work, the extra length was a big plus. But, not having a fine benchstone, I used the sharpmaker tri rods as seen in the pic. That was not ideal. I have a golden stone on the way. I assumed it will lay flat and can be used as bench stone as well???

And, I finally took your guys advice and used my wife’s hair dryer to get the white and green compounds warm and got a much thicker spread.

I struggled to get an even cut at the tip and base. But, I am really happy with the results for my first time.

Any tips, thoughts? Thanks fellas

[ZMW]

Pics... And other thoughts. It is shaving sharp, but not quite next level scary sharp.

I also tried to microbevel at 30 on the SM with the fine rods, but after 1-2 min the edge was much duller. I probably needed to start the micro on the brown (or even CBN?) rods first, then fine, and it probably would have been better. But, I got bored, and finished it freehand. Bringing it back to shaving sharp. I would def not shave my face with it, but it does a good number on arm hair.

[Pelagic]

My advice is try to be ambidextrous. Use only edge to to spine passes toward you, developing muscle in your dominant hand as well as your other hand. This allows you to observe the apex making contact with the stone at all times. Your most important stone is that 220 grit black DMT you have. Get the bevel as clean and nice as possible (secondary to sharpness of course) on that stone. The rest requires slightly less focus.

I recently sharpened a s110v military with that black stone (220), the blue (325), and the red (600) DMT stones, followed by a 1 micron strop on wood (brief) and 0.1 micron strop on leather (brief). This progression is hard to beat imo, in achieving an overall great edge for both slicing and pushcutting (hair whittling sharp of course). Not perfect obviously, but whenever I experiment with a different sharpening protocol on that steel, I'll ask myself if it's better than this one, and why. It depends on what you're cutting.

[TkoK83Spy]

Good for you! It's a major learning curve. Some of these guys are incredible, as we know. But you took the first step... you tried! Looks pretty good from the pics. I imagine you'll only improve with more practice and tips from the pros we have around here.

[vivi]

Those black DMT's are nice.

You ever want a fun challenge, try to get hair popping sharp off of one. That edge will chew up cardboard and rope.

[Baron Mind]

Freehand sharpening has been the most enthralling, most challenging, most rewarding thing I've ever learned to do.

[JD Spydo]

Back in the mid to late 90s when I got my first complete set of Spyderco 302 Benchstones. During that time period I was also learning the skill of sharpening using my "Razor Edge" Ultimate Sharpening Kit and learning with a great book on sharpening written by John Juranitch. I switched to using the Spyderco 302 stones and I just loved the results.

I own two Spyderco 204 Sharpmakers with extra stones but I dearly love to freehand sharpening with all my Spyderco manual sharpening tools.

[weeping minora]

Korin Knives (of Japan) has some good sharpening videos over on the YT that demonstrate techniques that are a little alternative to much advice that I've seen readily available. Here's a playlist with an array of knowledge on the basics:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 9_PSkXWiN6

Picked up a few tips from them that a lot of sharpeners don't really talk about or share while sharpening. YT features many channels for some good tips, including (though certainly not limited to): Michael Christy, Murray Carter and Riki (not sure if correct spelling?) who operates the Burrfection channel (which also features many, many different knives and stones). Another well respected sharpener by the name of Jason B. on another well-known blade forum is also a wealth of knowledge on the subject. Shawn of Big Brown Bear Knives, who frequents these forums as Deadboxhero, would be another person to heed advice from as well.

Some of the most basic advice you'll run across is to build your confidence within a 3-stone set-up (coarse, medium and fine) before trying to go about and buy all of these crazy stones or accessories to make your knives "sharper". No transition, or addition to an inexperienced sharpeners line-up will make their knives sharper. I'd advise you get a decent fine stone (~2000 grit) to add to your rotation and learn the basics from there. By the time you've handled the fundamentals, you'll have an idea of where you'll want to take your sharpening to next. Shapton Glass Stone HR series (NOT HC, I.E. HIGH CARBON) are excellent stones that are forgiving enough (read hard) to consider looking into for developing your skillset with. Obviously, certain stones/makers will be better for cutting different steels (carbon/tool steels, PM steels and so forth) and will produce different edges, but Shapton Glass is a solid place to start that can handle most steels well from the start.

The best advice I've found from my own experience is to be able to listen to what the stones are telling you and learn how to understand that language. I understand that doesn't make sense, but it (might :D) make more sense once you have sufficient experience within your abilities. Learn to be aware of the amount of pressure you're placing on your knife upon your stone and be sure to keep your angles in check without deviation. The back and forth continuous motions on your stone are useful and should be learned as quickly as possible to maximize your speed of sharpening, though don't take that as a sign of a "sharper" edge. It's just a faster cutting technique if you have proper stability within your angles. Don't be afraid to sharpen your "harder to sharpen" steels because you think you lack the skills. Confidence is key to gaining the skills you need to begin with. Don't fear the notion of getting scratches on your blade from not being able to hold a consistent angle, or rather have taken your angles too low and in doing so caused a scratch to your primary bevel. I'd actually advise you to hit the shoulder of your edge bevel to thin out your BTE geometry anyway. Last tip of advice; stones themselves can be as much of a slippery slope into sickness as knives themselves, so tread with ease :p

[anagarika]

Very well done on your first!

For further learning, I’d suggest going over to BF Maintenance subforum and check the stickies. Lots of good info there.

[Jazz]

Awesome, and keep at it, over and over and over. Soon you are a pro. :)

I do quite well, but ONLY after doing it freehand for ever. I also learned a lot from this forum, and Wayne Goddard's columns in Blade magazine. Cooking for a living kind of forced me to learn quick. I've never tried a guided system of any sort.

Have fun, bro, and thanks for sharing.