Sharpening blades - freehand vs jig (LONG)

Re: Sharpening blades - freehand vs jig (LONG)

joel

>Very interesting observation.

four ideas (no idea if I'm right):

1)Any small misalighment of a blade in a jig would take longer to work out on the stone than a freehand flat on the stone sharpening.

2) when freehand sharpening you are using more of the stone and the stone is staying flat longer, working more predicitbily, and you are getting more mileage out of the slurry

3) you are just getting better and with more comfidcent using more pressure in the right places so the stone is cutting faster

4) sort of like three but it is easier to put pressure on the bevel without a jig than with a jig in the way - I would guess - I find sharpening jigs cumbersome and havn't owned one since 1985.

on the blade feeling sharper at coarser grits. have you thought that is what is really happening is that what you used to think feels sharp actually isn't. when I hit sharpeness the blade seems to mellow out - and now I recognize this as the state of sharpness I am looking for - but I would suppose it seems less sharp than a duller blade. The reason is that when a blade is mostly sharp it has the remains of a wire edge on it that feels very sharp but in fact is ragged and will come off the edge easily. Sort of a false sharp state. When the last bits of the wire edge is removedthe blade really is sharper but it feels mellower.

Re: Sharpening blades - freehand vs jig (LONG)

Steve knight

>the sharper the edge the more glassy it will feel. it feels almost smooth. a good japanese blade will almost feel like the edge has oil on it.

this is because the teeth are so fine you cna't feel them. at 1000 grit they ar great for cutting meat and you are more likly to cut yourself at that grit then 8000 because the teeth are bigger.

Agree *LINK*

Andrew F in Australia

>Hi Derek,

I agree with Joel on this one - the strop has a great bearing on the final edge quality, and as SK said, the blades feel oilier.

I freehand sharpen too.

Here's an archived link of the post in which I described the technique.

Cheers,

Andrew


Freehand sharpening - how to

Re: Agree

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>Andrew

You may recall tutoring me on sharpening technique on the telephone about a year ago. Good advice well used.

I owe you a beer or two.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Thanks mate!! I'll hold you to that when I get ..

Andrew F in Australia

>to Perth,

Cheers,

Andrew

(who can remember but lives 4 days drive away)

Re: Sharpening blades - freehand vs jig (LONG)

charles

>Jigs are o.k. However, one day while working you are going to be really concentrating on a project and you're going to need a quick touch-up. You'll quickly remove the iron from the plane, register it against that extra-fine ceramic stone that came with your Wayne Barton chip carving set, register the primary bevel on the stone, tip it up a bo'hair, give it about eight swirly figure eights (small stone doesn't matter), get a nice, tasty edge and go back to work. What do you mean that only took a minute?

This day will mark the day you became a woodworker and not a tool sharpener.

Seriously, get a set-up that minimizes the time you spend fooling with stuff (read shi*). Ceramics fit this bill really well. Get a 'paddle' type strop too with some jewelers rouge as well. Use your jig with some coarse sandpaper (I just put the sandpaper on a piece of hard Maple) when you need to grind a primary bevel. Other than that, leave it in the drawer.

Waterstones? No way for me. Too damn much water - storing them underwater, sloshing around in water, keeping the water from freezing, flattening the stones or worried about them getting out of flat, gouging them with your 1/4" chisel. Why bother?

Re: Sharpening blades - freehand vs jig (LONG)

Derek Cohen, in Perth Australia

>Charles

One of the huge advantages of freehand sharpening is, as you point out, the ability to touch up the blade as you work, without feeling as if you have been interrupted. I agree, this is a biggie. I tend to keep a green rouge-covered MDF board handly for just this purpose (I think the Veritas green "crayon" is equal to a 9000 waterstone). If this does not do it then I go to my waterstones. It takes only a minute of two since they are usually set up in the laundry sink (much to the dismay of my wife - who is now aggitating that I have my own water supply installed).

Are waterstones that messy? I think that it is six-of-one-and-half-dozen-of-the-other. If I used sandpaper or a diamond stone I would be cleaning up grey swarf, which is just as messy. Ditto oil stones. I am comfortable with the waterstones (and don't dig in the 1/2" chisel any more).

Bottom line - freehand rules!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Sharpening blades - freehand vs jig (LONG)

paul womack

>Joel said:

1)Any small misalighment of a blade in a jig would take longer to work out on the stone than a freehand flat on the stone sharpening.

Agreed. This could be a tedious problem. To avoid it, instead of taking care over "jigging up", I use a very simple depth stop, and just "slam the blade in".

2) [using the whole stone]

Conceded. :-)

3) you are just getting better and more confident using more pressure in the right places so the stone is cutting faster

Agreed - this comes with experience, but I think the same benefits of experience and "touch" apply to both hand and jig sharpening.

4) sort of like three but it is easier to put pressure on the bevel without a jig than with a jig in the way

Also agreed in principle - but you're removing so little metal when doing normal resharpening, it's just not an issue.

BugBear

Re: Sharpening blades - freehand vs jig (LONG)

charles

>Not messy if you can take over the laundry sink!

No doubt they're effective. I just don't like dealing with all the water.

I use my ceramics unlubricated and they clog fairly quickly. I take them to the house once a week and do a quick scrub up - clean in 30 seconds and back to the shop.

hand position

Clay C in Miami

>Andrew,

I'm having trouble picturing this:

"3) Put the right middle finger under the blade and put the index finger and thumb around the right hand side of the blade (both fairly straight). Hold the blade firmly in position with them, but not so tight that the knuckles turn white - this is an important hint here - holding too tight stops the blade from being sharpened successfully"

Are you sort of 'pinching' the right side of the blade between your fairly-straight index and thumb? Between the middle-underneath finger and the index? Not at all? You are using only the left hand to keep the bevel on the surface, right hand is only to move the blade? No skin on the stone I assume ...

If you've got a pic (obviously this would require an assistant or timed shutter release!), can you put it up?

TIA,

Clay

(Who is getting better [slowly] at freehand sharpening - my first effort ended with 4 abraded-till-bleeding fingertips, and more facets on that bevel than the average diamond.)

Re: hand position

Andrew F in Australia

>Are you sort of 'pinching' the right side of the blade between your fairly-straight index and thumb?

That's it Clay.

You are using only the left hand to keep the bevel on the surface, right hand is only to move the blade? No skin on the stone I assume ...

All assumptions correct there Clay, except the bevel is slightly tilted off the surface. The left hand keeps the cutting edge in firm contact with the stone.

Cheers,

Andrew