having trouble keeping angle

[d.weglarz13]

hey guys, a couple questions. Im having trouble keeping a perfect angle when i sharpen by hand using stones. i could swear i am keeping the angle perfect, but when i look, it is apparent that my hand is not as accurate as i would like. are there any pointers you guys have to help me? also, i keep scratching up the body of the blade on the sides whenever i lay the knife on the stone to line up the angle, so are there any better ways to find and keep the angle without first laying the side of the blade on the stone? thanks.

 

[nozh2002]

hey guys, a couple questions. Im having trouble keeping a perfect angle when i sharpen by hand using stones. i could swear i am keeping the angle perfect, but when i look, it is apparent that my hand is not as accurate as i would like. are there any pointers you guys have to help me? also, i keep scratching up the body of the blade on the sides whenever i lay the knife on the stone to line up the angle, so are there any better ways to find and keep the angle without first laying the side of the blade on the stone? thanks.

Keeping angle is last this you should worry about. You may have some base which lift stone from table surface to have more room for hands to handle knife. You may make this base tilted as I did:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TscN9h-1xQ

People tend to blame wrong angle when they have problem with something different. Usually it is too fine grit for initial sharpening.

Regards, Vassili.

 

[C.S. Graves]

One cheapo option would be to take a piece of paper, fold it diagonally from one corner, then fold diagonally again from the same corner. This should give you something like a botched paper-airplane, and the angle of the corner will be about 22.5 degrees. You can use it strictly as a visual guide, or place it on one end of your stones and put the flat of the knife against it to get the angle. Of course, you may choose to add more or less tilt, if 22.5 degrees per side isn't exactly what you want per side.

Personally, if I'm sharpening freehand, I keep this general idea in mind: the lower the grit, the lower the angle. This helps keep a slimmer profile on the edge, and by increasing the angle a little with the higher grits, you can get a sharp edge relatively quickly, assuming there was enough work with more coarse stones first.

 

[Jason B.]

hey guys, a couple questions. Im having trouble keeping a perfect angle when i sharpen by hand using stones. i could swear i am keeping the angle perfect, but when i look, it is apparent that my hand is not as accurate as i would like. are there any pointers you guys have to help me? also, i keep scratching up the body of the blade on the sides whenever i lay the knife on the stone to line up the angle, so are there any better ways to find and keep the angle without first laying the side of the blade on the stone? thanks.

You don't need to lay the blade all the way down, just enough to be steeper than the edge angle. The motion you are most likely not doing is the one near the curve of the blade. As you reach the curve of the blade there are two motions needed, the first is the lifting of the handle and the second is the slight roll foward/raising spine angle. If you have a mora practice with that to get the feel for how you should be moving the blade, or get a DMT aligner clamp it will do close to the same thing.

Lock you wrist and move from you elbows, it helps to keep the blade in one position. Besides that just watch your scratch pattern and adjust you movements from their.

 

[knarfeng]

hey guys, a couple questions. Im having trouble keeping a perfect angle when i sharpen by hand using stones. i could swear i am keeping the angle perfect, but when i look, it is apparent that my hand is not as accurate as i would like. are there any pointers you guys have to help me? also, i keep scratching up the body of the blade on the sides whenever i lay the knife on the stone to line up the angle, so are there any better ways to find and keep the angle without first laying the side of the blade on the stone? thanks.

Some folks set the stone at an angle, then, depending on the angle, concentrate on keeping the knife either perfectly vertical or perfectly horizontal. The human brain is pretty fair at estimating vertical and horizontal, not so good at angles in between.

I set my DMT stones at a set angle off vertical, then concentrate on keeping the blade perfectly vertical.

 

[gunmike1]

I raise my stones off of the counter (like Vassilli's block does) but I use a stone holder that I can use different things to prop it up to whatever angle I choose. Knifenut's suggestions are also spot on to follow. It just takes lots of practice mixed in with OCD and in no time you will be getting nice looking, hair whittling edges.

Mike

 

[Dog of War]

Some folks set the stone at an angle, then, depending on the angle, concentrate on keeping the knife either perfectly vertical or perfectly horizontal. The human brain is pretty fair at estimating vertical and horizontal, not so good at angles in between.

I set my DMT stones at a set angle off vertical, then concentrate on keeping the blade perfectly vertical.

Same here. Especially if you use a Sharpmaker or CrockSticks, keeping a blade vertical becomes very natural.

I built this simple jig to hold 2" wide benchstones. But you can try the same thing by simply clamping a stone in a vise at the desired angle. The jig's main advantage is that it provides room/clearance to work easily from either side:

 

[J.Davey]

One easy trick is to use a permanent marker and color the edge. You'll know you're hitting the correct angle when the color goes away. Practice this with some junk knives. With practice, you'll just get used to finding, and holding, the proper sharpening angle. That's how I learned when I was 12, and 23 years later I'm finally pretty good at sharpening (I still suck at re-profiling an edge, though)!

 

[d.weglarz13]

ok, thanks alot guys. I appreciate the help.