Hey guys, I'm just learning how to freehand sharpen my knives and its coming okay. I just started to use the method where you put Sharpie on your edge to know if you're removing material at the heel or tip (is that the correct lingo?) anyway, it seems to be helping a lot. I only have up to 1000 grit stones right now as I'm just learning. My question is: how sharp should my knife be at 1000# if I'm doing it right? Should I be able to cut paper with ease? Because it just tears the paper right now. Is this normal at this grit or should I be taking more metal off the edge to get it paper-cutting-sharp? I'm pretty sure I'm taking material off at the right places because of the Sharpie ink.
What do you guys think?
Thanks for your help guys,
BO-DACIOUS
As others have said, you should be able to cut paper after a 1K stone... many here stop at that level. Angle really isn't a huge issue (although it does matter)... even a pretty high angle will slice paper.
Keep in mind that the "Sharpie Method" doesn't work as well sharpening freehand, as it does on a guided system. On a guided system, you can easily see where metal is being removed consistently... with freehand, one stroke could remove the Sharpie, while all your other strokes could be hitting somewhere else. As Jason said, looking at your work, under magnification if needed, will give you a better idea of where you're hitting... and whether or not you're actually reaching the edge, or maybe taking some strokes too high, which will pretty much erase all your other work.
I'm using approx 22 degree angles for some folder knives is that right? I think the Sharpie might be gumming up my stone suddenly....... I cannot cuT paper well. How much time should I be spending on 1000 grit? I also might not be removing my burr properly. I'm just doing a couple strokes per side in a stropping motion to remove my burr. Is that right? What else would work? I've heard hard felt and soft wood like balsa is that right?
Assuming that you're actually apexing the edge and raising a burr, I also think your burr removal method may be lacking (and may be the actual problem). Doing a couple of
light / alternating / edge leading / higher angle strokes on the stone is a better method IMO.
"Steel Drake" has done some sharpening videos recently, in a couple he demonstrates this... might be worth a look.
Did you raise a burr on both sides on your coarse stone b4 moving up to the 1k? Sounds like you haven't apexed the edge completely...go back to your coarse stone and do even passes on both sides until you've raised a burr along the entire edge on both sides...then move up to your finer stones.
This also applies, although you don't necessarily need to go to a more coarse stone... a 1K stone is plenty coarse enough to set a bevel and raise a burr. But if you're bevels have become a 'mess' (which can happen when learning freehand), then setting it on a coarse stone as stated here is a good idea.
Also, as Jason said, you might look into a better stone. It's possible to get a sharp edge off a cheap stone, but first you need to know how to make a knife sharp, then you will know how to adjust to make a knife sharp on other material, that may require special techniques.
