Thanks Will for all the great information. The sharpening section is looking good. Thanks for all the videos, they're really helpful. When I first got started I learned a lot from the Turley (he has some more if you look around in his channel) vids and from the KSF. Lots of detail in there.
I am by no means an expert and have a lot to learn and a lot of room to grow in my technique but I'll share some of what I've learned along the way if that's OK. I'll second what you've said about practice, practice, practice and that getting a beater knife is the way to go. Better to learn on something you don't mind trashing.
For convex, I use the sandpaper on mousepad method and rely a lot on the sharpie and a jeweler's loupe to make sure I'm getting the edge good. Putting the sandpaper on the strop is another way to handle those convex. Since Fiddlebacks have a secondary bevel (unless it's been removed), the Turley vid is a great reference for finding the right angle and giving good visual clues as to what you're looking for.
For scandi, you want to maintain the flat bevel and therefore you need a flat, solid base for the sandpaper. I picked up a $5 granite tile at Lowes and put the sandpaper on it. I use one of those rubbery drawer liners underneath the granite to keep it from sliding around on the workbench. Plate glass would also work.
I've found that true zero grind scandi edges can be a little brittle. So I put a very fine micro bevel on with a strop or with the Sharpmaker. I've found this really toughens them up. Hopefully I haven't offended any purists.
Here's an example of a scandi edge with some micro chips. Don't freak out. If you're using this knife for carving wood, you're not going to notice and they will come out easily. You'd notice them if you're slicing paper as it will catch on the chips, but normal usage it'll be fine until you can clean it up.
All better:
Thanks again Will. You've put together a great resource that should make it's way to a sticky.
