Microbevels are Dumb. #carpentry #tooltips #diy #woodwork #wood #tips #carpentery

I think that's the important part too. If only there were a way to be good at free hand sharpening without practice! Where's the shortcut?!

Being crazy is indeed the important part

I love you ahahhahahahahahaha

Preacher brother preach it

A consistent angle is more important than a specific angle.

Having seen dozens of old planes over the years I have noted a few things: they did not spend a lot of time on perfection/appearance of the bevel, they did not worry about keeping a consistent bevel-I have noted many bevels are actually slightly curved from the back to the edge(which kinda works like a secondary bevel except it’s all done with one stroke and probably due to the natural motion of the arm going to and fro), and files were used too many times to sharpen an edge!😅

Cool

Used to sharpen my tools free hand with 220 sand paper. Never had an issue

It's more important to have a consistent angle than several bad micro angles

Any suggestions for whetstone sets?

I cannot sharpen anything without a guide. Never had luck free-handing knives or woodworking tools. I’ve just accepted that I get better results with a guide.

I like to put on a slight hollow grind on a grinding wheel and then you can always very easily sharpen it with a few strokes freehand on a hand stone, creating a microbevel. Unless you majorly damage the edge you won't have to use a machine for along time.

The important part is consistency. And for my time the guides are well worth it for that reason.

The real important part is how long they stay sharp, and how many times you can re-sharpen them. A micro-bevel makes blades last longer, you lose less material.

You won't hold a perfect angle freehand... But across dozens if strokes, it will all just average out.

I'm way too dumb to freehand sharpen anything successfully!

I cook an ‘sharpen’ (i don’t know the English word for: Aanzetten, it is different from sharpening) and i don’t use a guide. I just always do it at the same angle out of muscle memory. As long as i use the same angle it is nice and sharp for my knives. I am Dutch btw.

People have build houses, ships, castles, cathedrals and every kind of intricate furniture and wooden mechanisms with tools made and sharpened by hand but nowadays everything has to be reproducibly perfected on a molecular level. Just take a look at the past, take away from it what you need and enjoy life without turning into a neurotic wreck looking for something you don't need.

Making a slight convex will 100% make your tools cut better and even be more durable.

I put a micro bevel free hand all the time.

totally get your point but i'm never throwing out that kreg multimark, that thing is insane value for like $9!!

is not easy to strop a microbevel.

I’m basing this mostly on kitchen knives, but guides are really good when you’re less experienced. Until you get a feel for it, it can be hard to keep a consistent angle. This is one of the few times where spending more on equipment as a beginner makes some sense. You can do it without but it’s harder

Freehand takes a lot of practice but I agree.

Angle of sharpen has very little bearing on the cutting power. U obviously dont want like a 40 degree angle but anywhere from 15-25 is prob fine and easy to maintain by hand.
Consistentcy of the angle chosen is what sharpens.

Eh, i sharpen all my hunting equipment by hand and its shaving sharp soo i cant lie, he's right.

"Your MRK.1 eyeballs will be calibrated in time" real quote from a real military handbook lol.

Ok.. "You're crazy!" But COMPLETELY right. Whatever technique gives you the desired result is the correct technique

OWNTWO.

One way, not the only way.

Don't listen to this guy, keep your angle guide.
The only real benefit to angle guides anyway is they save your hand from all the stress of maintaining the correct angle you want, especially when you have to set an angle on a newly acquired/damaged tool.

Both are good 👍 i do it the way i saw blacksmiths from Japan do it in a documentary decades ago, a very methodically controlled but efficient freehand. No idea if it's the best way but it's been working fine my whole life

as someone who's spent an absurd amount of time stressing about what angle I'm sharpening things at I appreciate this 🙏

You're crazy. The important part is feeling superior to those around you.
I'm surprised you didn't know that.

This is like the 4th video of your’s i have seen and from my understanding your focus is new people to it as a hobby vs people who need exactly precision with their tools for certain projects.

As long you got a nice 45° angle. All metal will be sharp.

Maybe not a katana razor sharp. But you dont want your tools to be that sharp

I would trust this guy over other woodworking channels like that Moses guy who thinks he’s some intelligent inventor of everything or the clickbate guy whose name I forget (Stumby Brain or something like that :)

When all somebody tried to do is sell you shit you don’t need, run. This channel is valuable to all, please keep up the good work and don’t turn into the other channels.

I want guides to learn the angle cause I’ve tried free hand sharpening knifes and stuff it’s like 70%-80% of the time it’s fine bot the rest of the time I end up with a duller knife than when I started

So true!

I'm a woodturner. I learned to sharpen freehand on my grinding wheel. It used to take a minute and a half to sharpen 1 tool, and now i can sharpen all my tools in the same time. Now I always have sharp tools

I freehand all my edges, might use my knee as a hold but you can feel when its right

I've mastered the art of freehand sharpening to the level
where I consistently get the same angle - a wrong one

What's my sexuality? I have no idea. But I'm having the time of my life at this club

My hands aren't steady enough to get a consistent angle when sharpening.

You can also add a microbevel when sharpening free hand

Today i learned honing guides exist

PSA: Not everyone is physically or neurologically capable of freehanding. Badmouthing others over different preferences or needs is ridiculous - as in worthy of ridicule. There are more alternatives than these two methods and everyone should choose the best for them.

For straight edges, I'm personally quite fond of the method I learned in college: Using a tool rest for stability, grind the tip on a sufficiently wide grinding wheel. The curve means that only the cutting edge and other end of the ground area touch the sharpening stone, so it will sharpen evenly and quickly as long as you're not incredibly lipsided at applying pressure.

Sure, sharpening without using a micro-bevel and sharpening freehand take longer and take a lot more practice, but i feel like the edge will last longer.

Rex if I was going to get a honing guide have you got any particular one you would recommend (it has to work and be cheap)

Let’s add to this a quick honing in between full blown sharpening! I have some 2,000 grit sandpaper glued to a flat surface I dry hone several times in between sharpening when things start to dull and I don’t want to do full blown sharpening