I've got a 'fine' hard Arkansas and a Translucent Washita. I sharpen freehand the way we were taught by Paul Sellers to make a convex bevel. I strop with some green Chromium oxide at the end. I think stropping makes more difference than anything else. I think the first 'grind' step makes or breaks an edge, if you're not raising a burr in the first step - all the others will take too long.
Hi Jim - Thanks for the PM. I appreciate the help. I will look into the coarse synthetic from Norton. What 2 oil stones do you use. Do you free hand sharpen then?
Please excuse the PM, I now longer post on the public forum. I use a coarse diamond stone with my two oil stones, because I already owned one. The same can be achieved with a coarse synthetic oil stone, from Norton. You MUST raise a burr, at each grit, every time to maintain the desired cutting angle. Forming the wire burr illustrates that you've moved a layer of steel to a fine point. I follow Paul Sellers' method, but any repeatable process will work. Lastly, I found that the stones need to be at the height of my belt, or the cutting angle is too shallow.
