
Originally Posted by
keithsaltydog
Trust your freehand bevels.Esp. since you come from a chisel background & outgrew the guide. I have sharpened wood chisels & Ice carving chisels quite a bit. All freehand used Arkansas oil stone & waterstones. For Kitchen knives always used waterstones. They are better for chef knives they clean up well so you are working with a clean stone which is important.
The knives you have are not that easy to sharpen(soft stainless steel). I am sure you know the difference between really cheaply made plane irons & wood chisels compared to the quality stuff. It is the same with kitchen knives.
Don't worry about how small the knife bevel is just check out some good freehand video's. Jon at Japanese Knife Imports has online vids that are good. Dave Martell has a DVD that is excellent for beginning sharpeners with lots of tips.
I teach culinary students most who have never put any steel to a stone before. Starting from scratch. I show them how fast I can take a totally dull knife, sharpen it ,sail it thru paper with little sound. Then I slow down the technique so they can see what is going on. I do one on one correcting their mistakes, the students watching my corrections learn that way as well.
Most are using King 1000 stones they get cheap from Cherry co. here. Most all are able to hold a steady spine with one on one guidance. Many are able to get an even burr heel to tip with one class. Some come back on their own time to hone their skills.
I would say get a better knife, forget the oilstone, watch some video's. No need guides either. The aim is to get a sharp edge that glides through food. A little freehand mastery does that very well.