"Puckdropper" wrote in message
eb.com...

"Bob La Londe" wrote in
news
Growing up in our family grocery store we used a triple stone setup
with a mineral oil basin below. My dad taught me how to hold and
sweep a knife to get a nice straight 20 degree edge. It took a lot of
practice, but even now when I sharpen a knife on a stone the edge
taper is nice and flat.
*snip*

I had some trouble with that the other day. I was thinking about building
a jig, but what makes things hard is my pocket knife has a gentle curve at
the end (like many do). Do you have any suggestions, or could you go into
detail about the technique you use?

I was just looking for knife sharpening information last night. Good
timing. :-)

Puckdropper
***********************
I visualize the blade sitting on a wedge. As you sweep around the curve the
back of the blade picks up and sweeps back slightly, but the angle from the
contact point to the back of the blade in a line along the stone remains the
same. Most people have a problem with that part and they get a shallower
angle on the curve of the blade. Its sharper, but it folds over easier.

The line that you use to determine your angle should be perpendicular to the
tangent of the curve at the contact point with the stone. LOL.