I've been looking around to getting a custom knife made for me. Nothing too special just a 1095 blade. What can I do to practice getting knives sharp? My Smith sharpening systems suck bad. How can I get a good feel for the needed angle?
I'm thinking a relatively cheap stone that's kinda long and wide and then a plain leather strip on a piece of wood. But the angle thing seems to be most inportant. I'm so bad at sharpening knives I don't even sharpen anymore since I just make them dull.
EDIT: I might get a Sharpmaker for Christmas but I don't want to have to rely on a sharpening system. I want to have the skill to be able to sharpen something if all I have access to is a regular old stone.
I'm thinking a relatively cheap stone that's kinda long and wide and then a plain leather strip on a piece of wood. But the angle thing seems to be most inportant. I'm so bad at sharpening knives I don't even sharpen anymore since I just make them dull.
EDIT: I might get a Sharpmaker for Christmas but I don't want to have to rely on a sharpening system. I want to have the skill to be able to sharpen something if all I have access to is a regular old stone.