I sharpened my knife (a German "Two Cherries" knife). I'm using basswood. I am pretty much holding it at the correct angle, as awkward as it feels. I'm keeping my arm close to my side. I watch the video of the dude sliding the knife easily through wood. I try it, and it's HUGELY DIFFICULT.
Am I doing it wrong? Are my puny girl hands not up to the task? 30 minutes of practice struggling to cut the wood has my fingers almost numb.
Or does that dude on the video just have hand/arm muscles from doing this for years, and has his technique down to a science? Or know something about sharpening knives that I don't? (I realize now I don't have a strop- how important is that bit?)
I'd love someone to tell me about the learning curve on this-did it suck at first? How much did it suck? How soon did it get easier? Did it start OUT easy to physically cut the wood, and maybe I'm doing it wrong?
(this is the bit where learning from the internet rather than from humans, kind of sucks…no immediate feedback!)
Am I doing it wrong? Are my puny girl hands not up to the task? 30 minutes of practice struggling to cut the wood has my fingers almost numb.
Or does that dude on the video just have hand/arm muscles from doing this for years, and has his technique down to a science? Or know something about sharpening knives that I don't? (I realize now I don't have a strop- how important is that bit?)
I'd love someone to tell me about the learning curve on this-did it suck at first? How much did it suck? How soon did it get easier? Did it start OUT easy to physically cut the wood, and maybe I'm doing it wrong?
(this is the bit where learning from the internet rather than from humans, kind of sucks…no immediate feedback!)