Marcus Sly - Furniture Making and Design

In his book "A Guide to Hand Tools and Methods" David Charlesworth writes:

I think that the scorn heaped upon honing guides is a lingering manifestation of the old protectionist attitude of skilled men - ' here's how I do it by hand, you are a miserable beginner and in about seven years you might get a decent result ... I find this attitude totally unacceptable. My students learn to produce a razor edge on day one with a honing guide.

I take issue with this. The ability to sharpen freehand has always been considered one of the basic requirements of a craftsperson's education, and for reasons which are a lot more sound than David's objections. Here is a selection of reasons why learning to hone freehand is worth the trouble:

1. It builds confidence. If you are taught that freehand honing is so difficult to learn that it is better to rely on a guide, then you are likely to feel intimidated by other tasks which require similar levels of hand-eye coordination and manual skill. The result is a tendency to rely unnecessarily on jigs in other areas of your work too.  This give you fewer options to draw on, and therfore less flexibility and speed.
2. Freehand honing increases the skill and sensitivity of ones hands and fingers.  It gives ongoing practice at judging and maintaining angles, applying and maintaining appropriate force, and integrating and coordinating different activities at the same time. It gives instant and unequivocal feedback as to your success or failure at doing these things.  This makes it a very efficient way to improve these essential skills - the same skills required in almost any hand work with timber.
3. Without mastering the basic skill of honing a straight blade by hand you are going to struggle to cope with blades that have shaped profiles.  These cannot be honed with a guide. The confidence gained in honing without a guide will stand you in good stead when faced with unusual or one-off sharpening jobs. This greatly increases your options as a woodworker.
4. Learning to hone without a guide helps to teach you patience and the discipline of practice.
5. Once you have mastered it, honing freehand is a bit quicker than using a guide, and gives you one less item to buy and organise in the workshop.

Finally it is worth noting that of course learning to hone freehand takes nothing like the seven years David mentions. I find it generally takes half an hour or less to teach someone to achieve a razor sharp edge freehand.  Then a few mintues practice every day for a week or two consolidates the skill. Taking that time, and then continuing to refine and practice that process will amply repay you in skill, flexibility and enjoyment throughour your life as a craftsperson.