free hand grinding

[thats sharp]

Occasionally, I find myself in situations where I need to grind knives freehand. This is especially true when I have switched to a new wheel and am sharpening wide blade knives ie. cleavers, pizza knives or conversely when using a smaller diameter wheel to sharpen very thin filet knives etc.  I try to freehand by watching the water coming off the blade but again the results are mixed.
Does anyone have a particular method that works for them? I would like to establish a more consistent approach.
Thanks

[Ken S]

Welcome to the forum, Mike. Today is my day for lunch makingduty, siI mustbe brief. Look down the page of topics. Iposted some thoughts which may apply. Does your old wheel have enough useful life to work with cleavers?

Ken

[thats sharp]

Thanks for the reply Ken. Most of the time this is not a problem. Since most of my sharpening services are portable I often don't have the option of having another stone available. I was just hoping someone had some successful visual tips on how to achieve that 17-20 degree angle.
I did like the paper wheel tip and may draw that up on my stones...
Again thanks for your help 

[Herman Trivilino]

The only reliable solution I've found is the homemade HK-50 jig:

http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1592.msg6634#msg6634