I've been following discussions over on a couple of UK hand tool forums regarding free-hand sharpening. One method in particular appealed to me for it's simplicity. To some it's pure heresy: a convex bevel .

So I gave it a try. I wrote up a 2-part blog post on it, including a video at the end demonstrating it: http://www.closegrain.com/2010/04/grimsdale-method.html.

Judge for yourself!