I'm a total newb, but speaking as a newb, and I'm very happy I learned to freehand grind. In the beginning I approached grinding with a lot of frayed nerves. I chased my grinds all over the place and it was frustrating. But as steep as the learning curve is, it turns out that that the hill really isn't all that tall. It's like any skill that depends heavily upon muscle memory and mechanics- like shooting. Once you learn how to stand, breathe, and proper trigger control, you can shoot pretty much any gun well. It's hard to learn and it takes practice, but it comes quickly if you stick with it and establish consistency. Grinding was initially difficult. About a year in, it's kind of boring. Now I wish my grinder ran faster.
I have no doubt that jigs can produce better results more quickly, but avoiding the learning curve only means you never get over that hump. If you rely on jigs, what do you do when you need to grind two intersecting tapers with no plunge lines, like on a kitchen knife? If you want a full distal taper, but you also want the entire bottom of the bevel to be the same thickness, from the heel to the tip- with no visible plunge lines and a full height grind, how do you do that with a jig? I'm sure there's a way- knife factories do it somehow.
I also can't see spending all of that time and effort making a bunch of jigs. To me it's easier to spend that time learning to grind freehand.
Having said all of that, I'm not against jigs in the slightest. I don't even use a tool rest, but I bought one that articulates so that I can begin working with compound angles on fittings.
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