Recommendation? What stone set to get?

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West Šenkovec

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Jan 19, 2013
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48
Hi!
For a couple years I was saving up for Venev bench stones. I had the money, I just didn't have the courage to spend a couple hundred bucks on sharpening stones 😂😅

Now that I'm buying a fancy japanese kitchen knife, I need new stones. I only have small pocket stones and a big Spyderco UF bench stone that's like new.

The kitchen knife I bought is in tool steel (64 HRC). My pocket knife steels are: SAK steel, 12C27, LC200N, N680, N690, VG-10, CTS-XHP, K390, S90V.

I'm from Europe so I would be buying from a European store.
Like mentioned before, my first pick were the Venev bench stones but those are out of stock, presumably due to the war.

My second pick was the Shapton glass set (1000, 3000, 8000) for €160 but I figured that I probably don't need the 8000 and it's the HC version.
I would probably get the 320/500, 1000, 3000, a stone holder and the #150 double sided diamond plate from cleancut for €40. One side for stone flattening and other for repairs.

The other option that I was considering were the Naniwa diamond stones. Those are about €150 per stone if I remember correctly. I would get a sub 1000#, 1000 and 3000 grit. That's a lot of money but maybe it would be the best option in the long run? I don't know how long they last.

I also don't know how the Shapton glass would do with high carbide steels. I've read that they're splash and go, hard and slow wearing stones so that's why I chose them.

I would like to hear you recommendations please. If there's a way to get the Venev stones I'm also open for that.
Thanks! 👍
 
With your steels, I would probably pass on the Shaptons, wonderful though they are with simple carbon steels and the milder end of the supersteels, and go for the Naniwas. They are significantly more expensive than the Venevs you can't get, but there is a bonus: they feel wonderful to sharpen on, compared to the Venevs. So at least there is a return on the extra money.

You can likely get by with just the 1000 for a very long time, if budget is an issue. I don't know where your sharpening skills stand at the moment, but it's possible to get an excellent edge on a 1000 stone. I rarely use anything finer for my pocketknives, and while I usually will take kitchen knives to one more step, a 3000 or a Washita or a soft Ark or a Belgian Blue or a JNat, quite often I am so happy with the 1K edge that I don't bother to go any further.

I wouldn't worry about longevity, assuming you're not trying to do take off a ton of metal for thinning or whatever. The diamond resin layer is thin, but wears very slowly.
 
The issue I have is that I don't have regular stones for cheaper knives with 440C, AUS8, Opinel, whatever steel the Victorinox chef knife has and so on. Would the Naniwa diamond work great on those or would it get loaded super fast and need much more lapping?

I think I would need water stones plus diamond stones to cover everything but that's too much money for the amount of sharpening I do.

My sharpening skills are pretty bad at the moment. I could get good edges with pocket stones but recently it just doesn't work. Ironically, I can get shaving sharp edges on cheap kitchen knives without a problem on a $2 double sided sharpening stone.

I guess it's because there's more surface so I can control the movement and angles better.

Regarding the longevity, I would expect to last a long time, considering the price. I didn't found any videos on long term updates.
I asked people who own them if they could give me an update and they said that the vitrified diamond stones are better. Great, the $150 stone isn't good enough, now I need a $400 stone per grit lmao
 
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West Šenkovec said:
The issue I have is that I don't have regular stones for cheaper knives with 440C, AUS8, Opinel, whatever steel the Victorinox chef knife has and so on. Would the Naniwa diamond work great on those or would it get loaded super fast and need much more lapping?

I think I would need water stones plus diamond stones to cover everything but that's too much money for the amount of sharpening I do.

My sharpening skills are pretty bad at the moment. I could get good edges with pocket stones but recently it just doesn't work. Ironically, I can get shaving sharp edges on cheap kitchen knives without a problem on a $2 double sided sharpening stone.

I guess it's because there's more surface so I can control the movement and angles better.

Regarding the longevity, I would expect to last a long time, considering the price. I didn't found any videos on long term updates.
I asked people who own them if they could give me an update and they said that the vitrified diamond stones are better. Great, the $150 stone isn't good enough, now I need a $400 stone per grit lmao
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Diamond stones work great on stainless. They are arguably the best choice for stainless. They are definitely the best choice for *bad* stainless, which I find almost intolerable to sharpen without diamonds. Diamonds really help with grinding off the persistent burr, and hide the gummy feel of the steel to some extent.

Yes, the vitrified stones are better. But that doesn't mean you have to have them. The Naniwa diamond stones are really excellent.
 
Depends on the tool steel for the kitchen knife. If it is a high carbide steel, then I would get the Naniwa diamond stones or something similar. If it's something more basic, then you could just get the Shaptons. The Shapton stones won't really be the best choice for higher carbide steels like K390 or S90V.

For the pocket knives you could just get something like a DMT or Ezelap or similar coarse/fine combo diamond plate. They do folding pocket stones as well, and should be relatively cheap.
 
chalby said:
Depends on the tool steel for the kitchen knife. If it is a high carbide steel, then I would get the Naniwa diamond stones or something similar. If it's something more basic, then you could just get the Shaptons. The Shapton stones won't really be the best choice for higher carbide steels like K390 or S90V.

For the pocket knives you could just get something like a DMT or Ezelap or similar coarse/fine combo diamond plate. They do folding pocket stones as well, and should be relatively cheap.
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It's SKD, don't know which one, at 64 HRC.

I found Venev Orion stones in stock but they are 7/5, 3/2 (JIS 2000/4000) and 3/2, 1/0 (JIS 4000/8000)
I don't know the grits but I think that's too fine for practical use.

Maybe I could get the Shapton glass (which grits?) And then the Naniwa or Venev later.
 
West Šenkovec said:
It's SKD, don't know which one, at 64 HRC.

I found Venev Orion stones in stock but they are 7/5, 3/2 (JIS 2000/4000) and 3/2, 1/0 (JIS 4000/8000)
I don't know the grits but I think that's too fine for practical use.

Maybe I could get the Shapton glass (which grits?) And then the Naniwa or Venev later.
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From what I have heard, SKD is most likely SKD12 which is similar to A2.

Shaptons would be fine for that IMO. XHP, S90V and K390 not so much.

Keep in mind that those high carbide steels will be OK for coarser grits even with waterstones like Shaptons. You could get away with using something like Shapton Glass 220 or 500 and then use the 7/5 and 3/2 Venev for finishing. That's just one idea anyway.
 
chalby said:
From what I have heard, SKD is most likely SKD12 which is similar to A2.

Shaptons would be fine for that IMO. XHP, S90V and K390 not so much.

Keep in mind that those high carbide steels will be OK for coarser grits even with waterstones like Shaptons. You could get away with using something like Shapton Glass 220 or 500 and then use the 7/5 and 3/2 Venev for finishing. That's just one idea anyway.
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As of now, I'm thinking of getting the Shapton glass in 500, 1000, and 3000, along with a 150 diamond plate for lapping and repairs.
I'll try how it works on harder wearing steels and then probably get something with diamonds.

Would the 500 be a better choice than the 320?
 
I don't own them (yet), but Jason B. Jason B. is of the opinion that the 500 and the 2000 are the stars of the Shapton Glass line.
 
UncleBoots said:
Yes. No question about it. The 500 is just a wonderful stone, at a very useful grit. Many people who don't love the Shapton Glass line as I do, still have a special place in their hearts for the SG 500.
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Even Shapton recognizes the 500's awesomeness, it being the only stone in the lineup available in double thickness.
 
It's up to you. The 500 is a more popular stone, and TBH you shouldn't need anything coarser very often unless you are sharpening other peoples knives where you never know what you will get.

If you don't let your knives get really dull, you'll probably find you'll start with the 1000 most of the time anyway.
 
chalby said:
It's up to you. The 500 is a more popular stone, and TBH you shouldn't need anything coarser very often unless you are sharpening other peoples knives where you never know what you will get.

If you don't let your knives get really dull, you'll probably find you'll start with the 1000 most of the time anyway.
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Yeah, that will probably get used only occasionally for my parents cheap knives that have a completely rounded apex.
 
look into Sigma Power Select II if you haven't already purchased the shaptons. They are harder-wearing stones (compared to shapton and naniwa) and cut extremely fast on the hardest steels. A few of the Power Select II's and 2 or 3 diamond stones from ezelap or DMT and you have pretty much everything to sharpen all sorts of edges.
 
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