600/1000 grit stone for newbie

8

80sskater

Joined
May 30, 2018
Messages
44
Not trying to reprofiling anything just practice and sharpen my EDC knives. There is a double sided Stone from Utopia Kitchen on Amazon got some decent ratings it's 13 bucks also looking at the Smith Tri Stone. I have a type of strop already are those two grits decent for a beginner?
 
First, one usually gets quality commensurate with the price. Second, the description on amazon makes it appear that this stone would be more suitable for carbon steels as opposed to high Rockwell, high alloy blades. Which leads to #3...what sorts of knife steels comprise your EDCs?

You may be better served with something like a Norton Crystolon / India combination stone, or a DMT Fine / Extra Fine...or Fine / Coarse combination. The 6 x 2" sizes are not particularly expensive.

Give us some more info to work with.
 
I agree with BLUES, i just started using the Norton Crystolon and wish that I would have started with that stone before
spending tons of loot on water stones and even the diamond stones . It cuts fast and has nice feel would
probly be really good for learning.
 
1095 carbon steel,aus8, 4116, whatever the crkt minimalist is made from so definitely cheaper steels
 
How about the grits in general I know thousand is a decent finisher a lot of people like to finish with 2,000 what is the 600 usually used for? I know material has something to do with it I guess based on what I mentioned
 
80sskater said:
How about the grits in general I know thousand is a decent finisher a lot of people like to finish with 2,000 what is the 600 usually used for? I know material has something to do with it I guess based on what I mentioned
Click to expand...

Now you're getting into a different kettle of fish.

The 600 grit, (which is considered "fine" in the DMT line, and medium-ish elsewhere), is a perfectly acceptable place to finish depending on what you want to achieve with your edges.

Some of the most respected members on this sub-forum, (by my lights), prefer coarse edges on their EDCs. (DMT 320, perhaps even Fine India. It's steel dependent.) As one mentioned the other day, don't confuse "coarse" with "not sharp".

It really comes down to how you prefer your edges and how you use your knives. Perhaps a little experimenting might be in order.

1095 and AUS8 will take nice keen edges. I'm not familiar with 4116 off the top of my head.

As for recommendations, I'd recommend buying quality hones in a variety of grits. You don't have to go overboard, but you could easily put together a nice little set which covers the range from coarse through fine (or extra fine).

Norton Medium Crystolon / Fine India would work well with the steels you mention, as would DMT diamond hones...as would the Spyderco ceramics...but the ceramics are mostly for touch-ups and finishing as opposed to a full on sharpening.

I'm not as conversant with water stones as my experience is limited to a couple of small hones from Lee Valley, and those I use with my Edge Pro as well as a pair of recently purchased Shapton Glass bench stones.

You don't have to buy the very best...but don't buy the cheapest. You'll be disappointed in short order imho.
 
80sskater said:
1095 carbon steel,aus8, 4116, whatever the crkt minimalist is made from so definitely cheaper steels
Click to expand...

Most any stone type will handle these steels^.

For setting bevels & heavier grinding, a double-sided C/F aluminum oxide stone should handle them. A somewhat lower grit for the heavier work will be more efficient at it; something like 180 - 320 or so. But chances are, the 600/1000 aluminum oxide waterstone you referenced in your first post should handle the maintenance sharpening easily, as should the Smith's Tri-Hone setup. The posted reviews for the 600/1000 stone look positive enough, that I'd not be worried about that stone's ability to sharpen these particular steels. Steels like these don't need a pricey stone, to be kept in good shape.

There's nothing with much wear resistance in the steels you mention, therefore not much to worry about. Even Arkansas stones, which might be part of the Smith's Tri-Hone set, depending on which model you're looking at, should work decent/well at the finishing end, should you be inclined to try those. The AUS-8 would likely be the most wear-resistant, but even it isn't too hard to sharpen, in itself. The CRKT blade (5Cr15MoV) and the 4116 are near-equivalents sourced from China and Germany, respectively, and roughly akin to something like 420HC in wear resistance - which is to say, not very wear-resistant and will sharpen up easily. 1095 will be the simplest of all of them.
 
Last edited:
If you go with that Utopia Kitchen stone, it's a water stone, so you'll still need some way of flattening it. Look for a "stone fixer" or the Naniwa or Norton flattening stones if you want to stay in economy range. Though you'll pay more for the flattening stone ($18 to $25) than the sharpening stone itself. You could use a coarse wet-dry sandpaper on a flat stone or piece of glass I suppose.
 
jc57 said:
If you go with that Utopia Kitchen stone, it's a water stone, so you'll still need some way of flattening it. Look for a "stone fixer" or the Naniwa or Norton flattening stones if you want to stay in economy range. Though you'll pay more for the flattening stone ($18 to $25) than the sharpening stone itself. You could use a coarse wet-dry sandpaper on a flat stone or piece of glass I suppose.
Click to expand...
I think a better idea is a $1-$10 coarse/fine combo stone (?100? to ?300? grit)
or the back of a $1 floor tile ,
its textured so loose grit not needed for soft bond waterstones that release particles easily,
they can be flattened on almost anything
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top