A Four Stone GP Bench Stone Kit

Thank you sir. I'm growing increasingly interested so I hope you don't mind the questions. If these are already answered somewhere just point me in the right direction...

Do the stones require flattening? If so, what do you recommend for that task?

Thank you again for the interaction and information.
 
I would recommend 5 stones for a complete kit that will sharpen any steel.

Diamonds,
Atoma 140
DMT Diasharp Coarse
DMT Diasharp Extra Fine

Waterstones,
Shapton Glass 500
Shapton Glass 2000

The Atoma is your lapping stone and stone for very damaged edges.

The DMT Coarse is your grunt, works great for removing coarser grind marks and general maintenance of high wear steels, this stone and a strop is my preferred sharpening method for many high wear steels.

The DMT EF is for high wear steels you want a little finer edge on. Its an easy jump from the Coarse and is a really nice finish for S110V.

The waterstones are for all the non-vanadium rich steels. The 500 is a quick cutting stone good for setting bevels or bringing a dull edge back. The 2000 is the finisher, not too fine and not too coarse this stone produces a very sharp edge with just the right amount of bite.

literally, if I had to start over this would be my first 5.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
They're compatible with either. I use water, personally, but it's a matter of preference. Oil is good for if you prefer using lighter pressure.
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Jason B. said:
I would recommend 5 stones for a complete kit that will sharpen any steel.

Diamonds,
Atoma 140
DMT Diasharp Coarse
DMT Diasharp Extra Fine

Waterstones,
Shapton Glass 500
Shapton Glass 2000

The Atoma is your lapping stone and stone for very damaged edges.

The DMT Coarse is your grunt, works great for removing coarser grind marks and general maintenance of high wear steels, this stone and a strop is my preferred sharpening method for many high wear steels.

The DMT EF is for high wear steels you want a little finer edge on. Its an easy jump from the Coarse and is a really nice finish for S110V.

The waterstones are for all the non-vanadium rich steels. The 500 is a quick cutting stone good for setting bevels or bringing a dull edge back. The 2000 is the finisher, not too fine and not too coarse this stone produces a very sharp edge with just the right amount of bite.

literally, if I had to start over this would be my first 5.
Click to expand...

That's awesome. Thank you. I tend to prefer "toothier" edges so courser stones are definitely attractive to me.

Are the DuoSharps not as popular primarily due to the "lack" of diamonds in comparison to the DiaSharps? I've read about people getting knife tips stuck in the dots. I admit to being skeptical of them but they obviously have an attraction as well.
 
1 - DMT XC Diasharp diamond plate 8x3
> Fast removal of steel and truing up damaged edges. This could also be used as part of cleanup primary grinds in a pinch.

2 - Combination ultrasharp diamond stone 300/1200 or combination "wood river" diamond plate 400/1200 available at Woodcraft.
> one-two sharpening that will be used to put an edge on just about everything, in conjunction with hard strop.

3 - EEF diamond plate 8x3
> Used to put final microbevel on high Vanadium steels if needed.

4 - Suehiro Rika G8 silicon carbide 8k waterstone
> Used to put final microbevel on carbon and low alloy stainless if needed

Also a strong honorable mention for:

5- Norton Crystalon JUM3
>This would be for most run of the mill knives and to put fast working edges on chisels and such when using them in a rough environment. Used with a hard strop of some sort this is capable of making very nice workaday edges on a wide variety of steels including scissors and clippers. Currently I have the smaller version of this, but along with my ACE combination SiC stone, this stone tackles a great deal of my casual sharpening - everything from kitchen knives to wood chisels when they need to be resharpened during less refined work/remodeling. Pushed into a corner this would be The One stone I could make due with.


I could go on about other stone recommendations, but when the kit has to handle ALL steel types then diamond plates need to be very featured prominently if taken to a bright finish. Otherwise you might get by with just a DMT EF diasharp, the Crystalon, and a hard strop.
 
Thank you very much every one for chiming in. I am so glad I started this thread. A lot of diversity but a lot of similarity in the answers. So many stone brands I've never heard of. I especially appreciate the Ultra-Sharp recommendation by HeavyHanded HeavyHanded . I hadn't seen those before and they look great.

I look forward to any more inputs that may come and hope others can glean something useful form the discussion as well.
 
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