Another Sharpening Question

[Byrdmando]

My current sharpening kit includes a 3 sided stone...Coarse, Medium, Fine. After that, I have a JA Henkels steel that I have been using before moving to my homemade strop (strop is NOT loaded...basically because I do not know what to load it with and dont fully understand what I would be accomplishing).

I do not know the name brand of the 3 sided stone so I do not know the stone grits...is there a "standard" that I can assume the grits to be.

Also, after perusing many of the sharpening threads I noticed many people were using sandpaper grits of 1000, 2000, 3000, etc. I just picked up the finest grits from the auto section at walmart. They had 1000, 2000, and 2500 which I thought I would give a try but is this simply duplicating what my stones are capable of?

I have searched for the answer to this question and was unable to find anything suitable.

Thank you in advance.

Byrdmando
Coleman Falls, Va.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Might post a pic of the 3-sided stone setup you have. It's difficult to answer questions regarding what you're using, if no other specific info is available. Odds are, if a pic is posted at least, one or more of us will recognize what you've got and lend some advice. For example, you may or may not be duplicating at least part of your stone set with the sandpaper, depending on what stone types you actually have; no way to tell without more info or a pic.

To post a pic, it can be uploaded to a photo-hosting service like Photobucket or similar, and the IMG-tagged URL for the pic can be linked into your post here, using the editor.


David

 

[Byrdmando]

David,

thank you for the response. I will get a picture within the next couple of hours. I am actually just now charging my camera.

Byrdmando
Coleman Falls, Va.

 

[Byrdmando]

http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag95/rebeckula/Sharpening%20setup/DSC_1828_zpsfolvxnch.jpg

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag95/rebeckula/Sharpening setup/DSC_1828_zpsfolvxnch.jpg

That looks a lot like a similar 3-stone set of mine. I'm thinking the 'coarse' (grey) stone is a man-made aluminum oxide for heavier grinding, and the other two might be Arkansas stones (maybe a 'soft' & medium) for finishing. That config is common in setups like this. If so, the Arkansas stones might be somewhat limiting, depending on which(?) steels you're sharpening on it. If you're sharpening simpler carbon/CV and low-alloy stainless steels like 420HC, etc, then you might be OK with those on this setup. If comparing to the sandpaper you picked up, the sandpaper is likely silicon carbide, which will work better on more wear-resistant steels like 440C, D2, etc.

And for your strop, it'd also be good to know which steels you're using, depending on which, a choice of compound could be made.


David

 

[Byrdmando]

David,

I honestly dont know what most of my blades are made out of. My "go to" knife is a CV sod buster jr. and I also carry a medium stockman in SS when I leave the farm. The steels...I just got the Case XX kitchen knife set and the steel that came with that is AGGRESSIVE...very different than the JA henkels steel which almost feels like you are doing nothing, other than that I can not tell you much about the steels.

I think I really need to look into what kind of blades I am using (I know, this is probably elementary.)

Thanks for the help.

Byrdmando
Coleman Falls, Va.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

David,

I honestly dont know what most of my blades are made out of. My "go to" knife is a CV sod buster jr. and I also carry a medium stockman in SS when I leave the farm. The steels...I just got the Case XX kitchen knife set and the steel that came with that is AGGRESSIVE...very different than the JA henkels steel which almost feels like you are doing nothing, other than that I can not tell you much about the steels.

I think I really need to look into what kind of blades I am using (I know, this is probably elementary.)

Thanks for the help.

Byrdmando
Coleman Falls, Va.

The Case 'Tru-Sharp' SS steel for all (including the kitchen set) will be 420HC. You shouldn't have any troubles sharpening it on this system or many others. The sandpaper works great on it too; I've often sharpened my Case SS blades using it, and the same applies to Case CV blades. 420HC will take a very aggressive edge at grit levels around ~320 or so (if using wet/dry paper); I like it sharpened as such. If the kitchen knives' edges are like many other factory edges from Case, they sharpen their stainless blades at even coarser finishes on belts; maybe ~180-grit or so. They do have a lot of 'bite' at that finish.


David

 

[Byrdmando]

Thank you, David. Very good information.

 

[Byrdmando]

David,

Any idea what compound you would recommend for the type of steels I am using? Thanks.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

David,

Any idea what compound you would recommend for the type of steels I am using? Thanks.

For either of Case's steels, I've really liked white rouge on denim (hard-backed on wood) for more aggressive polishing & heavy burr cleanup; I've never seen anything that erases heavy burrs so easily. Also works in additional honing, and resulting edges are wicked-sharp and crisp. Sometimes, if your edge is already very close to where you want it, just some green compound on leather will make the difference between simple shaving-sharp and hair-popping or tree-topping sharpness. I use green compound on the inside (rough) face of a leather belt for this, used like a hanging (barber's) strop.

If you have trouble finding the white rouge (I've used Ryobi's found at Home Depot), Sears also has a grey AlOx stick compound labelled as #2 (in a sequence of five of their compounds) that has worked as well; it may be just a hair more coarse than Ryobi's white rouge, but I've like it just as well. Additionally, Mother's Mag Aluminum & Wheel Polish (paste) works very well (also on denim), in the absence of the other two mentioned.


David