Anyone use water stones to polish/sand rub knives?

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redbate

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Sep 20, 2015
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Hey guys I was thinking of using water stones to polish up my knives by hand but just wanted to see if anyone has any experience doing it like that instead of sand paper. I don't mean using sticks of alum oxide stones and hand sanding them like you would with sandpaper but doing it the Japanese knife polishing way some what. Any benefits? Tips?
 
It is time consuming, and not a natural way to finish for most people. The procedure to get a bright polish is also long and arduous. The water stones create the basic shape and surface ( shitagi-togi), then the polishing with fine compounds and powders takes over to make a bright finish ( shiaji-togi). When doing yaki-ire to create a hamon on Japanese blades, using stones and hand polishing is almost a must for the best finish. On regular blades it is more of a purist thing.

Sandpaper with a backing block is probably much easier, and time wise faster ( but still not fast). You can take a 4" blade from rough grind to final sanding at 8000 grit in a couple hours. With stones it can take two to three times as long.

One other difference is that cuts are far more common with water stones and togi than with grinders and sandpaper.
 
I have done a couple of swords and knives that way, both wrecked/broken Nihonto and my own stuff. I second Stacy's recommendation of using papers and backing, unless you just want to try stones.
Setting up with even artificial stones can get pricey fast.
 
I'm already doing it with sandpaper and backing, I just wanted to try it haha. Think 240 grit would work? Also were these always done after heat treat?
 
Part is done before HT and the rest after. You start with an arato stone ( coarse - between 100 and 220 grit), and progress up through many smoother stones. Then there is the powders and hazuya/jizuya. It takes about five stone grades as a minimum. The synthetic stones are fine for most blades.

A fusion of stones and papers is to make a wooden block mounted on a sturdy board or table. You should be able to stand or sit comfortably while holding the blade firmly against the block. The block usually has a slight angle to it to keep pressure even from the front to the back in a stroke. Look at some photos of a togi bench and you will see the basic format. The block is your base and you place strips of paper on it to imitate a stone. The paper is clamped in place with bands or clips. You use the block and paper like it was a stone. The blade is moved, not the paper. Change the paper often. This method works very well with paper supplied in long rolls.
 
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I use cheap 1000 and 4000 grit water stones often in my knife restoration business. The stones can be shaped as needed and leave a consistent finish.
I use sandpaper to finish.
 
I forgot to mention that you want a bucket of water with a little dish soap in it. All this type work needs to be done wet. Dip the blade and toss some water on the stone or paper. Keep things damp to wet. When you change stones or paper grits, dump and rinse the bucket well and rinse off the togi bench and stones or paper holder. You have no idea how upsetting a stray piece of 200 grit can be when it shows up at 2000 grit.:eek:

A stray grit from an ara-to can show up stuck in the surface of an expensive shiage-to and really ruin your day.
 
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I do with stones if the blade shape allows. Always, with kitchen knives. Usually i go high in shine with stones and then satin with sandpaper
For knives with fancy plunges i prefer the disk+sandpaper route, but even there you could dress the plunges on the stones and finish with paper.
You will probably need to go through a lot of different stones before settling on a couple of loved ones that really work for your needs. Consider that just one stone can give different finishes depending on your "touch".
 
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