Assembling A Sharpening Kit

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Mister Coffee

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Dec 6, 2020
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I thought this two-sided stone might be a good place to start.

Dia-Sharp Bench Stone

It's inexpensive, and offers a course side and a fine side.

There will probably be a lot of debate on the subject of sharpening. Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome.
 
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Excellent choice. I've used DMT hones for 3+ decades and have yet to wear one out. I use BreakFree CLP to clean them occasionally; a light coat left for an hour or two (or overnight) lifts out the swarf and restores their cutting efficiency. A angle guide is useful for re-establishing the bevel when needed. Basically, that's all you need.
 
How about this one?

Spyderco Ulta Fine Ceramic Benchstone.

It very expensive, but it looks utterly awesome.
 
Do you think I can go from the DMT Coarse/Fine stone to a strop, or will I need something in between?

This would be for my high carbide super steels and then for all the crap in my kitchen drawers.
 
The DMT stones produce a finish that's different from most other stones. It's more coarse than you would think. It's a good edge. It's just different because the diamonds are pointy and cut deeper scratches in the metal than most other types of abrasives.

A DMT F is 25 micron. A strop loaded with nothing will have no real abrasive cutting power. So you can strop off any burr or hanging on stuff just fine. But the edge polish will not change. If you stop with compound, then you will polish the edge. But most compounds will not be very abrasive and starting with a 25 (or more) micron edge finish, you won't see a lot of polish.

If you do to something like the Spyderco Ultra fine, that is approximately a 3 micron edge. Not exactly, but it's pretty close. You can go straight from the DMT F to that stone, but you won't get a perfect mirror polish. It *will* polish it. It will shine. But it won't be as nice as if you step though some other intermediate stones in between. I've seen jdavis88 (on youtube) go from a DMT F (or maybe C?) to spyderco medium, spyderco fine, and then ultra fine and produce shiny bevels that are extremely polished.

If I were you, I would probably mess around with a strop straight from the DMT F. You will probably like the DMT F edge a lot. Surprisingly, the edge right off of the DMT C is really nice too, as long as you deburr it correctly. JasonB (here on bladeforums) likes the DMT C and then a strop with 1 micron diamond compound. Especially for high Vanadium steels. He says that combo is amazing. I have not tried it.

Good luck.

Brian.
 
Thank you very much, Brian, for your lengthy post. I appreciate it. (And thanks to everyone in this thread.)

As you guessed, I've been watching a lot of Jdavis882's old YouTube videos. (Also watched virtuovice with his water stone sharpening.) In one video, Jdavis882 goes from DMT C, to DMT F, to DMT Extra F, to (I think) the Spyderco Ultra Fine Ceramic, then to a strop with green compound. I started this thread just to see if I could get some confirmation on Jdavis882's method before spending all the money. Mind you, I don't mind spending money on tools that I'll use, but, being a beginner, I can't tell from here what I really need. I already have two double-sided strops, some Bark River compounds (green, black, white) and a ceramic sharpening rod. Also, bought some wet-dry sandpaper.

What you say about diamond stones (that they produce a more course finish) is interesting and makes sense. When I get further into this, am I going to find that I should have steered away from diamond stones and just started with water stones? Are diamond stones "too aggressive" in the long term?

I'm eager to learn and start sharpening, but I'd rather not learn "the hard way" and ruin my knives, so I'm taking it slow. :)
 
I do not think diamonds are too aggressive. However, I do not sharpen soft or gummy steels with them. On carbon steel I've been told they aren't that fun to use. Probably form big burrs easily, but I'm not sure.

I would say keep going slowly with the equipment. Buy the DMT and then use them and see what you think. Incorporate your strop(s) if you think you need them. If you decide you want something different, like a lot more polish, then get something else at that point. Just my opinion.

Brian.
 
I have the DMT fine and extra fine, and also the Spyderco medium, fine and ultrafine ceramics. I also have a Norton Ascent ceramic ultrafine. I use traditional natural Arkansas stones for woodworking tools, unless they are exotic steel. For most kitchen knives, I stop at the DMT 1200 and may sometimes finish them with the Spyderco fine ceramic. I rarely ever use the Spyderco ultrafine. For fillet knives, I may go to a fine Spyderco ceramic after the 1200 grit DMT diamond stone. I reserve a 1 micron diamond paste loaded strop for woodworking tools where I need a very fine edge. I would recommend getting the 600 and 1200 grit diamond stones and a fine Spyderco ceramic. If you are not satisfied with the edges you get from these stones, you can always go to a finer stone or strop. For a knife to cut veggies, I prefer the edge I get from a 1200 grit DMT. For a chisel, I am OK with the edge from a translucent or black Arkansas stone, followed by a strop. It all depends on what sort of edge you want and your needs. You don’t need a dozen stones to start. I regret getting the ultrafine Spyderco since it is not perfectly flat and I can’t use it for most woodworking tools, yet the effect it produces is pretty similar to the effect of a fine strop compound. I have given up using a strop in knives, unless I really want to wind up with a convex (Appleseed) edge.
 
Great reply, Artyh. Thank you. :)

I'm looking at the dmtsharp site, and they don't give specs in grits. They give specs in micron and and mesh. It's a little confusing for a tenderfoot like me.

I read a few notes on the Internet about the Spyderco ultra fine ceramic not being flat. Wasn't sure what to make of it.
 
The mesh gives you the grit value. A flat stone is needed to sharpen woodworking tools, but doesn’t matter as much for knives. For a kitchen knife for tomatoes, you don’t need to sharpen to as fine an edge as a fishing knife, or pocket knife. Even for a pocket knife, many people say they like a toothy edge. It depends on what you use the blade for. In woodworking, most plane blades should be taken to a fine edge, but I tend to rely on a strop rather than go to, say, an 8000 grit water stone. I don’t go that fine for a chisel for chopping, or rough work. If I want to sharpen a chisel for rough carpentry, I don’t want as fine an edge as one for paring a tenon on a joint. I tend to use the
 
I only have 3 different sharpening systems, a Spyderco Sharpmaker, an old one, a Ken Onion model Worksharp and a set of medium, fine and ultra fine Spyderco benchstones.
All three are great systems. The Worksharp is very nice for larger blades, the Sharpmaker is very easy to use but I enjoy freehand sharpening my smaller knives on the benchstones most of the time.
 
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I meant to finish…I tend to use the 1200 grit DMT more than anything else for most of my kitchen knives and stop there. The DMT fine cuts pretty fast and is useful, but again it all depends on what you use the blade for.
 
I think you can sharpen anything on a Spyderco Bench Stone. As far as I know they are a 9.2 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness (diamond is a 10) and can sharpen any metal known to mankind. And they will wear only slightly over time.
A Blue Belgian stone needs to be used with water. Diamonds and Spydercos can be used dry.
 
Mister Coffee, are you aware of the advantages and disadvantages of coarse vs. smooth edges for what you want to do with your knives?

If not, you could end up buying stones you don't need.
 
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