Beginner sharpening stones

M

mitch303

Joined
Jul 16, 2013
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Hello everyone I am new to the forum and have a few questions about using sharpening stones. I have never used sharpening stones and don't know which ones i should get, I have been researching on google and it seems everyone has different opinions. I was thinking of getting the Norton 6" Coarse/Fine and either making my own strop or buying one. Will i need more than the one Norton stone? I have some pretty dull knives so I was also thinking of also getting a diamond stone, Again I have no idea what kind of diamond stone would be a good choice.
 
You cannot go wrong with a Norton combination India stone. Overall, on this forum it has to be the most recommended for general sharpening, especially for a beginner. The Norton Crystalon is a good choice as well if you're going to be dealing with harder steels, but the India produces a cleaner edge. You can easily make a leather strop or even more expedient is to wrap a sheet of paper around the same stone. Most polishing honing compounds are very inexpensive, and unless you're stropping with diamond paste can afford to toss a paper strop when it gets loaded up. There are a ton of videos out there that can help with freehand sharpening technique. Start with a knife you can afford to ruin, there is a small learning curve...

HH
 
What I have is the smiths 6" tri hone . Comes with three stone corse , medium , and fine . It works for me I'm not an expert but I can get my knives to shave arm hair . That's good enough for me .
 
Best thing to do is try out various systems to find out which ones you'll prefer. I like my Lansky for my small stuff, but for the big blades I prefer a traditional stone. I usually just go with Arkansas Fine.
 
Thank you everyone for all your help, I think im going to try out the norton india stone and make my own leather strop also. Another question what kind of oil should i use for the stone? I have been reading and some people use water some use mineral oil or honing oil and some people say they just use the stone dry.
 
HeavyHanded said:
You cannot go wrong with a Norton combination India stone. Overall, on this forum it has to be the most recommended for general sharpening, especially for a beginner. The Norton Crystalon is a good choice as well if you're going to be dealing with harder steels, but the India produces a cleaner edge. You can easily make a leather strop or even more expedient is to wrap a sheet of paper around the same stone. Most polishing honing compounds are very inexpensive, and unless you're stropping with diamond paste can afford to toss a paper strop when it gets loaded up. There are a ton of videos out there that can help with freehand sharpening technique. Start with a knife you can afford to ruin, there is a small learning curve...
HH
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This is good information. Use food grade mineral oil with these stones. In big box stores it's cheap and can be found in the pharmacy dept.. Good sharpening. DM
 
Norton and Lansky make great honing oils. It's not that "honing oil" contains anything special, but it is made in a weight that is specially-formulated for use with oil stones, and that is the important part. WD-40 is a good choice, too. I would add that these are all super cheap oils, too, at least in my book. What's a can of WD-40 cost these days? Very little. A 4 oz. bottle of Lansky honing oil costs around $4.00 and will last a very long time, even if you use it to initially saturate your stone and sharpen daily. All it takes is a few drops on the surface to float swarf after the stone is properly saturated.

You can go with plain Mineral Oil, and it is even cheaper, but I've found that Mineral Oils vary in weight depending on which kind and what brand you buy. Some of it can be very thick stuff. You can cut it with kerosene in a 50/50 mix to get a good weight.
 
If you decide to get one of the Norton combo stones, get the 8 inch on if you can. The extra 2 inches is nice to have when you sharpen longer blades. You probably don't need more than one stone yet. Get some experience using what ever stone you decide to get, then add more once you get some hands on time. My Norton India combo stone has been my work horse stone for many years and still is. BTW I use WD40 on it as my honing oil.

There is a great sticky at the top of this sub forum "What is sharpening a knife about?" If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend it. Also get a few cheap kitchen knives from a thrift store or garage sale to practice on.

Ric
 
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