Best Stones

G

Gunner

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Jul 15, 1999
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What is the best stone to use have a fine and course stone, but should i get an eze-lap diamond stone or what?
 
I reckon your talking about sharpening your knives with theses stones.

I recommend the Spyderco Sharpmaker which comes with two sets (of two) of ceramic sharpening rods which are triangular in shape. One set is medium and the other is fine. It comes in a kit which holds the rods at a preset angle, but it also allows sharpening without the base. A very verstaile unit. Also available at Bladeforums.com store.

No I am not associated with the store, but all of it's sales go towards supporting this forum, which otherwise is out of Mike Turber's and Spark pocket book or time schedule.

As far as the EZE LAP stones go, if your knives are particularly hard and difficult to sharpen, I'd give them a try, otherwise I think the Spyderco setup is sufficient for most deeds.
BTW, welcome to the forums. Hope you like it here.

Spencer

[This message has been edited by Spencer Stewart (edited 17 July 1999).]
 
Norton makes two stones that imo are absolutly the best for putting an edge on
a blade. One is called India and the other
I don't know the designation, but it is India
on one side and cyristalon laminated on the
other side.(courser)
goshawk

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http://www.imt.net/~goshawk The race is not always to the swift, but he who hangs loose.
Don't walk in tradition just because it feels good!!!!!

 
I started out using a Lansky sharpening system, but recently I have been using a fine diamond EZ-Lap stone, which gives a pretty coarse edge even with light pressure. To clean the edge up I use an old extra fine Norton stone that I found with some old tools. It works great!

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My Custom Kydex Sheath pagehttp://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
 
I lean towards diamond stones as well, DMT specifically. The blue (coarse) and red (fine) are the usual choices here. You may eventually add a black (x-coarse) and green (x-fine) stone as well. The x-coarse is amazing for edge reprofiling, will turn an hour's job into a 5 minute job. The x-fine is the next best thing to an 8000 grit Japanese water stone for polishing an edge.

For an everyday using knife that will be called upon to do a lot of slicing, the blue stone is perfect. Take part of the edge to red so you can push-cut as well.

Joe
 
I like water stones as they really put a fine edge on a blade....I never use a coarse stone on a fine blade unless it is REALLY dull as there is no need with my Pro Edge.
 
Just about anything will work. Nothing all that magic about stones. Norton makes some of the best, but it sounds like you already have all you need.
I've become boring elsewhere in harping on the need to learn how to sharpen. Then you can do it on the sidewalk, or a brick, or a crockery plate, or . . .

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Regards,
Desert Rat

 
Desert Rat is right, skill first stones second. Any stones'll work once you learn to sharpen.

One thing about you guys who don't use coarse stones -- do you do all push-cutting? A coarse edge will outperform a fine or polished edge for slicing by 5-10x. Unless you're mostly shaving with your knives, you're probably leaving a lot of performance on the table.

Joe
jat@cup.hp.com
 
I like diamond bench type sharpeners (DMT or EZE-LAP). With a diamond sharpener you don't develop that dip in the middle of your stone like Arkansas stones get after they have been used for awhile. Basically, they last longer for me and they remove metal FAST.

[This message has been edited by misque (edited 18 July 1999).]
 
I guess I'm the odd man out here. Yeah, I have diamond, Oregon (like Norton but non-oil impregnated from the factory), etc., and systems including Edge-Pro and Spyderco. But the ones I keep coming back to are the Spyderco ceramic bench stones. Great stuff and not messy either
smile.gif
!

-[Bob]=-
 
Your right Joe about the coarse edge out-performing the finely polished edge for slicing. I just like having the shaving edge!
 
While any stone will remove metal from a knife, diamonds have distinct advantages in terms of speed, cleanup and staying flat. For someone who does not know the motions well, the speed of cutting is very important as it can reduce the frustration a lot. Diamond also can sharpen even the CPM steels and carbide tools easily and is unique in being able to sharpen ceramics with little effort.

-Cliff

[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 19 July 1999).]
 
For those of you using DMT diamond hones... have any of you used their double-sided diafold? (a different grit on either side of a 4" pocket-sized hone).

I figure full sized 6"-8" bench stones are probably easier to use, but just wondered if the 4" folding version is good enough to be practical (or even preferred maybe).
 
Longden, I have a fine/x-fine diafold and it work well in the standard way for small knives (knife running along the stone). I also use it on the larger knives but hold the knife fixed and run the stone across it.

-Cliff
 
I favor the longest diamond hones I can get. I get the 2.5" x 11" plates so that I can handle 10" chef's cutlery. I would get one medium or coarse and one superfine. I don't see a need for in between. You profile your edge with the coarser one while the superfine can finish the job. The superfine is sufficiently smooth for any practical purpose and cuts fast enough to remove the finish left by the coarse plate. Be aware that I'm talking about a hundred dollars worth of sharpening equipment, but it gets even very tough jobs done in a short period of time.
 
Thanks Cliff.

On a related note, I suppose none of the larger "stones", diamond or otherwise, are very useful for recurved blades like the BM 710. Seems like maintaining a semblance of a constant angle on the radius of the recurve across the flat 2" stone surface would be difficult, tho you might be able to use the smaller diafold as you described for a larger knife (blade stationary and the hone moving along the edge like a file).

I may opt for one of the coarse/fine combinations or perhaps fine/x-fine.

I also have a Norton India stone donated to me (by my oboe-reed-making daughter) that I'm using in the meantime. Anyone with thoughts on the DMT grit that's comparable to India? Thanks.
 
Speaking of polishing, does this mean polishing the whole bevel, or just the very edge of the blade? Seems like I'm having a hard time polishing the whole bevel..
smile.gif


Also, dunno what stone to use for that. Japanese waterstones, maybe?

Dan
 
Longden, yeah, you have to have a width smaller than the recurve. What works great for minor touchups is a ceramic or diamond rod. They would be a poor choice for reprofiling but can handle touch-ups easily. I don't think there is a source for long narrow diamond stones except 3M which sells diamond loaded sheets which you can of course cut to any size you want.

As for the India, DMT's fine (red) will leave an edge on AUS-8 that shaves but it slightly scratchy meaning it will redden your arm (or whatever). The x-fine (green) is a high polish that is only bettered by the high Japanese waterstones.

-Cliff
 
There are diamond "steels" that could be used like a diamond file for reprofiling concave blade curves. They are actually pretty generally useful for the whole edge, but you may want to lay the steel on a bench and use it like a bench hone.
 
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