Big stones?

Wild Willie

Wild Willie

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Joined
Mar 19, 2018
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Greetings friends and neighbors, I have a question to pose to the vast knowledge base of the sharpening gurus...

I recently assisted my brother in acquiring a new custom chef knife, we're looking to aquire a large sharpening stone to make maintenance a bit easier...

I checked Dan's whetstones, and the largest I could find is 12 inches, he's wanting to get into something perhaps in the 16 inch range.

Parameters:
14 to 16 inch length.

Medium or an aggressive(ish) fine grit. (He's a competent free hand sharpener, so it won't get super dull and we both have super coarse stones)

Budget of 2 to 300 bucks. He's well aware that this isn't going to be a cheap affair. It is after all a lifetime investment.

Maybe this isn't a feasible idea, but I appreciate any input or suggestions that can be provided.

Thanks in advance.
 
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... a 14-16 inch sharpening stone?!

I have 6 inch DMTs that I've used for years to sharpen up to 10 inch chef's knives, and I just wish I had the 8 inch stones.

I'm curious to see what people come up with, but I'm also curious about why there's a need for 14-16 inch sharpening stones?
 
EngrSorenson said:
... a 14-16 inch sharpening stone?!

I have 6 inch DMTs that I've used for years to sharpen up to 10 inch chef's knives, and I just wish I had the 8 inch stones.

I'm curious to see what people come up with, but I'm also curious about why there's a need for 14-16 inch sharpening stones?
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No particular need, just a want. It's a 13 inch knife and he just wants a big stone to use. I know I've found 8 inch stones to be less than ideal on my own 13 inch chef knife. They certainly can get the job done, but bigger would be nice on occasion.
 
I have an extra coarse dmt that is 11 1/2 x 2 1/2. It's big. And I only use it for reprofiling. I dont need it but I wanted it so I got it. I do have several bench sized jnats. The largest is 10 inch by 4 inch. I don't think I've ever seen anything larger than that. Not to say there isn't one.
 
Wild Willie said:
I'll take this under advisement, would you mix some abrasive into the epoxy or just deal with the gap?😉
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I would so perfectly flatten and square the ends that they would almost fuse into one stone just touching them together. But I'd use some adhesive anyway.

I suppose it's barely possible that Dan's would do it as a special order, but hard to imagine it staying in your price range, unless maybe a soft ark, which makes a really good toothy edge touch up stone IMO.
 
UncleBoots said:
I would so perfectly flatten and square the ends that they would almost fuse into one stone just touching them together. But I'd use some adhesive anyway.

I suppose it's barely possible that Dan's would do it as a special order, but hard to imagine it staying in your price range, unless maybe a soft ark, which makes a really good toothy edge touch up stone IMO.
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Dan's does go to 12 inches in the soft, which is sort of where I was trying to steer him. The knife is 15n20, and the knives I have in that steel respond quite well to the one I have here.
Bill3152 said:
. The largest is 10 inch by 4 inch. I don't think I've ever seen anything larger than that. Not to say there isn't one.
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Exactly why I thought I'd ask here. I hadn't seen anything that big, and he got a bit overwhelmed when I started sending him links. I've also mentioned the American scythe stones from baryonyx, but I think he was hoping to go longer.

If it winds up being an untenable idea I'll just let him know and we'll work it out from there.
 
One other thought is lapping film. You can get alox sic and diamond film in sheets. If you put it corner to corner you will get close to what your looking for. It's available in many different grits. The coarsest stuff wears out quickly I've been told. I never used it for rough work . The film can be used on a piece of flat glass or granite or marble tile. Wet the film and that should be enough to allow you to use it as the water will make it stick. If you aren't careful though you can tear or cut the film. And it is an ongoing expense as it wears out. I've used the diamond on knives but the sheets are small and pricey. The alox and sic are much cheaper and available in 8inch x 11 or so sheets. I haven't bought film in a long while though so I have no idea what it's up to now price wise.
 
Bill3152 said:
One other thought is lapping film. You can get alox sic and diamond film in sheets. If you put it corner to corner you will get close to what your looking for. It's available in many different grits. The coarsest stuff wears out quickly I've been told. I never used it for rough work . The film can be used on a piece of flat glass or granite or marble tile. Wet the film and that should be enough to allow you to use it as the water will make it stick. If you aren't careful though you can tear or cut the film. And it is an ongoing expense as it wears out. I've used the diamond on knives but the sheets are small and pricey. The alox and sic are much cheaper and available in 8inch x 11 or so sheets. I haven't bought film in a long while though so I have no idea what it's up to now price wise.
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I do have some lapping film kicking around somewhere, might just need to get a piece of float glass cut to length and go that route... Good idea
 
Wild Willie said:
I do have some lapping film kicking around somewhere, might just need to get a piece of float glass cut to length and go that route... Good idea
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There is a thread somewhere about using surgical plaster and diamond paste. You can make your sharpener any size you want then, the backing was balsa wood. See if you can find it, was about 3 years ago i think.
 
cudgee said:
There is a thread somewhere about using surgical plaster and diamond paste. You can make your sharpener any size you want then, the backing was balsa wood. See if you can find it, was about 3 years ago i think.
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Will do, thanks for the suggestion. Sounds like it might make for an interesting experiment
 
I guess the other thing you could do is just buy sheets or a roll of wet and dry sandpaper and glue it on some hard backing. It would be extra work and it is somewhat limited in what sharpening technique it would work well with though.
 
chalby said:
I guess the other thing you could do is just buy sheets or a roll of wet and dry sandpaper and glue it on some hard backing. It would be extra work and it is somewhat limited in what sharpening technique it would work well with though.
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Another solid possible solution. Thanks
 
It may not be the length you want but I would get Venev diamond bench stone they are really good stones,another option is a resin diamond stone from Big Brown Bear he goes by the name deadboxhero on bladeforums and he makes great full size diamond bench stones.

I find resin diamond stones give the best finish on PM steels and any steel pretty much.
 
Wild Willie Wild Willie , FWIW, after I set the primary edge geometry of your brother's knife on the grinder, I hand honed it to where it is now by holding a Sharp Maker white stone in one hand, and the knife in the other, followed by slack strop. I would guess such treatment would be all that's needed for honing indefinitely, unless he seriously bangs up the edge.
 
David Mary said:
Wild Willie Wild Willie , FWIW, after I set the primary edge geometry of your brother's knife on the grinder, I hand honed it to where it is now by holding a Sharp Maker white stone in one hand, and the knife in the other, followed by slack strop. I would guess such treatment would be all that's needed for honing indefinitely, unless he seriously bangs up the edge.
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Thanks David. I'm sure it's not going to get banged up, and if it's anything like the other knives I have from you in this steel it's going to be a while before it really needs much real stone work.
 
wade7575 said:
It may not be the length you want but I would get Venev diamond bench stone they are really good stones,another option is a resin diamond stone from Big Brown Bear he goes by the name deadboxhero on bladeforums and he makes great full size diamond bench stones.

I find resin diamond stones give the best finish on PM steels and any steel pretty much.
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Ourorboros said:
Sharpening Supplies has a few oil stones at 11.5"x2.5"
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Thanks guys. I'll pass the word along.
 
wade7575 said:
It may not be the length you want but I would get Venev diamond bench stone they are really good stones,another option is a resin diamond stone from Big Brown Bear he goes by the name deadboxhero on bladeforums and he makes great full size diamond bench stones.

I find resin diamond stones give the best finish on PM steels and any steel pretty much.
Click to expand...

Ourorboros said:
Sharpening Supplies has a few oil stones at 11.5"x2.5"
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Thanks guys. I'll pass the word along. I think I had had looking at sharpening supplies, the text I got after sending him the link was along the lines of "I had no idea there were so many stones..." It's a lot to take in at one go, especially since he's not particularly intimate with the knife scene in general.
 
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