Can you believe it?

R

Rhodies

Joined
Jul 27, 2017
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284
I am new here so please take what I am about to say with a grain of salt and it is just my personal belief/opinion.

I find it fascinating how some people on this board have literally hundreds of dollars wrapped in their sharpening tool box, e.g. exotic waterstones, jns, and sharpening systems and the hundreds of dollars they may have invested in it’s accessories.

Myself, excluding the BBW/Coticule that I have in my chest and still use on occasion e.g. over this past weekend I broke out to do some polishing. I probably have maybe $80 in a combo stone (from Amazon), Strop and Chromium Oxide (Green Paste) in my chest, crap I forgot the Diamond Honing Steel so that will jack it up to 115 - $120. And to be honest, that’s all I really need cause for kitchen duty and my folders I can put a respectable edge on them.

So here I am, looking for a better system (don’t ask me why cause I don’t even know, I don’t need it but), is that insane or what? LOL...
 
Nah. Sharpening equipment is equally important as the tool itself, and one stone may be used on many tools. It's all about making the process faster, easier, more pleasant, portable and/or the results better. Some systems (like sandpaper) are about making the process cheaper, even. :)
 
I have no dogs in this hunt. I AM a simple hillbilly type man from WV.
I don't know how old my Arkansas stone is. :)
But I get by just fine.
 
All depends on what you want to be able to sharpen and how sharp you want to get it. You can easily spend $300 - $400 just getting a decent set of water stones for quality kitchen knives. You can do fine with a set of diamond plates for around $150 that will take care of any modern high-carbide steels you might have.

Or you can go with one of the fancy systems, which also put you back up into the multiple of hundreds.

You can also spend about $25 for a decent oil stone that will work with basic steels.

Or mix and match as needed. I use that $25 oil stone for basic steels and most of my pocket knives. I break out the diamond plates for the very few knives I own that benefit from them. I have water stones for the fancy kitchen knives.

Side note: I would love to have a set of belgian blue/coticule stones but I think I am done with sharpening equipment for now. If what I have can't sharpen it, then it will have to stay dull.
 
Since hindsight is always 20/20, I've come to realize I could do all that's needed for the cost of a dual-sided diamond hone. Any steel, any situation. Anything else I use is optional, and can be improvised as needed for little or no cost. All the other spending I've done in the last 10-20 years has been in the journey to figure that out. But it was fun. :D


David
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Since hindsight is always 20/20, I've come to realize I could do all that's needed for the cost of a dual-sided diamond hone. Any steel, any situation. Anything else I use is optional, and can be improvised as needed for little or no cost. All the other spending I've done in the last 10-20 years has been in the journey to figure that out. But it was fun. :D


David
Click to expand...
Coarse/fine? Medium/fine?
 
Just like David "Obsessed with Edges" told I saw a YouTube video that I would like to share.

Edit. My first stone was and still is a dual side silicon carbide.
Was, because I didn't know how, when and where start. Then I build a kit with 3 stones from DMT that I ruined because I didn't know how use them. And Is, because I still use it for a reprofile.

Then I came to bladeforums with a purpose: LEARN!

Now I have a set of 3 cheap diamond stones to put in practice what I learned before ruin another DMT stone.

I'm not a Pro, I'm a newbie, I'm learning, and I can tell you for sure that here you can find tons of info from basics, concepts, theory, practice... to master knowledge of how to lightsaber sharp your blades.
 
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Hundreds of dollars? Try thousands. I have topped a thousand dollars and am getting close to 2 thousand in stones, diamonds, and power equipment. But if you are sharpening for money it pays to have that variety in sharpening equipment (or at least that's what I keep telling my wife and mysef)
 
I collect stones like most collect knives, the addiction is just as bad as the knives too. The real sad part is I think I enjoy them more than the knives.

And I'm not even going to add up what I have, I know just my Shapton collection would be a pretty penny.
 
Kootaga13 said:
David - the reason I threw a fine side in there was because, if I'm only going to have one stone, then the fine side (for me) is to remove the burr.
What would your technique be?
Click to expand...

On a diamond hone, it's generally easier to minimize burrs from the start. Pressure on a stone is what makes burrs, and secondarily, the abrasive's own ability to cleanly cut the steel (or inability to do so) influences that as well. Diamond is the best of both, in that it works best with very light pressure, and it cuts steel more cleanly and easily than anything else. So, no matter which grit level you choose to use, burrs are generally easier to deal with on a diamond hone. It's normal (I assume) for most people, including myself, to find the finer grits easier to work with, in terms of easier refinement, burr removal, etc. As good touch improves, and then as it's applied to using the coarser hones, it'll become easier to minimize and/or remove burrs on the coarser grits as well.

As for specific technique, I'd just focus on continually lightening pressure as you approach a full apex, to very gently scrub burrs away, and also to minimize how large they become in the first place. Some people like to microbevel (raise the angle a little bit) to remove burrs after they've formed. I've preferred not to microbevel at all, either deliberately or otherwise. I've instead focused on keeping my finishing touches as featherlight as possible, so whatever burrs do form will be very, very fine and essentially insignificant; in other words, small & thin enough that they pretty much come off on their own, in the finishing stages on the hone and/or during the first few uses of the edge.

Use what you're comfortable with now. But I'd also suggest, as you get more comfortable with refinement and burr cleanup on the finer hones, give the same good technique a try on a coarser one, and see how results will improve with that as well.


David
 
I went with a very expensive guided system because I'm obsessed with consistency. I personally believe it's the best manual system in the world, and I formed that opinion from much research, then i sat on the idea for a few months before i pulled the trigger, I still feel the same way after getting my hands on it and getting excellent results.
 
You know, if I approach this with an open mind, you may be able to teach an old dog some new tricks. What do I have to lose? Time? Steel?
 
Through the years, I've gathered quite a few styles of sharpeners and gizmos to go with them.

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All that said and shown above, the sharpener I use the most is a Lansky 4-rod turn box crock stick sharpener.

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Then there's the ole Sharpmaker.

hWRS4r7.jpg



Best advice I can give is to use what works best for you.
 
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Obsessed with Edges said:
Since hindsight is always 20/20, I've come to realize I could do all that's needed for the cost of a dual-sided diamond hone. Any steel, any situation. Anything else I use is optional, and can be improvised as needed for little or no cost. All the other spending I've done in the last 10-20 years has been in the journey to figure that out. But it was fun. :D


David
Click to expand...

... or even just the DMT coarse

I totally agree with you Dave. The only exceptions to that would be specialized knives, single bevel Japanese that need all kind of polishing with mud etc. for instance. Jason has some impressive videos on those - beyond my needs or patience or skills for that matter.
 
I'm finally to the point where I can resist most temptations. I do still use a lot of my gear. The only stuff that doesn't get used much are my Arkansas stones and ceramics.

Sharpening for $ it saves a lot of time to have a kit that can cover a wide variety, and to have it all handy.

Pared down, a combination puck, coarse and EF diamond plate, three stone progression from Suzuki Ya 1k, 4k 8k, a Washboard, and a tapered DMT rod for serrations. And an extra coarse stone for setting bevels. I could make do with a lot less, but I'm not gonna pretend I can get the same quality edge with a minimalist solution, especially on woodworking tools - I've certainly tried.
 
Rhodies said:
I am new here so please take what I am about to say with a grain of salt and it is just my personal belief/opinion.

I find it fascinating how some people on this board have literally hundreds of dollars wrapped in their sharpening tool box, e.g. exotic waterstones, jns, and sharpening systems and the hundreds of dollars they may have invested in it’s accessories.

Myself, excluding the BBW/Coticule that I have in my chest and still use on occasion e.g. over this past weekend I broke out to do some polishing. I probably have maybe $80 in a combo stone (from Amazon), Strop and Chromium Oxide (Green Paste) in my chest, crap I forgot the Diamond Honing Steel so that will jack it up to 115 - $120. And to be honest, that’s all I really need cause for kitchen duty and my folders I can put a respectable edge on them.

So here I am, looking for a better system (don’t ask me why cause I don’t even know, I don’t need it but), is that insane or what? LOL...
Click to expand...

Add HeavyHanded's Washboard to your setup... just the stropping aspect is worth the purchase. :thumbsup:
 
heavyhanded, I've seen multiple references to a washboard but I don't think I understand what you're referring to, could you post a picture?
 
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