I’m looking for a compact water stone to take with me while traveling. I see where Shapton made a 6 x 1 combination stone in 500/2000 but it is discontinued. I usually finish somewhere around 1000. A splash and go stone would be ideal. I mostly sharpen 1095.
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Recommendation? Compact water stone
- Thread starter ecallahan
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Wowbagger
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You could order a Shapton stone made for the Edge Pro Apex.
They look like this. I think the one marked 14.7 is the 1000 stone though now those numbers are long ago worn off. These stones tend to be just a bit finer, or give a finer finish than other stones of the same marking. For instance the stone marked 3, a 4000 stone, pretty much makes a mirrored looking bevel finish where as with the Nortons you would have to go with a 6000 (if they made one) or the 8000 which they do make to get a similar polish.
There is a supplier of Chef's Knives in American that carries these (as well as the Edge Pro Sharpening jigs). I can't provide a link or say who since they don't pay for that privileged here as far as I know.
Just Google Shaptons for Edge Pro and it should pop up. I just looked and the 14.7 is the 1000 stone and it is $35 and is in stock (lots of the other stones are out of stock).
I'm surprised they discontinued the Shapton pocket stone. I have the 500/2000 and it would be ideal for your application if you could find one. I double checked the retailer I bought from and they were out. Maybe check the big auction site?
If you can go oilstone you can get a pocket India stone. Not sure if they make them in combo, but you can get in coarse, medium and fine.
If you can go oilstone you can get a pocket India stone. Not sure if they make them in combo, but you can get in coarse, medium and fine.
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You might consider the Arctic Fox in either the field stone or pocket stone sizes. In JIS rating the fine side is a 700 grit, but the finish produced is more akin to what you'd expect of a 1k. 
You might consider the Arctic Fox in either the field stone or pocket stone sizes. In JIS rating the fine side is a 700 grit, but the finish produced is more akin to what you'd expect of a 1k.
Yep the AF field stone is a great choice for what what you want OP. Gives you two grits--ANSI 240/400--but as 42 says the fine side is a multi-purpose grit that punches way above its weight class in terms of its ability to put a finished edge on it. I like 42's AF stone so much, I have 3 versions of it: a bench stone, the field stone, and a little puck version for sharpening my axes and machetes.
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To further elaborate, under JIS grit values (which make more sense for comparing against Japanese water stones, since that's the rating they're labeled under) the Arctic Fox pocket and field stones are a combo 340/700 grit.
Yes! I often use it dry, actually, with folders and etc. when I'm in a situation where water is not convenient. In a hotel room a while back, I was rush and just ran it under slow-running faucet for about 30 seconds, and it absorbs water just from that.
Ah. In this case, I don't have anything in a portable higher grit water stone I can recommend to you firsthand. What I use for higher grit finishing when I'm backpacking or traveling is the DMT F/EF dual-grit folding sharpener (600/1200 mesh). It is fantastic for that, and no water required. But you said you want a water stone.
E
ecallahan
, FWIW, I was messing around this afternoon testing a new SiC stone on a $7 folder. I did basically this 3-step progression using the AF stone for sharpening. Note that the SiC 240 step is roughly equivalent to what you'd get if you profiled using the 240 side of the AF field stone as well. With the AF field stone, and a strop, you could accomplish pretty close to what I've got here.
Profile edge on SiC 240 > Sharpen on AF 400 > strop
When done, this folder would:
* Shave arm hair
* Whittle a curl on a hair
* Fillet a curl on surface of 80 lb printer paper
* Horizontal push-cut Rizla green cigarette paper per sharpness chart.
...and has a pretty cosmetically decent finish, though not something I'd try to show off at a knife show. The point being, you can get a lot done with this little stone.
Profile edge on SiC 240 > Sharpen on AF 400 > strop
When done, this folder would:
* Shave arm hair
* Whittle a curl on a hair
* Fillet a curl on surface of 80 lb printer paper
* Horizontal push-cut Rizla green cigarette paper per sharpness chart.
...and has a pretty cosmetically decent finish, though not something I'd try to show off at a knife show.
The point being, you can get a lot done with this little stone.Thanks. I have a paring knife I use for practicing. Off the fine side of the AF without stropping it shaves my arm and smoothly cuts phonebook paper. There in all reality is no real need for me to go any further as that edge is plenty good for me. But I was under the assumption you had to soak the AF. I will try the Shapton stone recommended above - it looks plenty portable and I’ll get to see what the glass stone is all about!