Recommendation? Confused about what type of stone material to get

[jlvanvleet]

I have spen the last several days reading through the forum and google searching recommendations for sharpening stones for the range of knives/knife steels that I would like to learn to sharpen freehand. I have a Sharpmaker and have used it multiple times and find it does a decent job, but I would like to learn freehand sharpening. In reading all of the reviews I have just gotten confused as to what stone materials I would really need to get the job done. I have a Zwilling Pro knife set with X50CrMoV15 steel as well as some pocket knives with a range of super steels (M390, cpm20V, S30V, S90V) and some basic softer steel pocket knives from CRKT and Gerber. I would like to get a set that would cover all of these blade steels I possible, but that might not be an option. I know that it may not been one size fits all. From what I have found in my reading, maybe the DMT diamond plates or Shapton Pro would work for me. I am also looking to get a Hapstone T1 angle guide to start. Am I off in thinking about getting either the Shapton Pro or DMT diamonds? Are there others that would work better?

 

[c7m2p3]

Seeing M390, 20CV, and S90V on that list you are going to want the diamonds. You can get a set "Ultra Sharp II Diamond sharpening stone kit" with 300, 600, and 1200 grit plates being sold for right around 50$ for all three on a rather popular online retailer that is named after a river in South America if you catch my drift.

Ceramics are great but with grits higher than about 400, steel like 20cv and especially S90V are really not going to show great performance.

 

[maximus83]

Diamonds or cbn. I'd get these guys, you only need 2 stones plus the DMT holder comes in handy (I'd get the coarse/extra-coarse, and the Fine/extra-fine). Those and a strop, your main task then is just learning to hold a consistent angle.

8" DMT DuoSharp Plus Bench Stone (sharpeningsupplies.com)