Current Sharpening Setup

B

bcknives

Joined
Jun 22, 2012
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337
Hey Guys,

I have been using a Sun Tiger #220 water stone, King #1000 grit water stone, and an unknown very fine water stone. I have been looking into buying Chosera water stones, but they are WAY above my budget right now.
I have been thinking about getting a Norton Coarse/Fine oil stone. I've watched this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VPCvd5hUVQ and it seemed to work well.
Is this the next best thing to water stones? I've gotten fairly good at sharpening with water stones so I thought I would buy this just to see if it's any good. What do you guys think?

Thanks,

~Ben
 
It's a step below waterstones.

Chosera stones are nice for kitchen knives but I would not recommend them for folders.

What type of knives are you sharpening and what budget would you like to stay in? There are lots of options available
 
About this statement:

Chosera stones are nice for kitchen knives but I would not recommend them for folders.

Could you please explain it ?
 
The stones are very hard and has very little feedback making finding the bevel on folders difficult. Oddly enough it increased your risk of gouging the stone.
 
knifenut1013 said:
It's a step below waterstones.

Chosera stones are nice for kitchen knives but I would not recommend them for folders.

What type of knives are you sharpening and what budget would you like to stay in? There are lots of options available
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I really only sharpen my Scandi ground knives on my current water stones. I only have about $60 to spend right now, so I can't afford buying an entire set of water stones.
 
You really wouldn't like choseras then, you need muddy stones for big bevels. Truthfully the stones you have work well for the type of grind you are sharpening. Faster stones would be out of your budget unless you are just looking for one stone right now.
 
Translucent (make sure you get translucent grade) hard Arkansas is the most wicked stone I have ever used. Works well for touch ups.
 
bcknives said:
I really only sharpen my Scandi ground knives on my current water stones. I only have about $60 to spend right now, so I can't afford buying an entire set of water stones.
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As Knifenut says, there are a lot of options. What kinds of steels are you sharpening most often? If only carbon steels for the most part you could get a 6k King and get pretty good edges for half your budget. Actually, for carbon steels the entire king lineup works quite well. For a touch over your budget, Norton makes a bunch of combo stones (1k/8k, or 4k/8k) that work better on a wider variety of steels and are very close to your budget. These are pretty muddy stones and will do a good job on wide bevels. The 1k/8k (about 70 bucks) in conjunction with your King 220 would be a good set. The 4k is nice to have, but not necessary.
 
knifenut1013 said:
The stones are very hard and has very little feedback making finding the bevel on folders difficult. Oddly enough it increased your risk of gouging the stone.
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I find the lower grit stones (1k and 3k) give me pretty good feedback, but I have to listen instead of feel. I also find they talk to me better when they're just a little bit dry. Does that sound reasonable, or am I being ridiculous?
 
I find them all from 400 to 10k to be overly hard especially the 5k & 10k. To me waterstones should be a pleasurable experience and the choseras feel more robotic. They work very well at sharpening I just don't find them to offer anything special over other waterstones, especially for the price.

Feedback is the feel, if it has very little feel that means the feedback is low. They make a lot of sound because they cut fast, but that's probably their best feature.
 
Interesting! I may have to try some different stones, I really enjoy using my Choseras but if there are others that produce a more pleasurable experience I'm willing to try something new :)
 
Its all a matter of personal preference. I'm not a fan of the harder stones personally. Straight razor's and some hand tools may benefit from their use though.
 
knifenut1013 said:
I find them all from 400 to 10k to be overly hard especially the 5k & 10k. To me waterstones should be a pleasurable experience and the choseras feel more robotic. They work very well at sharpening I just don't find them to offer anything special over other waterstones, especially for the price.

Feedback is the feel, if it has very little feel that means the feedback is low. They make a lot of sound because they cut fast, but that's probably their best feature.
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Virtuovice on Youtube LOVES his Chosera Stones. Maybe this is just a matter of opinion?
 
I'll come in from the other side and say that I really dislike softer stones (like the King 6000) for anything but wide flat bevels and trailing strokes on western double bevel knives. I find I get an easy, fast, crisp edge on the harder stones like Shapton pros. The shaptons aren't as great for wide bevels as they feel a bit odd and don't leave as pretty a finish as muddy stones will. IIRC the choseras are somewhere in the middle, and I could see how something in between could cause problems. The shapton is so hard it's impossible to gouge so small angle changes just give you a more convex edge, the king is soft enough that even if you do plow the edge into it it doesn't do much other than shave a bit off the stone, the edge might be slightly dulled but it won't really damage it and you can usually just keep sharpening. Something in between might let you cut into the stone but damage the edge in the process or leave a nick in the stone that will catch an edge until it's flattened again.
 
yoda4561 said:
I'll come in from the other side and say that I really dislike softer stones (like the King 6000) for anything but wide flat bevels and trailing strokes on western double bevel knives. I find I get an easy, fast, crisp edge on the harder stones like Shapton pros. The shaptons aren't as great for wide bevels as they feel a bit odd and don't leave as pretty a finish as muddy stones will. IIRC the choseras are somewhere in the middle, and I could see how something in between could cause problems. The shapton is so hard it's impossible to gouge so small angle changes just give you a more convex edge, the king is soft enough that even if you do plow the edge into it it doesn't do much other than shave a bit off the stone, the edge might be slightly dulled but it won't really damage it and you can usually just keep sharpening. Something in between might let you cut into the stone but damage the edge in the process or leave a nick in the stone that will catch an edge until it's flattened again.
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You make some good points. But which stone would be better for a wider bevel such as a Scandi?
 
The muddy stones 1000 grit and higher "suck" the wide bevel to the stone and have a nice glide, making it easier to control and maintain an exact angle. They also tend to polish a bit more for their grit range. Even if it's a scandi grind that's got a microbevel, the steel behind the edge is so thin that a couple trailing strokes will easily give you a nice edge. If I were buying a stone primarily for that type of grind someting like the King 1000 or any other muddy 1000 grit stone would be good. A naniwa synthetic aoto (Green Brick) would be nice too to finish on, and it's a stone I've been considering for my wide bevel japanese kitchen knives as well as more conventional western double bevels due to its reputation for working especially well on softer carbon and stainless western cutlery.
 
Muddy stone work with wide bevels because the bevel rides on a cushion of mud. It's actually a bad thing when the blade suctions to the stone because it will cause deep gouging of the steel.

As to the green brick, its kinda sticky on large bevels, it works but I could think of better.
 
knifenut1013 said:
Muddy stone work with wide bevels because the bevel rides on a cushion of mud. It's actually a bad thing when the blade suctions to the stone because it will cause deep gouging of the steel.

As to the green brick, its kinda sticky on large bevels, it works but I could think of better.
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My King #1000 grit should be fine for a while then. I might go ahead and buy an oil stone just to see if I like it. I've heard that they are great for chisels so that will be nice.
 
They are good for general sharpening but rather coarse for chisels. Again the waterstones would be the better choice.
 
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