DMT 6 inch 4 stone Kit

[JJaggar]

I am ready to get into the sharpening of my knives and I am looking at the 6 inch 4 stone diamond kit with the wood box from DMT. I'm sure those stones are all I need to sharpen, now besides a double sided leather strop and compound, is there anything else in between the 1200 grit extra fine DMT stone, and the leather strop with compound that I am missing? I don't know like a very fine ceramic stone or something? Please enlighten this newbster!

 

[unit]

Honestly, if you are starting out, keep it simple. A single DMT coarse is all you need, really.

Until you are getting knives sharp enough to shave arm hair with a very light stroke (with a knife fresh off the coarse stone), all the other stuff is useless.

Just my suggestion, keep it simple and build your kit slowly as your skill builds with it

 

[Jason B.]

I just purchased and received (today) a new diamond plate under the name Ultra sharp diamond sharpener. Its double sided with a 400 and 1000 grit sides, I believe these are a new line of Japanese stone and the diamond grits relate closely to those of waterstones. I have only used it a handful of times so it's not even broke-in yet but its speed and quality of finished edge was very nice. Excellent single stone solution.

A quick google search will show you the Best place to find them.

 

[mycough]

I have a couple of the ultra sharp plates and I think they are a great deal. Might be an inexpensive way to start. Russ

 

[Honed_Edge]

I have that exact setup! The DMT kit was purchased about four years ago. I spend 90% of my time on XC or C. I only use F or EF for certain knives. They are great! These stones have seem at least 100 sharpenings and look new. Care is effortless, just wash it off and dry it when done. DO NOT put too much pressure when sharpening, it rips out the diamonds. DMT's are quality products.

A year after the stones, I got my Strop Man double sided with green and white. The strop is tops! The white compound finishes off course or fine edges nicely. Then, the green shines stuff up nice. A strop is a nice finishing step. They don't "create" sharpness, rather they refine it. The DMT's get it so sharp and a strop just turns it into oh $%!* that's sharp!

There are other great options. Sandpaper is a really cheap and easy in for new sharpeners. I still use paper for knives with special needs, like recurve blades.. Lot's of people that buy expensive guided systems talk about the joy of hand sharpening. Plus, you're not taking the rig camping. Stones need nothing but you and a blade and can work in your lap anywhere. I love all of it, it's become a passion. I love taking out my knife and splitting a hair into three or four curls. People are NOT used to that and react accordingly.

 

[JJaggar]

Thanks guys..Being new to this, I am not at all going for or expecting these mirror edges...the DMT kit at just under 70 is very affordable to me, I guess what my true question is, for sharpening my D2 and S90V blades to begin with that 4 stone kit going from 300 up to 1200 grit should be ok?

 

[Honed_Edge]

My DMT's have no problem with s90. I use the course stone and strop a bit for my 940-1. Diamond will cut anything, even ceramic knives.

 

[killgar]

Honestly, if you are starting out, keep it simple. A single DMT coarse is all you need, really.

Until you are getting knives sharp enough to shave arm hair with a very light stroke (with a knife fresh off the coarse stone), all the other stuff is useless.

Just my suggestion, keep it simple and build your kit slowly as your skill builds with it

I pretty much agree with this.

For many years all I used were two synthetic stones- coarse when necessary (creating the desired edge, re-grinding a damaged edge), and fine for re-sharpening. Then I switched to coarse and fine diamond hones for the same uses. I did by an extra-coarse diamond hone, but that was for completely re-grinding the edges on a very hard knife (lots of steel to remove).

I've used knives at work for decades (landscaping, shipping, construction) and I've never once used a strop or anything more to sharpen my knives than the things I mentioned above. And I've never had any difficulty putting hair-popping edges on my knives.

Reading this forum it's easy for a person new to all of this to get the idea that they need a wide variety of things to properly sharpen a knife, but it's not true. Some people are just really into sharpening and getting the sharpest/smoothest/shiniest edge possible. And then there are some people who are absolutely obsessive-compulsive about sharpening and will buy or use whatever they think will produce a sharper/smoother/shinier edge.

 

[unit]

Thanks guys..Being new to this, I am not at all going for or expecting these mirror edges...the DMT kit at just under 70 is very affordable to me, I guess what my true question is, for sharpening my D2 and S90V blades to begin with that 4 stone kit going from 300 up to 1200 grit should be ok?

In a word, yes.

The Coarse (325, 300, whatever DMT rates it at these days) is quite fast and enough for all but severely damaged edges that require heavy re-profile...and it will do those too, but it takes a while.