Does anyone still use sharpening stones ?

I have a large stone that I prefer to use. About 8 inches long.

It's very theraputic for me and works well. I will touch it up with a fine ceramic stick when I'm done if I want it crazy sharp.
 
thombrogan:

Try here for coarse waterstones. They offer stones from the #80 Grit Naniwa Golden Lobster to the #12000 Grit Sharpton.
 
I still use a Washita arkansas stone from time to time. Mostly I use my Spyderco ProFiles.

Paul
 
Yes,

I use the hard, soft and black Arkansas stones even on s30v and M2. For dull edges I start with a wet/dry sandpaper rig, the grit depends on how muck work the edge needs.

But for day to day touch up, stone and strops.


Steve
 
I have about a dozen stones somewhere around the house, I have Norton, Washita, hard Arkansas, extra fine ceramic, two pocket DMT´s, a Dubl Duck razor hone, a couple of pocket cheapoes, a very coarse Chinese double grit from the supermarket. I have some old crocksticks with broken rods and a couple diamond steels (EZE-LAP and Smith´s), I usually sharpen with a homemade jig to hold the stones, I´ve never tried Sharpmaker, Edge Pro, etc..
 
It took a long time, and the sacrifice of some cheap blades, to learn to use benchstones.

Along the way, I bought Lansky sharpener, crock sticks, Sharpmaker, etc. They lay unused after initial trials.

Stones and strops are my constant tools.
 
FWIW, you can go here for Shapton Waterstones.

http://shaptonstones.com/

Their profession series are the cat's PJs. They do not require long soaking, nor a slurry. I own 4 of their full stones and some slip stones.

Yup they are $$. But I don't think you can find a better, more consistent, easy to care for, long lasting stone on the market. They are Japanese designed and built. They are always in research mode, improving things. And it shows.

Steve
 
It took me a while to adopt them, but now I use DMT stones more than anything else. I still use my soft and hard Arkansas stones to finish the edge, though, since the DMT will not put the polish that I want on some blades. Some day I'll get into black and translucent Arkansas, and the fine water stones, but what I have works for now.

Oh, and I have always done it free hand.
 
Originally posted by sean kendrick
How much sharpening do you guys do that you wear out a diamond hone? I have a DMT conical sharpener that I have been using for 4 years, and it still works just as good as the day I bought it. Are you cleaning them periodically?
Click to expand...

On average 20 per day anything from pocket knives to 12" butcher knives. Yes they are cleaned. A butcher will tell you the same about diamond steels. It's like all tools they have their place in the workshop but they are not the be all and end all esp. at the price you have to pay.
 
When I'm sitting in front of a campfire, I usually got a sharpening stone in my hand. :D
 
Originally posted by thombrogan
I have a combo Norton India and a Norton Arkansas, but they rarely see much use as sandpaper and lapping film both cut faster and my sharpening jigs (EdgePro and Sharpmaker) take less motor skills to get a hair-popping edge.

Jeff Clark,

Where did you get a 120 grit waterstone? How big is it? That sounds like a great tool in the reprofiling arsenal.
Click to expand...
thom - you gotta try translucent arkansas for finishing. if nothing else, it just puts you in a zenlike state to pass the blade over it :D
 
Yep, I use those kinds of hones. The Spyderco dublestuff, Spyderco ultrafine, and Norton Fine India are my favorites. I also like DMT hones for rough work. It is just plain nice to be able to create a nice edge freehand.

JD
 
Originally posted by alan aragon
you gotta try translucent arkansas for finishing. if nothing else, it just puts you in a zenlike state to pass the blade over it
Click to expand...

Alan,

My Norton Arkansas is translucent. I've used it on some knives, but I can use much higher polish using the EdgePro and some lapping film.

Besides, it might disengage an axis lock. :p :)
 
How I sharpen my knives: "Hey, dad? Sharpen this for me? Thanks." One of the benefits of having a dad who's been sharpening knives professionally for over 25 years. :)

If it's a regular kitchen knife, I can just go back and do it myself; if it's a "real" knife, I let him do it.

We use electric grindstones and buffing wheels.

In our store, we sell both stones and diamond sharpeners (mainly DMT sharpeners) but we sell many more diamond sharpeners than actually stones. I refuse to carry electric "home" sharpening wheels, because people always tend to screw it up and ruin their knives. :rolleyes:

~ashes
 
I have a big, ugly benchstone that I generally use to fix damaged blades - nicks, broken tip (this happens mostly with my woodcarving knife). Then follow that with a combination of: a DMT Fine Diamond Mini-Sharp Whetstone, an EZE-Lap pocket diamond rod - the one that looks like a pen, some very fine grit sandpaper, and a couple of strops & aluminum oxide.

Otherwise, I usually just use a diamond hone or sometimes the sandpaper, and finish with the strop.

I haven't tried an expensive rig so far. I enjoy sharpening freehand. It's like meditation. :D

And I reeeeally don't like being interrupted while I'm in my zone. :grumpy:
 
I use a stone sometimes on simple carbon steel knives and slipjoints.

Truth be told, though, I use the DMT fine a lot more often. Occasionally I finish on a Black Hard Arkansas.
 
I use a black arkansas stone regularly. I like it for the nice polished edge it gives me, but I also like it even more because it "feels" good to use.

I'm going to break down and fork over the $$$ for a translucent one of these days...
 
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