I've been into knives for a couple of years now, and primarily kept them alive stropping on CrOX. Now I want to venture into the wide world of sharpening stones. I'd like to have a shiny mirror edge, but I don't have much idea what is needed for this. Let's see what you guys can come up with say a $150 dollar budget. I currently have knives in ZDP-189, M390, S30v, and H1. I also want to be able to sharpen medium sized kitchen knives, so I believe I'm going to want 8"x3" stones or something similar.
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First Sharpening Stones
- Thread starter PiMan
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150 bucks is going to be very hard to get you a truly mirror polished edge , I would do DMT double sided stones in the 6 inch then Spyderco UF 302 for finshing and a knives plus strop block, thats probably cheapest route , I use water stones , They are slower but they will give you a great mirror polish as well i have a huge 800 grit king I paid 29 bucks for , 1,000 grit costs about that I also have a comb 1k/6k I paid about 30 for , and a 4k that cost about $32 and a chinese 12k that I LOVE cost me shoot I think like 20 bucks.
You might could go waterstones, If you went with Kings on your budget but I wouldn't get a combo stone , The 1k is going to wear a lot faster than your 6k or 4k, also King is the cheapest stone I would use and they have been good to me but some people don't like them, however stay away from the fleabay specials water stones, you said you wanted 3x8 stones so yeah 3x8 under $150 bucks and wanting a mirror finish go King waterstones
You might could go waterstones, If you went with Kings on your budget but I wouldn't get a combo stone , The 1k is going to wear a lot faster than your 6k or 4k, also King is the cheapest stone I would use and they have been good to me but some people don't like them, however stay away from the fleabay specials water stones, you said you wanted 3x8 stones so yeah 3x8 under $150 bucks and wanting a mirror finish go King waterstones
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A set of DMT bench hones has worked well for me for a couple of decades. Red (regular)and green (fine) will produce a polished edge. A coarser hone (DMT blue) is useful for re-profiling. An angle guide is also handy.
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I also got a double sided diamond hone that is 400/1000k and it cost me 20 bucks and it may not hold up as long as a dmt but it cuts just as good as one does , you just gotta know where to shop. A 1200 grit grit diamond will not leave with you with the type of edge you are wanting, your wanting full on mirror polish , your going to need higher grits than 1200
Thanks for the quick replies! What could I do with say, $200-$300? Post Christmas no bills isn't something I'm going to have forever...
Then I do have a ~1.5 micron CrOX strop, would ending on that be enough or am I going to want smaller diamonds and cow hide?
Then I do have a ~1.5 micron CrOX strop, would ending on that be enough or am I going to want smaller diamonds and cow hide?
The steels you mentioned have a lot of alloying elements and big hard carbides, so I would suggest water stones, which can get quite expensive. If you want a mirror finished edge you're looking at a minimum of 8000 grit JIS or higher as your final stone. Counting backwards you would need successive intermediate grits to get there, in general it is recommended approximately half the grit size in microns to step from the previous stone.
I don't have to have diamonds, no, but I figured the ZDP would limit my options as far as abrasives.
check out the 3 stone set from Dave martell
http://www.japaneseknifesharpeningstore.com/Dave-Martell-set-sharpening-stones-p/set1dmcore.htm
It will cover all of your basic needs.
Then add a kitayama for final mirror work
http://www.japaneseknifesharpeningstore.com/Kitayama-sharpening-stone-8000x-p/kita8000.htm
Later on if you want , get a Takashima Awasedo, truly a fantastic stone. I've got the large one from JKI
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/sharpening-supplies/tennen-toishi-natural-stones/takashima-awasedo-large.html
http://www.japaneseknifesharpeningstore.com/Dave-Martell-set-sharpening-stones-p/set1dmcore.htm
It will cover all of your basic needs.
Then add a kitayama for final mirror work
http://www.japaneseknifesharpeningstore.com/Kitayama-sharpening-stone-8000x-p/kita8000.htm
Later on if you want , get a Takashima Awasedo, truly a fantastic stone. I've got the large one from JKI
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/sharpening-supplies/tennen-toishi-natural-stones/takashima-awasedo-large.html
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Nah, Some people will say oh you haft to have diamonds for this or diamonds for that, Not so , Yea it's faster but my caly 3.5 needed a touchup and for fun I used arkansas stones only , So if I can do that with arkies, plus zdp is a japanese steel, japanese use waterstones! come on man lol
Those are all first rate stones, wherever you source them from you will be pleased with those choices. If you go with those suggestions it will save you a lot of headache trying to figure out which stones and grits to get. Get those in your hands and then your only problem will be learning to use them to achieve the results you want, that is the fun part.
Being new to the site my opinions may not have any merit, but, I've been reading a lot on here and came up with this. I'm cheap so, first stone and recommended buy many for a good starter to do re profiles, repairs etc, cheap ol norton 8x2 Sic doubled sided stone $20. Then I decided to go with the spyderco 8x2 med and fine for now. When more money flows I will get the spydie 8x3 Uf to round it out. I will also add a stone of some sort to progress from the cheap norton to the medium spyderco in the 600 grit range. So far I'm in to it at under $100. And you can do it even cheaper if you read a bunch on here. Sand paper and water boards come to mind. jmo
I'd like to know how this turns out. I bring an 800 grit stone into the field with me always as a backup but never really went for the mirror finish until recently, which I did using sandpaper.
I'm guessing the stones would just save major time but accomplish the same task? I don't have a magnifier yet so I'm really going by feel/performance on my final edge. Took me about 4 hours with paper (and about 10 bucks in sandpaper) to fully refinish my blade (from the factory grind) and be ready for the strop again.
Am I committing a mortal sin using sandpaper? I'm looking at these stones for 80-200 and wondering what the hell I am missing.
I'm guessing the stones would just save major time but accomplish the same task? I don't have a magnifier yet so I'm really going by feel/performance on my final edge. Took me about 4 hours with paper (and about 10 bucks in sandpaper) to fully refinish my blade (from the factory grind) and be ready for the strop again.
Am I committing a mortal sin using sandpaper? I'm looking at these stones for 80-200 and wondering what the hell I am missing.
Not a mortal sin, but if it takes 4 hrs & $10.00 in paper every time you sharpen. there's a lot of time & money wasted. Most of my stones will be in use
by my Brothers grand kids after I'm long gone. so on average they're cheaper than paper.
A lot of folks here have huge collections of folding knives often having multiple copies of the same knife with just different color scales, & think nothing of it.
yet the idea of investing 3 or 4 hundred dollars. to maintain these knives for years seems to raise eye brows.
To each his own I guess, the wife already says I have too many stones. so I must have problems of my own
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No mortal sin by any means, but 4 hrs is a long time unless the steel is very tough stuff. Very important to clean off the sandpaper every few minutes or even more often - I use an eraser. The removed steel and abrasive debris will clog up the paper, slow your grinding way down, and take a lot of life from each sheet. Also real important for sandpaper is to use a grit range that can do what needs doing - unlike a lot of hard stones you can't just use more pressure to speed things along. Pressure and clogging are the enemies on sandpaper - they can do a very fast job if this is taken into consideration. Wet/dry and a sheet or two of paper for a stropping surface are all I use on my Washboard and it goes very quickly - lowered the inclusive angle on a D2 blade and had it treetopping hair in about 25 minutes.
I would have recommended my Washboard to the OP - it isn't really intended for mirror polishing, though can certainly get it done. Is a lot less $ than a lot of other options (many of which now sit unused in a box in my basement
) however I just ran out of stock and will need a week or two to resupply. Allen R, I liked the other Avatar better - congratulations!
Martin
No right or wrong way, but an alternative would be to spend $200 on stones and take 20 mins to get your knife sharpened.