From what grit to what grit while sharpening?

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NeedItCheaper

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Jun 17, 2012
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My brain keeps saying grit size should double from one stone to the next; 240, 480, 960, etc. But double sided diamond and whetstones are commonly 400/1000 grit. I'm about to buy a few Shapton Glass and probably some DMT diamond stones to boot. Experimenting because I can, but also want a better setup. This is for steels; 1095, A2, and mainly 3V. My goal with every knife is to shave my leg hairs to a butter smooth feel without redness (don't judge me). What I'm doing is the definition of playing around but not looking to buy the entire collection. I already have a decent diamond stone; 300/1000 and just ordered a DMT Extra fine (9 micron or 2152 grit).

From re-beveling to shaving sharp, what grit sizes would you use?
 
There's no real rule for anything like that. Grit rating is just one of many variables that effect cut speed and surface finish, and different kinds of tools call for different kinds of edges. Furthermore, different grit rating systems don't increase in number at the same rate as one another, and if I remember correctly the scaling isn't even linear. It really comes down to just knowing your stones and what your target edge should be like.
 
FWIW, the lore I've heard for Shapton Glass is that it's designed for 3X steps. I've spent a lot of time with SG stones, and that seems to work out very well. But I've also had the 1K-4K jump work out fine.

I think it's mostly a tradeoff between smaller jumps in grit vs more time spent on the finer stone, not a necessary rule for achieving a goal.
 
Give or take a little I think most of the razor guys are going something like 1-2k, 4-6K, 8-12K.

A natural finisher will be a more comfortable shave for you IMHO.
 
garry3 said:
Give or take a little I think most of the razor guys are going something like 1-2k, 4-6K, 8-12K.

A natural finisher will be a more comfortable shave for you IMHO.
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That's what I found, too, and in fact what I use is a Shapton Glass 1k for bevel setting, then a Norton 4k/8k, and finally a Shapton 12k. To be honest, I don't see a big difference between the 8k and 12k. Some will even go as high as 30k for a finishing stone.
 
3D Anvil said:
That's what I found, too, and in fact what I use is a Shapton Glass 1k for bevel setting, then a Norton 4k/8k, and finally a Shapton 12k. To be honest, I don't see a big difference between the 8k and 12k. Some will even go as high as 30k for a finishing stone.
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I'm not much of a synthetic water stone user so just passing on what I have heard from them guys.

I seem to recall that there are only three Sharpton glass stones that are recommended for razors. I don't think the 12k is one that is recommended but rather the 10k. Not a %100 sure on that so you might check.

It seems that some of the higher grit rated stones in that line actually have a wider grit range than some of the lower grit rated stones. That might well explain your experience with the 12k and the Norton 8k which from my understanding isn't a very fine 8k.
There has been drama over the SG 16k for a number of years now. "I've used it for years with no issue", "mines a real 16k" yada yada.
 
The SG stones recommended for razors are the 3K, 10K, and 30K. They form an approximate 3X sequence. I also use the SG 1000 as a bevel-setter, and I think it's great in the role.

I rarely finish on the 30K, because I'm either using JNats or the Suehiro Gokumyo 20K, which is a better razor finisher than the SG 30K IMO.

This is an enjoyable conversation, as long as I allow myself to forget that the basis of it is the OP trying to get a comfortable leg shave with his knife.
 
I rarely go beyond DMT's fine (600 grit), as a slightly toothy edge seems to cut better. I have a DMT Extra Coarse 200 grit for re-profiling. Occasionally I use a Black Arkansas stone to touch up the edge on my high carbon steel blades.
 
The optimal gap between the grits depends on the blade and whetstones in question. Fast cutting whetstones and easy to sharpen blades allow you to use wider gaps between the grits. Big bevels, hard to sharpen steel and slow stones make you want to use tight gaps between the grits. My Shun Pro Classic Yanahiba has this giant solid VG10 bevel that is really laborious to sharpen. I use the smallest available gaps between the grits for that knife. A tiny bevel of some medium HRC low alloy carbon steel knife is so easy sharpen, that you take longer jumps between the grits.
 
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