How should I expand my sharpening gear?

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dropkickkid

Joined
Dec 2, 2005
Messages
27
I am by no means an expert. I have plenty of experience, and my hand sharpening technique is great. The problem when i was around 25 my house got robbed and all my good gear (in one bag) was stolen. So here i am in my 30's, I am back in school, so a little low on funds pretty much all the time. Back in the day I had a good set of 4 or 5 waterstones, lots of Arkansas stones inherited from my dad, an edgepro apex (which i only used for about 6 months, im a hand sharpener through and through), and various other goodies - point being several hundreds down the drain (not to mention other stuff that got nicked - guns, electronics, etc - thank god for insurance).

What i currently have - i got my hands on a sharpmaker for real cheap ($15 from a friend), a single UF rod for it (i use it in bench mode most of the time), i have a norton combo india (IB8), I use home made strops with bark river green and white. So if i wanna run the full gambit (not that i hit every surface every time) in order it goes - india course, india fine, SM med, SM fine, SM ultra fine, then the strops. but i would really like to cut out the sharpmaker as it is truely annoying to use in "bench mode." so after my india, regardless of weather i hit the course (especially as the "fine" is around 320 grit i think), what should i get?

i was thinking of getting a couple king waterstones since i can replace what i use the spyderco ceramics for for around 20-30 a stone. the only issue i have is will sharpening chisels and plane blades on them cause me to need to lap my stones a lot? my system needs to stand up to kitchen knives, carbon steel edc's, tools (mostly chisels, planes, spokeshaves, etc), and a couple super steel edc's (mostly s30v).

Thanks!

tl;dr looking for best cheap but complete system based on what i already have
 
A 1k waterstone such as a King will work after the Coarse India, following after the Fine India with a 1000 grit waterstone would be redundant. The only issue though, the King stones will hardly do anything to S30V. When Sharpening woodworking tools you will wear any waterstone faster but Harder waterstones such as Shapton wear slowley but cut quickly. They can also handle the more wear resistant steels.

Yes, you must lap waterstones. The DMT XXC would be my choice.

For waterstones, I would recommend the Shapton Pro 1k and 5k, 2k too if your serious about your woodworking tools. You could go with cheaper tools but you pay for it in the long run.
 
get a good set of diamond stones the s30v needs it. and you wont worry about lapping at all.
 
By "hardly do anything to S30V" how bad do you mean? ive been taking my S30V to ceramic (spyderco) for a while and it seems pretty bad already, would the king stones be worse? I would love to get the shaptons, but at around 3 times the price of kings it will unfortunately probably be a while... Also, if the 320 grit fine of the india is pretty comparable to a 1000 grit waterstone, would i be okay to start with the india combo and go to a higher grit waterstone or two for now, or should i go all waterstone if im gonna go waterstone?

ps ive learned a lot from your posts in the past Jason, just wanted to say thanks!
 
The Spyderco ceramic is very hard and the abrasive easily sharpens the hard carbides like those found in S30V. They are very slow but they do work. The King stone uses Aluminum Oxide which is softer than the Vanadium Carbides and, well, the harder object will always win.

The Shapton stones use a ceramic abrasive but unlike the Spyderco stones the Shaptons release abrasive and allow the hard and sharp abrasive to cut steel very fast.

You could start on the IB8 then move to a waterstone but make sure all the oils have been cleaned from your hands and blade. The oils can hurt the waterstone so this is important.

I would start with the Shapton Pro 2k and DMT XXC. Some 220 wet/dry on a flat surface can handle lapping duity until you get a plate. The 2k is a fairly powerful stone and can work with what you have now. It's also a great finishing stone for a lot of cutlery.
 
I don't have much also, but DMT card C, F & EF works for my use. It might not be big enough for the plane though.

For less than 100$ you can get wahsboard and extra sandpaper that should last until you get the Shaptons. Contact HeavyHanded for this, the new version should be large enough for woodworking tools and big kitchen knives. It also will enhance your free hand skills.

I'd say it's a complete system by itself covering the necessary grits.
 
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