I like F320 stones. Do you?

M

Mr.Wizard

Joined
Feb 28, 2015
Messages
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When I bought my Edge Pro the standard stone set was F120, F220, F320, F600, F1000. Later the F320 stone was dropped and replaced by a F400 stone of different formulation. Others selling BORIDE Engineered Abrasives stones for sharpening also often omit the F320 in sets from the available sequence. (..., 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 for most BORIDE types.) I find this curious as the jump from F220 to F400 is rather large, geometrically greater than that from F320 to F600 and F600 to F1200, and as large as F400 to F1000. Individual stone formulation certainly makes a difference but I find F320 to be a highly versatile favorite, fast enough for minor repairs yet with a light touch producing a good general purpose edge, one which can be further refined with a ceramic rod if needed. It is my most common choice when pocketing a single 6" stone for field sharpening. It is in the ballpark of the Fine India which I believe is a popular choice for that.

If you have tried one is it part of your standard sequence? If not maybe you should; you might like it.

Happy New Year!
 
The thing is not all stones of the same grit size behave the same. People tend to have preferences for feedback and feel that is different depending on bond type or hardness etc. rather than just grit rating.

As to some of your other points, I think that the close progression of stones when sharpening is highly over-rated unless you are going for a mirror finish. I often start with a 400 grit stone and jump straight to a 3000 grit stone(both Naniwa) if starting from a fairly dull kitchen knife for example.

F220 to F400 is a smaller gap than I would use personally. I would happily go from F220 to F600 to F1200 or whatever finishing stone I wanted to use.

As to your question though, I don't have a F320 but I do use the 6"x1" F400 Venev quite often for my folding knives for a nice toothy edge. A lot of the time that is the only stone I use for those knives and makes a great pocket sharpener when I am hiking/camping especially as the other side is F240 which allows quick repairs for light edge damage.
 
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