I Like Your Stones!

J

jawilder

Joined
Jun 27, 2006
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I'm looking for a good set of sharpening stones and need your suggestions

Let me start by saying that I am very capable of sharpening on my grinder. I also like my paper wheels and they work well.

But I want something to play around with while watching TV with the wife at nights. I spend so much time in the shop that I have to be reminded that I'm married.

I have a Norton combo stone and am not crazy about it. It works but not my cup of tea. I also have several Arkansas stones but don't like them either.

So... Diamond? Natural? Synthetic? Water? Oil?

I want something that is good quality but would like to keep it under $100 for all stones if possible. I know that quality costs and I'm not opposed to spending money for good stones, but I don't want to if I don't have to.

So in a nutshell, what are the basic sharpening stones that every knifemaker should have?
 
Well, the Norton IB8 india stone is a shop standard, other than that I use lapping films and wet/dry sand paper on a granite backer. I use up to 12K grit then strop depending on the knife. Its cheap and works just like regular stones, with no maintenance! Check out Japan woodworker for a good selection of water stones.


-Xander
 
For living room sharpening, you probably want something quiet, minimal mess and produce sticky (feeling to fingers) smooth sharp edge.

DMT 8 E continuous $50 - continue from belt 320-400 and ensure the bevel flat & continous heel-to-tip. Great utility edge at this grit.

DMT 8 EE $75 - smooth slice & sticky feeling, push cut phonebook paper (almost all direction, except straight cross grain).

Finish up with a few strokes on a leather strop loaded with white compound.
 
The shapton glass stones are good because they don't need soaking. I use those and have a collection of naturals.
 
I prefer water stones, over oil as it is easy to clean up in the kitchen.

What do you dislike about the norton and arkansas stones?

I have an ezelap 150/400 diamond plate which I do not like as I don't think it is flat, also it is quite noisy so my wife won't let me use it while she is watching TV.

I love my naniwa chosera 800 grit stone but choseras are very expensive. If you will go to the grinder for removing large chip damage you can probably skip the low grit stones and dmt plates. I would go for one or two high quality stones, a 1200 or 2000 grit stone and a 5-15000 grit stone so you can put a nice polish on knives, and the higher grit stones make a softer noise.

Chosera are excellent, I believe glass stones are too, I think I used one briefly and liked it. There are a lot of less well known stones to choose from like sigma power and bester and nubutama these days, so it is easy to get overwhelmed. I have arashiyama 6000 which is nice. King 4000 grit is just OK. Shapton m5 12000 love the finish but it has crazed and cracked up all over which stops me recommending.

I'd probably get a sigma power or bester 1200 or 2000 and a arashiyama 6000 or kitayama 8000.
 
Spyderco sharpmaker :-)

I have waterstones and a few DMT bench stones but the sharpmaker consistently sees the most use.
 
I use an old silicon carbide stone I got at a garage sale free to start the bevel, then 1000 grit Chosera, then 4000 and 8000 Norton water stones and strop on a loaded strop. But the Chosera and the Nortons are my razor stones, so I usually only go to the fine side of the silicon carbide stone then strop. On a few of my knives I go to 1000 then 4000.

A2 at 60-61 works great up to 8000. :)
 
I've got some spyderco ceramic stones for the higher grits. The finest is enough for my straight razor. They don't wear and they don't require water or oil. Hence they don't make any mess or wear out. On the down side they do load up and you have to scrub em with some dawn and a scotch bright to clean the crap out. Only takes a few seconds to do but you'll be doing it a lot on bigger knives. A price I was willing to pay to not have to worry about keeping it flat or making a mess.
My only regret is that I got the 2x8s. I shoulda coughed up the cash for the 3x8s.
 
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I am a huge fan of using Gesshin Whet Stones, I have a 400, 2000 and 4000 always soaking. They provide amazing feedback, cut fast and leave an edge that is designed to wreck havok (in a good way) on any sort of product/meat that I am cooking.
 
So far the Spyderco ceramic stones look like the best deal. Does anyone have any other good/bad experience with them?
 
jawilder said:
So far the Spyderco ceramic stones look like the best deal. Does anyone have any other good/bad experience with them?
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I bought a gray 2x8 bench stone because I like my sharpmaker so much. As far as I'm concerned it the best working and value to be had. But I have to say I rarely take my working knives up to a super smooth finish (1000 grit or better) like some here do and find this stone will put a very good working edge on a blade. It will shave but not pop hair which I think is more a function of the finish grit.
 
I second the Razor-Edge Systems stones. No oil. Simply brush them off or wash with soap and water after use.
 
I love water stones. I use them on my EdgePro system.
 
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