Inexpensive combination stone recommendations

Spats McGee

Spats McGee

Joined
Jun 6, 2019
Messages
388
I know, I know. "Good, fast, and cheap. Pick any two." Here's the thing, though. A while back, my wife roped me into teaching a beginning knife sharpening class at our local library. (I can put a decent edge on a knife, but am not really qualified to teach anything above "beginner" level.) We had about a dozen attendees (which is pretty good for that library), and we bought cheap combination stones (~$12 each) so that each participant got a stone to take home. I didn't get a chance before the last one to actually sit down before the last class, and the participants had something of a hard time. The stones seemed very "thirsty," and lots of students had trouble raising a burr. Welp, as it turns out, part of that was a stone problem. I gave one of those cheap stones a good (~30 min) soak, a quick flattening with my diamond plate, and put it to the test. Yep, it's a cheap stone. A good soak alleviated some of the thirst problem, but ... I put a couple of knives on it that I know from experience will take a decent edge fairly quickly, but still had a hard time raising a burr, which I should not have had with those knives. I have a similar stone from a company whose name is synonymous with "Small, Edged Rock," and I can get a burr very quickly with that one on the same knives. (For reference, I bought the cheap stones on the big river site, and they are the 400/1000 grit combination stones whose brand name begins with "alk." (Mods, feel free to edit this or correct me if I'm out of line in putting too much info in.)

So, I'm looking for recommendations for inexpensive stones, probably combination stones, given the following facts: (1) I use them to teach beginners how to sharpen; (2) they should be a good bargain, given that tax money supports the program, which I hate wasting; and (3) all that most of them really want to do is put a reasonable, working edge back on their kitchen knives (they're not looking for a mirror finish).

Thanks in advance


ETA: I initially named the wrong brand as the offending stone. Have corrected that.
 
Last edited:
I would recommend the King stones, either 800, 1000, or 1200. I started out on King stones, and they served me well for years. They are inexpensive and effective. I suggest ditching the combo idea. Not only is the 6000 part of a King 1K/6K combo pretty bad, according to lots of reports, but also you do not need anything above that 800-1200 range to put a really excellent edge on the kind of kitchen knives your students are likely to have. Heck, I even stop at 1K pretty often for really excellent knives. It's a good working grit for the kitchen. It takes a while to get sharpening skills to the point where you can really benefit from anything above 1K anyway.

Drawback: they are soaker stones, and they do dish, though not so fast as the cheap Chinese stones you're referring to.
 
Not sure whether the combo stones you'd prefer would be water stones or oil stones. But, for an inexpensive oil stone, I've found the Smith's combination 8" stone in aluminum oxide to be pretty decent. Bought mine for about $9 at Walmart. At the time, I didn't need such a stone. But I was curious to see how such a stone would compare to my 8" Norton C/F India stone, which is a very good one (about $25 or so). Smith's rates their stone at 100/240-grit, which sounds quite a bit more coarse than I perceive it to be. Not that aggressive, as I see it. But still aggressive enough.

I reserve my India stone for knives in basic, simple carbon steels like 1095 or CV, and low-alloy stainless like 420HC and equivalents, which are similar to most mainstream kitchen stainless cutlery as well. I tested some of the same knives on the Smith's combo stone, and they sharpened up nicely. Raising a burr was straightforward as well. The Smith's stone didn't need a lot of oil, BTW. It's not pre-filled with oil/grease like the India stone - but it's also not wanting for as much soaking in oil as other inexpensive combo stones from sources like ACE Hardware, etc. I've also used the same stone with some dish soap & water as well, and it works pretty decently that way. I always use my India stone with oil, since it was made to work best with that. The India really is a nice-cutting stone with very good feedback, when used with a light mineral oil like Norton's product.

I've purchased ONE inexpensive water stone, for maybe $20 or so at a local restaurant supply dealer. I'm inclined to believe it's probably more challenging to find a good-performing one, bought inexpensively. Raising a burr on such a stone proves more challenging, as the shedding grit and slurry from the stone tends to knock much of the burr off the edge and also likely dulls or blunts the edge too, if edge-leading passes are used on the stone. For the sake of teaching about burrs in sharpening, I do believe it'll be more straightforward with an oil stone, which will raise the burr more predictably, even on the relatively inexpensive stones.
 
Last edited:
Value imo would be a 2x6 dmt in x coarse and fine. Will last a lifetime and produces a very good edge. You can use it with any steel. A tungsten sharpener (not push pull) improves a dull edge although I definitely prefer my dmts. That would be your absolute lowest price at around $10. That dmt will cost about $50.
 
Not suggesting, promoting or advising anything here, but thought viewers of this thread may find this interesting. Outdoors55 just posted a Youtube clip on a stone he just reviewed.
 
Spats McGee said:
I know, I know. "Good, fast, and cheap. Pick any two." Here's the thing, though. A while back, my wife roped me into teaching a beginning knife sharpening class at our local library. (I can put a decent edge on a knife, but am not really qualified to teach anything above "beginner" level.) We had about a dozen attendees (which is pretty good for that library), and we bought cheap combination stones (~$12 each) so that each participant got a stone to take home. I didn't get a chance before the last one to actually sit down before the last class, and the participants had something of a hard time. The stones seemed very "thirsty," and lots of students had trouble raising a burr. Welp, as it turns out, part of that was a stone problem. I gave one of those cheap stones a good (~30 min) soak, a quick flattening with my diamond plate, and put it to the test. Yep, it's a cheap stone. A good soak alleviated some of the thirst problem, but ... I put a couple of knives on it that I know from experience will take a decent edge fairly quickly, but still had a hard time raising a burr, which I should not have had with those knives. I have a similar stone from a company whose name is synonymous with "Small, Edged Rock," and I can get a burr very quickly with that one on the same knives. (For reference, I bought the cheap stones on the big river site, and they are the 400/1000 grit combination stones whose brand name begins with "alk." (Mods, feel free to edit this or correct me if I'm out of line in putting too much info in.)

So, I'm looking for recommendations for inexpensive stones, probably combination stones, given the following facts: (1) I use them to teach beginners how to sharpen; (2) they should be a good bargain, given that tax money supports the program, which I hate wasting; and (3) all that most of them really want to do is put a reasonable, working edge back on their kitchen knives (they're not looking for a mirror finish).

Thanks in advance


ETA: I initially named the wrong brand as the offending stone. Have corrected that.
Click to expand...

Honestly sounds like a good case for American Mutt bench stones. They aren't combination, but you can get a very fine edge off them via pressure modulation.
 
Well I have been exploring cheap sharpening this year. Unfortunately by late summer prices have gone up, so your best deals are gone.
You can still get cheap aluminum oxide stones for less than $10. The issue for a new sharpener is that with less abrasive it will take longer to raise a burr. They are also softer, so they need to be flattened.
Cheap diamond double sided stones work very well. I'm not seeing noticeable wear. Right now you can get them at less than $20 for a 6x2 with a case that acts as a stone holder. If you are really patient, you might be able to find deals where you get them at $10/each.
There are also paddle type diamond stones which you can get at less than $10/each. You'll need to get something underneath them if you want to teach as bench sharpening and don't want to scratch up the table.

Right now, at that big internet retailer we don't like to name, there is the Sharphos 6x2 double sided diamond for $13.
 
jeffbird said:
The DMT combo coarse and fine will sharpen almost any knife and last. Add how to use a basic strop and a person could do very well.
Click to expand...
I agree on that.
You don't need anything else to keep your knives sharp.
The only thing is they are expensive.
 
TheOne45 said:
The only thing is they are expensive
Click to expand...
When it comes to tools, " Always Buy The Best You Can Afford ", as my dear old Dad used to say. DMT's may seem expensive up front, but work out cheap over the long run. And compared to what knives cost now, they are cheap.
 
I have just done a search on the e-commerce site that shall not be named, for "diamond whetstone".
Do some scrolling and there are double sided diamond 6x2 that are less than $10/each.
You might want to get something for clearance, these are just thin plates with no case.
 
Ourorboros said:
these are just thin plates with no case
Click to expand...
I have 7x3 plates .... glued them to 16mm plywood with double sided tape.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10wLDt437X4Qqoz6A9AvJ_r4IjeT2iMyO/view?usp=drivesdk

cudgee said:
When it comes to tools, " Always Buy The Best You Can Afford "
Click to expand...
Well; 'Always Buy The Best You Can Afford' is somehow odd statement.
I could afford but the question is do I want to. I personally buy according to my needs.
Sometimes low price does not mean low quality and sometimes high price does not correspond to high quality.

What about Spyderco CBN benchstone #400/#800 for $148? Outdoors55 used it in one of his sharpening videos and he said it works good.
I think it's overpriced but that's just me. ;)
 
Last edited:
I have DMT stones and like them, but wouldn't consider them "inexpensive." I think I paid $140 for a 10"x4" combo (325/600) DMT. FWIW, I recently dug out some of my late dad's old Norton alox and carborundum stones from the '50s and '60s, and was surprised how well they still seem to work, so I just bought a larger (8" x 2" x 1") Norton India alox combo stone and it raised a burr very fast for me (and I'm really just getting the hang of sharpening freehand after several decades of disappointment there). I paid under $30 delivered.

What I like about that stone is that I can reprofile fairly fast, and bear down if I want to, which you can't really do with the diamond plates...YMMV. So if a knife is really dull, I'll start out with the India alox (usually on the "fine" side), then switch to the DMT 325/600, then go to a cheap diamond 1000 grit plate, then the Spyderco medium ceramic...currently awaiting some Shapton "splash and go" waterstones that Outdoors55 recommended on YT. But in terms of "bang for your buck," I think the Norton India 8x2 alox combo stone is a winner...
 
Cementite said:
What I like about that stone is that I can reprofile fairly fast, and bear down if I want to, which you can't really do with the diamond plates...
Click to expand...
Sure you can. You just need a diamond plate with lower grit.
If one of my knives would be extremely dull I can go down to #80 diamond plate.
 
My lowest grit is 150 in diamond. It'll hog off metal. Almost too quickly. I only use it for big chip removal.

If you follow the factory edge angle. You can start with 400.

Really dull, I start with 240.

Anything after 400 is refinement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top