Japanese Water Stones

65535

65535

Joined
Mar 14, 2007
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I ordered a BM 156BT today, and well I don't have a good stone or anything for sharpening such a large knife, so I have been thinking and after talking locally, I have decided that a Japanese water stone would be the best way to sharpen my new knife, but where to get a couple for a good price and good quality, I was thinking an 800 grit for shaping after rough use, and a 4000 grit for that mirror perfect edge. Thoughts and opinions on the proper grit and stone size, as well as supplier are much required. It's a 6" blade D2 tool steel. Thanks in advance, BTW the search doesn't want to work for me.
 
just checked www.leevalley.com , and they are now less expensive than the best things for the norton stones so you may want to buy them there along with the stone pond. Check out the best things site anyway though as it has a lot of good stuff.
 
The 800/4000 combination stones made by King and sold by Lee Valley would be a great choice. I have a 1000/4000 combination stone and both sides leave a very nice edge. Norton's stones cut/sharpen faster, but they also cost much more.
 
The norton's look really nice, as far as I can tell though their 220 grit would be good for putting and edge back on, but they don't have any 600 or 800 that would be good for mild edge repair, so If I went with a 4000 grit norton stone for fine blade maintanence, and maybe a 800 or 1000 for slightly more aggressive cutting. I have a buck 110 that needs serious edge rework, so it would propaply benefit from a professional re-edging.
 
Their 4000 stone leaves a finer finish than their 1000 stone (as you'd imagine), but it seems to sharpen faster (and wear down faster), too. It's the only one of their four stones not made in New Hampshire and behaves differently. I would recommend avoiding their 220 grit waterstone and get a diamond plate of comparable grit. It breaks down too quickly according to those who've owned them.
 
Hey Thom, don't you have one of those XXcoarse DMT stones? How is it holding up for you?
 
I do, thanks. That stone is pressed on with more pressure than most people would dream using on a $5 SiC hone and it's still cutting steel furiously. It's reprofiled more than 100 knives; some with initially very thick edges; and has flattened waterstones and semi-prescious stones, too. Hard to explain it to people who've never used one; especially harder to explain to people who baby their diamond hones. Light pressure should only be used for maintaining a consistant angle when sharpening, not to extend the life of the stone (diamond, waterstone, or oilstone). Of course, everything used after the D8XX (and the finishing strokes or deburring steps with the D8XX) should be done with light pressure, but that's another story.
 
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