Keeping Sharp -- what stones are good enough

R

RedLynx

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Aug 5, 2011
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Hi guys,

Recently picked up a really cool Ontario Retribution. I have a couple hundred knives and a lot of them have exceeded my expectations, but this is one of the best out of the box sharp knives I've ever got, I think!

I'd like to do my best to keep it as sharp as this or as close as I can get it.

My best stones are a double sided DMT diamond bench stone, one side 600 grit, the other 1200 grit.

My question is, are these good enough to keep a knife like this good and sharp? I've never usually been unsure, but for now I am. It's got what appears to be N690C steel, if that helps. Unsure of the Rockwell hardness though.

Should I add more grits? I usually use these two for most of my EDC knives and they work great, just wondering if I'm not being selective enough.
 
that's definitely enough to keep the average knife plenty sharp. if you had to do a lot of reprofiling a coarser done would be nice, and if you wanted to further refine your edges some higher grits would work. but really, if you spend more time cutting with your knife instead of taking pictures of it, you'll probably be fine with just that stone.
 
The 1200is fine, 600should only be for reprofile.

if you want, higher grit will polish the edge.

I personally use 8000 grits for that mirror shine.
 
Thanks guys, and yeah, I only use 600 if I really need to reprofile which is rare. Just like having both on one stone. Thanks for the replies.
 
For a good working edge, I typically use 400 and 1200 grit DMT stones or cards. Refining an edge beyond that might be fun, but it won't last long or give enough benefit to be worth the extra effort. Unless, of course, you're in food prep. Then a touch up on 4000-8000 grit stones prior to each use would be realistic
 
If you stay on top of your knives and sharpen when they first began to get dull, than what you have is adequate.
Sounds to me like you have it covered.

Blessings,

Omar
 
600 is fine in diamonds so if you need to reset bevels or remove damage you will be spending a very long time on that stone.

Also, being a recurve blade you will have issues getting to the inner curve with the sharp corner of the diamond plate. Most likely you will end up wearing the diamonds off the edge trying.

You will probably need a different sharpening stone to correctly sharpen that blade.
 
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