Well after some thought and some advice from the kind folks here on the forums, I went ahead and bought myself a Norton Combo stone 220/1000 grit.
I soaked the stone for about 45 minutes before i started sharpening. The knife i chose to sharpen was an Ontario Old Hickory Paring Knife which had a terrible edge on it from the factory, almost unusable. I started on the course side and held the knife at the same angle and cut into the stone. I worked the same side of the blade until i got a burr on the other side. I shone a torch onto each side of the blade and noticed that one side was very smooth and the other side was toothy. I switched sides and once i created a burr on the other side of the blade, I switched to the finer side on the stone. I repeated the process on the finer side and then stropped the blade on a leather strop loaded with diamond spray. I am happy with the end results. The knife is sharp. Noticeably sharper than before i started. It cuts paper easily but it doesn't shave but then again, I never expected much as this was my first attempt at free hand sharpening.
When i started with the 220 grit side, i could actually see where the stone had cut into the steel forming an edge. It was pretty cool to do and i had fun doing it. The entire process took me about 2 hours taking 2 breaks in between. I did it slow and was careful to keep the angle steady.
Overall i am happy with the Norton stone and i think the 220 grit did a great job of reprofiling the blade. I would recommend this stone to any other freehand beginners like myself out there, interested in giving waterstones a shot.
I am going to practice on some more of my cheap kitchen knives this week and when i feel a little more confident, Im gona take my RC3 to the stone.
Well guys thanks for all the info and recommendations. Sorry for the crappy pics but my camera sucks.
I soaked the stone for about 45 minutes before i started sharpening. The knife i chose to sharpen was an Ontario Old Hickory Paring Knife which had a terrible edge on it from the factory, almost unusable. I started on the course side and held the knife at the same angle and cut into the stone. I worked the same side of the blade until i got a burr on the other side. I shone a torch onto each side of the blade and noticed that one side was very smooth and the other side was toothy. I switched sides and once i created a burr on the other side of the blade, I switched to the finer side on the stone. I repeated the process on the finer side and then stropped the blade on a leather strop loaded with diamond spray. I am happy with the end results. The knife is sharp. Noticeably sharper than before i started. It cuts paper easily but it doesn't shave but then again, I never expected much as this was my first attempt at free hand sharpening.
When i started with the 220 grit side, i could actually see where the stone had cut into the steel forming an edge. It was pretty cool to do and i had fun doing it. The entire process took me about 2 hours taking 2 breaks in between. I did it slow and was careful to keep the angle steady.
Overall i am happy with the Norton stone and i think the 220 grit did a great job of reprofiling the blade. I would recommend this stone to any other freehand beginners like myself out there, interested in giving waterstones a shot.
I am going to practice on some more of my cheap kitchen knives this week and when i feel a little more confident, Im gona take my RC3 to the stone.
Well guys thanks for all the info and recommendations. Sorry for the crappy pics but my camera sucks.
db once gave me 