Newbie needs help choosing sharpening tools.

H

hal3134

Joined
Jul 26, 2015
Messages
9
I've been around knives since I was in scouts, but have only recently come to appreciate what a truly sharp knife is. I currently have a soft Arkansas stone and a double sided leather strop. I use a green "micro fine honing compound" on the rough side of the strop and just the smooth leather on the smooth side.

I can get an edge that slices newspaper, but not with a push cut. When I look at the edge I think I still see imperfections. I might pickup a 22x loupe per Magnanimous_G's sticky in this forum to help with this.

As best I can tell, according to danswhetstones.com my soft Arkansas stone is likely 600-800 grit. It appears that I should be using a 1-2K stone and maybe even a 6K stone for my kitchen knives (and stopping with the 1K for my EDC and camping knives) prior to stropping. Is this correct?

I'm normally an equipment geek and so I've looked at the Lansky, Edgepro, and Wicked edge systems, but they all strike me as rather expensive.

Should I just get the two sided King sharpening stone (1K and 6K),or do you like something else?

Lastly, I use honing oil on my soft Arkansas stone. Will I mess things up if I switch over to water for the 1K and 6K stone?
 
Usually when you start using oil in a stone you need to continue doing so. You could try boiling the oil out. For kitchen knives I think 6k is generally too much polish. Unless you have some really nice kitchen knives 1k is all you need. I only go higher with Japanese knives which are harder and can benefit from more refinement. Instead of going finer I would recommend a 2 side India stone. Much faster than your Arkansas. That stone you can finish on and gives an edge similar to a 1k waterstone. If you must get a 1k/6k stone I wouldn't suggest the king. For a few dollars more the arishiyama combo stone is much better
 
Isn't finishing with the soft Arkansas stone still a pretty rough edge?

I see arashiyama single stones, but no combo. Can you point me towards one?
 
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Sorry it's been a while. It's an imanishi. Find it here.http://www.japaneseknifesharpenings...-sharpening-stone-1000x-6000x-p/combo1x6x.htm

As to the soft stone Arkansas as hard to determine without using it because they're natural stones and therefore vary. They're a relatively hard binder with a weaker abrasive so the cutting action is slower than most stones and as the abrasive dulls it finishes finer. So 6-800 grit is about right but it has more polishing affect. Also different abrasive grading system. 600 aisi grit is the same micron rating as 1k Japanese rating. So a soft Arkansas is around the same "grit" as a 1k waterstone but in my experience finishes a bit finer. And it's plenty fine for just about any task in the kitchen or woods or where ever you go. Now don't get me wrong if you want to refine your edges more than please do so. It's fun. But don't think you need to
 
Thanks! I see it. I like the price too.

Will I need a flattening stone for either my Arkansas soft stone or the imanishi? If so, can you recommend one that is less expensive than the Tsuboman Atoma diamond plates ($100+) that is still on the larger side? I'm concerned that the Nagura flattening stones on that same website are too small and would get uneven flattening.
 
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Synthetic Nagura is more for cleaning the stones surface. It's not really meant for flattening. I don't use a diamond plate for flattening. I just use a piece of glass and loose silicon carbide powder. If you want a dmt coarse comes in cheaper than an atoma. Or an iwood plate from tools from japan. I think you'll like stu's site
 
I like it already. Except I expect the shipping will be costly.:(

Do you recommend the knife guide holder to keep the angle steady?
 
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Ya shipping may be pricey. I'm in Canada so shipping from japan is the same is from the states. And stones are heavy. I wouldn't get the angle guide. Unless you knife has basically no belly it doesn't work well as you still need to follow the curve of the edge
 
We know you like gadgets but don't over think this. It's just sharpening. Your 600 grit soft Arkansas stone is more than fine enough to produce an excellent edge on your knife.
Plus, your loaded leather strop should give you a very sharp edge. Certainly enough to cut any hair it touches. You can use driveway concrete to flatten your Arkansas or a flattening tile from Home Depot runs only 20$. I've read others use sandpaper. So, you don't need to be spending hundreds. Merely work on your technique. DM
 
King stones get a bad wrap when it reality they are not that bad, it's just they are difficult to learn on because they are soft. I value my King 1k and 4k much more after years of developing my skill with waterstones. They work best on low alloy steels so anything like S30V is a no go, but for a good carbon steel kitchen knife they do great.

To start out it helps to use harder stones and because you have experience with Arkansas stones which are a "hard" stone it would be an easier transition without having to learn sof stone techniques. The Arashiyama 1k and 6k were my first waterstones and still some of my favorite, I have moved on to different waterstones but these are still very good. They are not much harder than a King stone though and for that I would recommend something else.

One thing to mention is you probably won't have a use for the Ark stone if you get a 1000 grit waterstone, the grit is very similar but the waterstones cut very fast and will quickly outclass the Ark in metal removal.

The somewhat new path of advisement with waterstones is to start with a 2000 grit stone. Hard and fast cutting stones like the Shapton Pro 2000 has a lot of cutting power for its grit rating, probably more than your Arkansas while producing a sharper/finer edge with less burr. If your on a tight budget the King delux 1k has taught many to sharpen though and will work for you too.

PS. Do not get oil on waterstones, it can damage them.
 
Until my business got so busy that I couldn't keep up by hand sharpening, I used a 600 grit (fine) DMT stone. It cut fast on all but the most jacked-up knives, and left a very nice edge suitable for most household tasks.
 
I still like to use my soft Arkansas stone sometimes to set the microbevel on my kitchen knives. I can get a hair wittling edge of it (its more the experience than the stone, once you gain experience you can get a very sharp knife of just about any stone) and its toothy and yet fine enough to use in the kitchen. Again I use to set the microbevel, a finish step. To set the bevel like many above said its too slow compared to waterstones plus I find I like a muddier stone to set the bevel as it helps prevent a burr forming and finish on a harder stone(any of the Arkansas stones, ceramic or shapton glass) but thats just my 2 pennies. A lot depends on what you're sharpening to, most stones are not made to sharpen O1, aeb l, 1095 and also 10v at 64 hrc unless using diamonds, certain Sic and shapton glass can chew even the most wear resistant steels.
In the end, getting a very sharp edge depends more on your skill than tne stones you're using. But different stones take less time and make it easier to get there. I can give my stepmom a 30k shapton and im lretty sure she'll end up just dulli g and scratching the knife with it but you give a pro a coffee mug or even a brick and he'll give you back a sharp knife.
 
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