Norton India Stones vs Japanese Stones vs Stropping

I

IbrahimSS

Joined
Oct 18, 2013
Messages
39
Hello

I just bought my first "real" outdoors knife for hunting and bushcraft. As I'm practicing some bushcraft, I decided it would be a good idea to get an idea how to sharpen my knife as well. So I've been reading a bunch and watching videos on YouTube. I think I like the idea of free hand sharpening on stones. It seems like Chosera stones are an excellent choice but also seem rather steep in price. The Norton stones seem like a good value although from what I'm reading they wear a bit faster. That seems like an ok tradeoff to me because I doubt my usage will be that intense.

But I'm also not 100% sure I need stones at all. I'm wondering if I can get away with just stropping with DLT strop and Bark River compounds. Maybe however I'm not understanding the true differences between what stropping does vs what sharpening does. But unless I'm reshaping the edge line could I get away with stropping alone? I was particularly looking at the DLT paddle or ultimate block strops.

Anyway so currently I'm looking at maybe a set of 400/800/2000 grit Chosera stones but that's a whooping $200. So I'm wondering if I can get some Norton stones that would bring that price down.

Any thoughts or pointers for a newbie?

Thanks
Sam
 
Stropping isn't a replacement for sharpening. While they compliment each other you can't replace one with the other. Given that you want a hunting and bushcraft knife I think you're better off with the stones. They will allow you to keep a sharp enough edge for fieldwork while allowing you to do touch-ups and repair any minor damage that may occur or to adjust your angle if you need either more durability or cutting ability.

As to which stones that's something you'll have to decide on based on budget. When starting out though you may be able to get away with just two stones, which could save you some money and then add the 3rd, or more, as money allows or if you find you need them later.
 
Replace the 2k with the 3k chosera and you would have a really nice set of stones. It may be a large investment but you will have no regrets, they are some of best stones money can buy. The 2k is best paired with the 600 FYI.
 
The choseras are superior to the nortons in every single way , except for cost ;)

With the choseras I would go say... 600 , 2k , 5k. You get a little bit more out of them that way. You can always add more stones later. But the choseras will need lapping. I recommend the Atoma Plates.

The new Bark River CBN compounds are great. I would wait for the knives ship free kangaroo strops (supposed to be up on the site in the new years , but you might be able to call in and order them).

You can replace sharpening with strops if you use the right compound :)
 
Sadden said:
(...)
You can replace sharpening with strops if you use the right compound :)
Click to expand...

:thumbup:

Taking that a little further, you could also 'strop' on wet/dry sandpaper. Used on a hard backing, such as over wood or glass or stone, it's very effective and fast. Grit choices across a huge spectrum as well, and it's very inexpensive. The medium and higher grit papers will continue to work well for a long while, when used for occasional touching up. On fairly simple steels, such as those offered in the Moras, the sandpaper works great. It's become my maintenance method of choice, when stropping by conventional means doesn't quite get the work done. If done regularly, even stropping with the right choice of compound and backing can maintain great edges for a very long while.

Not knocking any other methods or tools. But if cost is a major consideration, sandpaper should be given some open-minded consideration.


David
 
Last edited:
Boy,-- lots of questions over a broad range. Sounds like you need some answers. It's been my experience that Norton India stones offer greater economy and wear Much slower than water stones. Plus, they don't require as much maintenance as water stones and water stones are more fragile. I've yet to break a Norton India stone from dropping it. Granted the water stones cut somewhat quicker and offer finer grits. One cannot maintain the edge by merely stropping. Stropping on sandpaper does work and for cheap. Offering many grits. Still, if your going to get a stone you can strop on that as well. DM
 
Not only can one maintain edges just by stropping , one can do minor repair work with strops as well. The new bark river compounds are a great solution offering just that. The 16 , 8 , 4 and 2micron (1k ,2k , 4k and 8k reapectively) can handle minor repairs and take your edges beyond what the majority of people here can do. Add some really coarse sandpaper as David suggested and you have a great kit with no stones needed.

Sandpaper is a good solution lower down here as the OP wont need to go that coarse often enough to justify the cost of coarser CBN. Personally i have CBN as coarse as 80micron (160 grit) and thaf stuff is awesome. Goes through steel like an F5 goes through a cheap trailer park. If i want i can reprofile and sharpen all the way to 640,000 grit using nothing but strops.

While the initial cost of CBN is high the cost per use is very low. The only person i know of who has useda significant amount of his has gone through 1/5 of a 2oz bottle , and that did over 500knives. Long term its cheaper than any "on the cheap" solution.
 
First off... What kind of knife did you purchase/receive? Does it have a "V" edge, or is it convex. That will determine how you need to sharpen your blade.

If it's a Bark River Knife, then it's convex for sure :)
 
IbrahimSS said:
Hello

I just bought my first "real" outdoors knife for hunting and bushcraft. As I'm practicing some bushcraft, I decided it would be a good idea to get an idea how to sharpen my knife as well. So I've been reading a bunch and watching videos on YouTube. I think I like the idea of free hand sharpening on stones. It seems like Chosera stones are an excellent choice but also seem rather steep in price. The Norton stones seem like a good value although from what I'm reading they wear a bit faster. That seems like an ok tradeoff to me because I doubt my usage will be that intense.

But I'm also not 100% sure I need stones at all. I'm wondering if I can get away with just stropping with DLT strop and Bark River compounds. Maybe however I'm not understanding the true differences between what stropping does vs what sharpening does. But unless I'm reshaping the edge line could I get away with stropping alone? I was particularly looking at the DLT paddle or ultimate block strops.

Anyway so currently I'm looking at maybe a set of 400/800/2000 grit Chosera stones but that's a whooping $200. So I'm wondering if I can get some Norton stones that would bring that price down.

Any thoughts or pointers for a newbie?

Thanks
Sam
Click to expand...

Personally I wouldn't expect to do indefinite maintenance on a strop unless that thing was like hardwood.

For the casual user, the Norton waterstones are a good buy, especially for the money. You could get a pair of combination stones at 220/1k and 4k/8k for a reasonable price. They will produce a nice edge on most steel, and make short work of carbon and fine grained stainless.

Sandpaper is also a real good option.
 
HeavyHanded said:
Personally I wouldn't expect to do indefinite maintenance on a strop unless that thing was like hardwood.

For the casual user, the Norton waterstones are a good buy, especially for the money. You could get a pair of combination stones at 220/1k and 4k/8k for a reasonable price. They will produce a nice edge on most steel, and make short work of carbon and fine grained stainless.

Sandpaper is also a real good option.
Click to expand...

I think when I looked on Amazon the price was $140 with a stone flattener. Is that a good price?
 
IbrahimSS said:
I think when I looked on Amazon the price was $140 with a stone flattener. Is that a good price?
Click to expand...

Is not a bad price. You might not need the flattener, but can't hurt to own. Overall is a good price - these stones don't get the best press on this forum, but mine make sharp edges and do so reliably. The 4k is a good stone for most work, and for bushcrafting if you want a finer edge, the 8k is close to a mirror finish.

I'll toss this in there for good measure - I sell a sharpening widget (the Washboard) that uses sandpaper and my custom polishing/honing compound. The link is through my signature - might be worth a look. I am out of stock, but will have more within a week or two. Pricing is not going to change any time soon.

Martin
 
So this is a carbon steel at HRC ~ 57 with a flat grind, so you can use stones or CBN on this knife to good effect. It should be easy to sharpen but not very abrasion resistant so don't expect great edge retention. So you have a number of options if you specifically want to maintain this edge. If you want something light, portable and not prone to breakage and not requiring water, a strop with 4 or even 8 micron CBN will keep your edge at a point exceeding the factory edge. If you are looking at stones consider a 2000 or 4000 grit stone. If you need to repair your edge, consider something coarser. A strop tends to require less skill when maintaining a convex edge than a stone. You can sharpen a convex edge with a stone and given the appropriate grit, you can sharpen an edge with a strop. The particular knifemaker referenced above used 80 micron CBN, preceding it with a 120 grit belt. The CBN at 80 microns is EASILY capable of taking out significant chips and reprofiling an edge. So with this knife your choices aren't all that critical but as you go to more abrasion resistant steels your choices will lead you towards diamond and CBN based solutions. You really have lots of choices for sharpening this knife. If you go to a more abrasion resistant steel, your edge retention will allow you to not require sharpening solutions in the field , but for this knife you will require more edge 'touchups' in the field.

---
Ken
 
To be honest, I'd rather get something that is future proof than focus on this one knife. The incremental cost doesn't seem that high to get something that will work on everything rather than just softer metals. Moreover if I can use this on my kitchen shun knives and ceramics all the better but that's not really my requirement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top