Nubatama bamboo or ume? Or shapton glass?

Krav

Krav

Joined
Jun 6, 2013
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I own a sharp maker and a wicked edge. I have been looking at waterstones for about a week, watching videos, reading. I bought a oilstone tri hone from hd. Sharpened a couple knives, learning about keeping the angle steady, and the bevel edge flat on the stone. I really enjoy the art of freehand.

I want to be able to sharpen kitchen knives and my folders which are superblue, cpm s30v, vg 10. I'll spend $200. But I'll need everything, flattening stone, stone holder, and stones. What are your suggestions ? I'm a beginner to freehand. I appreciate your input. Thank you.

What is the diference between the 2 nubatama stones?
 
I've been looking at this combo also.

Latte 400
Green Brick of Joy 2K
Snow White 8K
 
The snow white 8k might load up quickly after just the 2k, you might want to look at chosera 400, 1k, 5k, then the snow white.
 
The Nubatama stones are divided into two series - Ume (plum series) and the Bamboo series. There is not a clear distinction between the series and you can mix the two series together - in fact I would encourage you to do so. The Plum series contains some of the lower grits and the Bamboo series higher grits. There is a great deal of diversity for the 1000 grit range, allowing you to really fine tune things to your precise needs.

Especially for abrasion resistant high vanadium content steels like s30v, you really should consider at least starting out with diamonds, eg the Atoma 140, particularly for defining the bevel precisely. At lower grits sharpening stones aren't too effective on s30v (but will work just fine for vg10 and blue steels.

Especially as a beginning sharpener, you should initially focus on the low end. There will be a combo stone being added to the Nubatama series specifically for this that will have the coarse and middle grit stone - 150 and 1500 grit combined (These are new formulations). Past that consider the 5k Nubatama. Beyond that you might wish to consider strops beginning with a 2 micron or 8k grit. While the 8k Bamboo or the Snow White are excellent stones, the 2 micron CBN will work best on s30v.

---
Ken
 
They will cut all those steels you have and aren't hard to keep flat. Nothing wrong with diamond plates either, I have dmt and atoma and they both work great. Russ
 
ksskss said:
The Nubatama stones are divided into two series - Ume (plum series) and the Bamboo series. There is not a clear distinction between the series and you can mix the two series together - in fact I would encourage you to do so. The Plum series contains some of the lower grits and the Bamboo series higher grits. There is a great deal of diversity for the 1000 grit range, allowing you to really fine tune things to your precise needs.

Especially for abrasion resistant high vanadium content steels like s30v, you really should consider at least starting out with diamonds, eg the Atoma 140, particularly for defining the bevel precisely. At lower grits sharpening stones aren't too effective on s30v (but will work just fine for vg10 and blue steels.

Especially as a beginning sharpener, you should initially focus on the low end. There will be a combo stone being added to the Nubatama series specifically for this that will have the coarse and middle grit stone - 150 and 1500 grit combined (These are new formulations). Past that consider the 5k Nubatama. Beyond that you might wish to consider strops beginning with a 2 micron or 8k grit. While the 8k Bamboo or the Snow White are excellent stones, the 2 micron CBN will work best on s30v.

---
Ken
Click to expand...

Thanks for everyone's input. When is the nubatama combo coming out? What about the kingstone 800/6000 or the 1000/6000 as individuals these are not to pricey.
 
The bamboo an Ume series of stones basically just gives a bit of separation to all the stones. IMO, there should really be about 4 efferent series of stones because they are not all similar and it can get real confusing real fast for even those with lots of experience.

Personally I think there should be a black class for all the black stones. A white class for all the white stones and then a bamboo and Ume class which you could then better group the remaining stones.

The Nubatama stones are very impressive in coarse grits and medium grits to about 1k. Beyond 1k I have only experienced the 5k bamboo and while a good stone it's not nearly as impressive as the lower

The only steel that will give you trouble is the S30V and it's only going to be a issue at high grits. I would probably go with a Shapton or Chosera stone in that range to avoid sharpening troubles.
 
Shaptons came today, 320-1000-5000 holder strops & diamond plate. I need practice, sharpened a cheep chefs knife, came out so,so, I guess.
 

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My results with water stones have been mixed as well. I think that the combination of the big puddle of water on top, combined with the different "feels" of the different stones takes some getting used to. For example, my finest water stone (a 5k Nubatama) is sort of soft and I can gouge it if my angle control and pressure are wrong. This leads me to altering my technique a little and I think leads to me not getting consistently good results from that last stone. I've gotten some really, really impressive edges from it. ...and I've gotten some that were very disappointing.

By contrast my results on DMT full sized diasharps is much more consistent. But I've spent much more time using them! My initial results with the DMTs were unimpressive as well. Speaking for myself, I think I need more practice with the water stones I've chosen. I'm sure some more practice for you will yield better results too.

Brian.
 
Lol, kool.... Yes your video is helping me a lot. I have tried several different methods, and yours works the best for me.
I'm not working as of now, so I'm getting in lots of practice. Thanks. Do you have any other videos? What about stropping videos.
 
Yes, check out my video on the 0550. It's one of a few with some stropping in it.
 
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