Probably Going To Spend the Money

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warden41272

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Oct 13, 2004
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Sharpening knives is a passion of mine, and I take great pride in being able to get most of my knives (and the knives of almost everybody I work with, lol) extremely, durably, sharp. My research into the topic, however, has led me to believe the absolute best edge is achieved through the use of water stones. This is the one sharpening product I have no experience with.
I currently have 2 DMT diamond stones (coarse and x-fine), all three grits of Spyderco ceramic stones (about 2 weeks old), a Norton India and Crystolon stone, and assorted files, ceramic rods, and strops. Although I can put a razor edge on my tools, I want the "ultimate" in sharpening, and water stones seem to be the way to go.
I guess the question is: Which grits should I get? I'm probably going to buy the Shapton stones, and a waterstone holder from woodworkers.com. If they work as well as claimed, I'll probably ditch the others, because I really just have too many, and want to get a set that'll kind of do everything.
Oh, and I have a CRK Small Sebenza for sale to help defray the cost, because the Shapton stones are expensive!
 
It's my opinion that water stones really only shine with the finer grits, polishing. You could easily keep what you have I think the Spyderco stones are really nice myself. Get the Shapton 1200 for a finishing step to what you already have. But if your set on getting all one type, shaptons, I'd say; 120, 320, 1000,5000, 8000,and maybe a 12000.
 
Thanks. I've certainly considered keeping what I have. I guess I just always want to try something "new", to see if it works better. The woodworkers.com site also has a starter set that comes with a 800 grit, a 5000 grit, a Nakamura (sp?) stone, and a holder for $64.99. I may just go with that. I'm not sure about the Spyderco stones yet. I like the UF and Fine, but the medium I don't like. It seems to glaze almost immediately, and doesn't cut that well. I use them dry (as recommended), and clean them with a Scotchbrite pad and Bon-Ami cleanser after every use. The medium stone seems to have 'slick' spots on it, and has since I first got it.
 
I'd forget the Shaptons in the lower grits. Too much money for something you won't use that much and is for rough grinding anyway. How often are you going to re-profile or grind out nicks in the edge?
The 'ideal' 3 for Shapton is, the 1000, 5000 and the 8000. If you really want to go crazy, then go for the 12,000. Sometimes it's called the 15,000. Seems like they can't decide what it really is as it's listed both ways. It IS extremely fine either way.

I have the 1000 and the 8000 Pro series. Still need to get the 5000, but a great deal came up on the 8000 so I jumped on it. Haven't used it yet as the jump from the 1K to the 8K is a bit much. The 1K works great as is, especially for kitchen knives where scary sharp isn't needed. Not for my wifes uses anyway. LOL

The 8K is a polish stone and may be fine enough for your purposes. I'd use that a bit before spending $$$ to go finer, like to a 12 or 15K. You might be able to see a difference under magnification (from 8 to 12K), but not tell it in real world use.

Rob
 
I would pretty much agree with wetdog. Even for the 1000 grit, think you can not beat the Bester stone and it saves you another couple of bucks. For a corse stone you can go with this one for example
http://www.bladegallery.com/accessories/accessory.asp?id=81
cuts VERY fast. But wear petty quick, too.

For the finer grits, it pays to pay the price though.

Just my $0.02 of course.
 
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