Hi BF, I wanted to share with you something that I stumbled upon while walking around Harbor Freight. In my two years in the knife hobby, I've never heard of this product.
HF 4-Sided Diamond Hone Block
I have the following sharpening supplies (in order of purchase)
Generic 2 sided sharpening stone - $5
Spyderco Sharpmaker - $70
DMT 600 grit diamond sharpener - $35
KO Worksharp - $130
1x30 belt sharpener - $50
HF 4-Sided Diamond Hone Block - $13
At this point, I think that the Harbor Freight 4-Sided Diamond Hone Block is the best value in sharpening that I know of, especially if you have supersteels. If you use a 20% off coupon, it comes out to a little more than ten bucks.
The four sides are 200, 300, 400, 600 grit diamond. When compared to my DMT 600 grit, the HF 600 grit feels almost identical. The DMT stone cost me 3 times as much as the 4 sided block. I've used it for about two months now, and have sharpened maybe 10 or 15 knives, including a few reprofiling jobs.
Knowing what I know now about sharpening, I would wholeheartedly recommend the HF 4 sided stone or something similar to someone that wanted to learn how to sharpen freehand. My biggest roadblock when learning how to sharpen was that the stones I had were not coarse enough to grind away metal to a degree that gave me immediate feedback. Because the stones I used were not cutting fast enough, I was never able to get good feedback with my technique. I suspect that this is an issue that most beginning freehand sharpeners experience. (I would also recommend practicing on junk knives, since the stone abrades so quickly)
My knives are s30v, 20cv, etc. and I knew that I "needed" diamonds to do the job. So I bought the 600 grit dmt stone. But that barely did anything, even after 20 minutes, and I thought that I was just not a good sharpener because I couldn't raise a burr. I actually was raising a burr, but it was very small due to the fine stone. Now I know that all you need to raise a big burr that you can see and feel is a coarse stone. (I know that a big burr isn't necessary, but I think it's a good tool for beginners to be able to know when they have apexed the edge)
I can sharpen a knife with the HF diamond block in about the same amount of time as my KO Worksharp, which is known to put a quick edge on knives.
Using the 200 grit diamond, I can raise a burr on a dull 20cv knife in about 20 strokes per side using edge trailing strokes. Then I take a few very light edge leading strokes to abrade the burr off before moving on to the next grit.
This morning, I used 10 strokes each side on the 200, 300, 400, 600 grit, then 5 light strokes on the brown and white sharpmaker rods, and strop on green compound, and was able to whittle hair. My next goal is to get hair whittling using the diamond block and strop only.
I highly recommend the stone, I don't know if it will last forever, but compared to the cost of getting those diamond stones from any other manufacturer, it's a great way to try your hand at freehand sharpening.
As I said, I've only had it for 2 months so I don't know how the diamonds will hold up. Even if the stones only lasts you 20 knife sharpening sessions, you still get great experience and feedback with regards to technique. And that, my friends, is priceless.
HF 4-Sided Diamond Hone Block
I have the following sharpening supplies (in order of purchase)
Generic 2 sided sharpening stone - $5
Spyderco Sharpmaker - $70
DMT 600 grit diamond sharpener - $35
KO Worksharp - $130
1x30 belt sharpener - $50
HF 4-Sided Diamond Hone Block - $13
At this point, I think that the Harbor Freight 4-Sided Diamond Hone Block is the best value in sharpening that I know of, especially if you have supersteels. If you use a 20% off coupon, it comes out to a little more than ten bucks.
The four sides are 200, 300, 400, 600 grit diamond. When compared to my DMT 600 grit, the HF 600 grit feels almost identical. The DMT stone cost me 3 times as much as the 4 sided block. I've used it for about two months now, and have sharpened maybe 10 or 15 knives, including a few reprofiling jobs.
Knowing what I know now about sharpening, I would wholeheartedly recommend the HF 4 sided stone or something similar to someone that wanted to learn how to sharpen freehand. My biggest roadblock when learning how to sharpen was that the stones I had were not coarse enough to grind away metal to a degree that gave me immediate feedback. Because the stones I used were not cutting fast enough, I was never able to get good feedback with my technique. I suspect that this is an issue that most beginning freehand sharpeners experience. (I would also recommend practicing on junk knives, since the stone abrades so quickly)
My knives are s30v, 20cv, etc. and I knew that I "needed" diamonds to do the job. So I bought the 600 grit dmt stone. But that barely did anything, even after 20 minutes, and I thought that I was just not a good sharpener because I couldn't raise a burr. I actually was raising a burr, but it was very small due to the fine stone. Now I know that all you need to raise a big burr that you can see and feel is a coarse stone. (I know that a big burr isn't necessary, but I think it's a good tool for beginners to be able to know when they have apexed the edge)
I can sharpen a knife with the HF diamond block in about the same amount of time as my KO Worksharp, which is known to put a quick edge on knives.
Using the 200 grit diamond, I can raise a burr on a dull 20cv knife in about 20 strokes per side using edge trailing strokes. Then I take a few very light edge leading strokes to abrade the burr off before moving on to the next grit.
This morning, I used 10 strokes each side on the 200, 300, 400, 600 grit, then 5 light strokes on the brown and white sharpmaker rods, and strop on green compound, and was able to whittle hair. My next goal is to get hair whittling using the diamond block and strop only.
I highly recommend the stone, I don't know if it will last forever, but compared to the cost of getting those diamond stones from any other manufacturer, it's a great way to try your hand at freehand sharpening.
As I said, I've only had it for 2 months so I don't know how the diamonds will hold up. Even if the stones only lasts you 20 knife sharpening sessions, you still get great experience and feedback with regards to technique. And that, my friends, is priceless.
