shapton pro?

[Shaynecrocker]

Hey guys I just became a member today and wanted to say thanks for all the past help. I have used this forum for a lot of questions I have had in the past. I have been sharoening my knives for quite some time using a tri-stone set up and the the Stropping the blades at the end to get that nice finish and sharp edge. But I would like to start using WETSTONES and have decided on shapton pro. I have never used WETSTONES before and was wanting to know what would be a good grit setup. I will be using these stones to sharpen my pocket knives, kitchen knives, and survival knives. So there will be different types of steel but mostly 1095 and some stainless. I really enjoy sharpening my knives and figured now is as good a time as any to try something new. Thanks for your help and please if you have any other advice about WETSTONES feel free to let me know I'm always ready to learn something new.

 

[dejard]

It depends on the condition of your knives when starting out. If you have damaged blades or need to reprofile, you'll want to start out at the lower grits - 120 to 320. If they just need touching up, the 1000 and 5000 stones should get the job done. It also depends on how fine an edge you want. The Shapton Pros go up to 30,000 grit - very expensive! I've never used any waterstone above 10,000 grit (Chosera), but a good stropping as your finishing step would achieve the same or better results.

The Shapton Pros are splash a go stones, so they don't need to be soaked. They will need to be lapped occasionally to keep them flat, but they are better than others in not dishing as quickly. There's a bunch more to say about waterstones, but I'll leave it there for now.

Note: the mods will probably move this thread to the Maintenance Forum.

Oh, and welcome!