sharpening kit ?????

G

grabagear

Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
11
well i tried a search but thought i would ask anyway just incase. I am interested in a stone sharpening kit or maybe diamond? i know i want at least 3 different stones. ceramic rod, and then plan on making a strop.
in the past i have used just an old coarse and medium stone but now i would like to step up to the next level.
there is alot out there can anyuone recommend a website or kit? lets say about 150.00 - 200.00 for money. thanks for the help!
 
Hi,

Are you thinking of sticking with natural bench stones? It sounds like you already have the technique down. I would add a fine and possibly an ultra fine stone to what you already have. That and the strop will be all you need.

Otherwise, you're talking about going to a whole another system.

In my humble opinion, it's best to stick with what you're good at and complete the grit steps.
 
You can step up your sharpness without getting much gear. On the other hand, gear is a lot of fun :D

When I was first starting out, a strop was the breakthrough for me. It allowed me to take a decent edge and make it shaving sharp.

I typically use a 1x30 belt sander with belts up to 2000 grit, and finish on a power strop, followed by a hand strop. I don't have the patience to sharpen anything into the high grits by hand. When I sharpen by hand, I usually stop at a medium/fine stone and strop it to take the burr off. Shaving sharp, but not beautifully polished.

You might also want to take a look at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSzq45W0LTk
 
If you chose to go diamond, you can get a set of four DMT stones for $85-$240 depending on the size you buy into.

Spyderco UF crock sticks can be bought singly for @$18 on a big auction site.

Strops are something you can build on your own of balsa, maple, or leather, or buy. The compounds can be bought on the auction site, or you can buy diamond compounds for not much more wherever you buy your stones.

chefknivestogo has a large selection of 'stuff', as does knifecenter and sharpeningsupplies.com

Edit, Hi siguy, thought you were dead...:D
 
Norton has a nice set of waterstones at sharpeningsupplies.com, a 220/1000 & 4k/8k plus flattening stone for around 120 dollars. It would be a good starter set.

If your looking into diamonds then DMT 8x3 plates are the way to go but they are not cheap.
 
Last edited:
Looks good. The choice between oil stones and water stones is up to you. I happen to have the water stones and the main reason is the 4 grit steps vs 3. I wanted the stones to go finer than is usually available in oil stones.

I'm pretty sure water stones use different grit scales compared to oil stones, Japanese vs US, so just be aware.
 
well thanks again for all the help! i was at fleet farm today and they had a 3 stone oil kit for 20 bucks! so i had to go for it. i know it isnt the same quality as the other kits mentioned i can tell that already! but for my first stones i guess they will work for now. that leaves me with 180 bucks left over to buy another benchmade :) i am going to just make a strop at home also. thanks again!!!
oh any ideas on what i may have at home already for a very fine finish? i have a metal rod of some sort that came with my kitchen knives i think that is very fine grit?
 
The metal rod is not going to do much. It's really to burnish the edge and straighten out the edge of kitchen knives between sharpening. It helps restore the edge but does not sharpen.

Since you bought a 3 stone kit, the fine stone should be sufficiently fine to proceed to stropping afterward. I'm guessing you have a coarse synthetic stone, a medium Arkansas stone and a fine Arkansas stone.

There are several grades of fine stones, and the ones in kits are generally not the finest grit but fine enough for most people. You can buy a separate stone to get an extra grit step but that's optional.

I suggest going to the strop at this point. You can use it w/o any compound but it's much faster if you use some. White compound is made with aluminum oxide and vary greatly in grit size in the 2 to 10 micron range. The problem with most compounds is that they don't specify the grit size. Green compound is made with chromium oxide and it usually between 0.5 to 1.5 microns in size. These ranges are based on my limited experience so take it with a grain of salt.

I use jacksonlea C-5 (2 microns) which is a very fine white compound and good quality green compound (0.5 micron). The grit sizes were verified with the manufacturer or was labeled as such. I also have a bar of white compound from Sears but I have no idea what it is.

Ignoring the small details for now, any white compound made with aluminum oxide will be a good choice for a knife. The green is normally used for straight razors and is overkill for knives. :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top