Sharpening S35VN

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lahrrichard56

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Jun 29, 2021
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Been browsing for a bit and a little confused as to what to get with regards to stones. I've decided against systems, even though I do not think I will be sharpening SUPER frequently, I think I would prefer a more traditional method of sharpening. I would be looking to sharpen primarily pocket knives.
I'm looking to pick up just one stone for now.

Steels I own and may eventually sharpen: D2, S30V, S35VN, M390, 20CV, LC200N

I see the King 1000/6000 combo is mentioned quite frequently but it seems like the consensus is that the Shapton Pro (Ha No Kuromaku?) 1000 is also recommended as a beginner stone.

Burrfection on the other hand, seems to think that the Shapton Glass series is better but I am assuming that he is recommending it more because he has some skill with sharpening already as I think I read some comments that said the feedback on the glass was less than the pro.

Outdoors55 mentions a DMT Fine Diamond stone (I am assuming this is the DMT D8F 8-Inch Dia-Sharp 600 Grit) that he recommends more than the Sharp Pebble 1000/6000 combo.

What stone would you recommend for a beginner, looking to get into sharpening alloy steels (with or without thumb studs) with a max budget of ~70 USD?
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Tons has been written here about this. The search box in the upper right will be your best friend if you want to be inundated with info on sharpening. Short answer: for coarse edges (<400 grit) most any kind of synthetic stone will work. I love my Mutt and Arctic Fox from Baryonyx (https://www.baryonyxknife.com/bprshst.html). For more polished edges with the alloys you mention, you will want diamonds. At ~$70 you can get some respectable diamond plates. I have had good success with DMT and Ultrasharp brands.
 
jnaught said:
Tons has been written here about this. The search box in the upper right will be your best friend if you want to be inundated with info on sharpening. Short answer: for coarse edges (<400 grit) most any kind of synthetic stone will work. I love my Mutt and Arctic Fox from Baryonyx (https://www.baryonyxknife.com/bprshst.html). For more polished edges with the alloys you mention, you will want diamonds. At ~$70 you can get some respectable diamond plates. I have had good success with DMT and Ultrasharp brands.
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I second this. I have the Manticore and Arctic fox from Baryonyx and they are great stones (I have heard good things about the Mutt as well) and they are pretty fantastic values for what you are getting. If I were you though with the steels that you are looking to work on, I would get a set of Ultra sharp diamond plates. The Mutt and Manticore will cut ANYTHING but honing after that you are going to want to get diamonds for the high vanadium steels such as S30v, S35VN, M390 and 20CV. You can get a set of 6 inch diamond plates from Ultrasharp from the website named after the large river in south america for right around $50.
 
I have a set of generic kitchen aid or kitchen king or something stones that I use to sharpen a bunch of knives. Dont overthink sharpening; it's more about the technique and less about the stones.

I've sharpened (well I use that term loosely lol) an S30V spyderco on the bottom of a big coffee mug once...then stropped it on my belt...it was hair shaving sharp :P
 
The long and the short of it is vanadium carbides are very small (~3µm) so you can use conventional synthetic abrasives up to about ANSI 400 grit because at that size range the carbides get scooped out with the steel. Past that point you'll want to use diamond or CBN. However, because of the way that usually abrasion resistance is of greatest benefit in slicing work, an ANSI 400 grit edge is usually about as fine as you'd want to go anyway.
 
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