Sharpening set up...

9blades · Apr 8, 2013

So I want to start really getting my technique down pat and along with that upgrade my sharpening equipment. I intend to buy these stones over the next couple of months (I don't have $200 to drop at the moment

So the stones I intend to get:

Spyderco Ultra fine benchstone, Fine benchstone, and a Medium benchstone.

Also a coarse and fine DMT stone (for re-profiling)

The exact grit for each of spydercos stones has only ever been estimated but here's a list any way:thumbup:

Spyderco.
Ultra fine 4000-6000
Fine 2000-3000
Medium 800-900

DMT gives these grits.

DMT
Fine 600 mesh
coarse 325 mesh

So this raises a question, how dose mesh size relate to grit size?

And that's the basic idea...am I missing anything? dose this sound like a complete set?

Any suggestion are appreciated!

Have a good day!

-niner

PS
I'd didn't mention strops but I will get them eventually.

bpeezer · Apr 8, 2013

As I understand it, grit is like the metric system and mesh is like the English system.

http://www.mediablast.com/grit-size-conversions.php

For your purpose, seems like it doesn't really make a big difference. I'm in the process of upgrading to Japanese waterstones, so I'm figuring out which stones I need as well. I think you're probably off to a good start with those stones though.

Phydeaux · Apr 8, 2013

I currently use a Norton IB8 stone for most things. For VG10 and S30V, I use the Norton and refine with a ceramic Spyderco (fine). This combo seems to work pretty well for me.

What stones do you currently have?

Ric

9blades · Apr 8, 2013

bpeezer said:
As I understand it, grit is like the metric system and mesh is like the English system.

http://www.mediablast.com/grit-size-conversions.php

For your purpose, seems like it doesn't really make a big difference. I'm in the process of upgrading to Japanese waterstones, so I'm figuring out which stones I need as well. I think you're probably off to a good start with those stones though.

Thanks for the info!

Phydeaux said:
I currently use a Norton IB8 stone for most things. For VG10 and S30V, I use the Norton and refine with a ceramic Spyderco (fine). This combo seems to work pretty well for me.

What stones do you currently have?

Ric

I use some old diamond lansky stones: fine, medium, and coarse (and yes I free hand with a 1/2" by 6" stone) i also use a case hard Arkansas stone to finish.....with some patience and serious concentration I got my spyderco native (S30V) to whittle a hair today

but it took me awhile to get it there.

Also just to be clear, the stones I mentioned in my first post are my over all goal. I definitely could get by (and get some nice edges) with a set up like you mentioned, but I really want to get into sharpening and honestly I want all those stones because i can be a little OCD about getting my edges perfect....ideally though I'll get the medium and fine spyderco benchstones and a fine DMT...

Thanks for the help guys!!!

9blades · Apr 9, 2013

Any one?

fervens · Apr 9, 2013

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/856708-The-Grand-Unified-Grit-Chart
Check this sticky out for grit comparisons. And if you are going from diamond to ceramic, i would suggest getting the extra fine diamond stone, then going to the medium spyderco. It's a jump down in grit kinda, but it removes the deep diamond cuts quicker than going from the fine diamond to medium spyderco, and gives you a more polished edge. Also, are you looking into the interrupted diamond surface or the non-interrupted surface?

9blades · Apr 9, 2013

fervens said:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/856708-The-Grand-Unified-Grit-Chart
Check this sticky out for grit comparisons. And if you are going from diamond to ceramic, i would suggest getting the extra fine diamond stone, then going to the medium spyderco. It's a jump down in grit kinda, but it removes the deep diamond cuts quicker than going from the fine diamond to medium spyderco, and gives you a more polished edge. Also, are you looking into the interrupted diamond surface or the non-interrupted surface?

Thanks! I'll take a look at the extra fine....also I'd be going with the non-interrupted, I really don't like the interrupted because I find it hard to get a needle like point, and honestly I don't like the way they feel when there in use...

BluntCut MetalWorks · Apr 9, 2013

9blades, seem that you are a big knifeKNUT, probably tossing around many diff type of knives. Here is a sharpen stone set might be a good fit for you.

1) DMT 8 diasharp: X, F, E (get 8 EE after getting tax return - heheh).
* easily remove all type of steels, heavy/hog or light touchup (E, EE). The 8" version has thicker/tougherr diamond surface than 6", creditcard, etc..

2) DMT diafold E & EE combo
* portable, great for touchup and burr removal

3) 800 grit King waterstone (2" tall type)
* great for erase dmt F and prebreakin-E scratches. This waterstone produces very nice haze, once you might find a liking to it.

4) Spydero ceramic F & UF
* abrade & burnish almost mirror bevel. The more burnishing it is, the more chance of creating wire-edge and burr, which is undesirable at this refining stage of sharpening. The truth is my spydies M, F, UF stones are collecting dust. I used them only for sharpening professional hair shears.

5) Strop wise - you can go nutso with bare + all sort of compounds (diamond, cbn, bc, cro, alo..) + all sort of backing (leathers, nano cloth, balsa, glass,..). Or give a balance strop a try.

fervens · Apr 9, 2013

9blades said:
Thanks! I'll take a look at the extra fine....also I'd be going with the non-interrupted, I really don't like the interrupted because I find it hard to get a needle like point, and honestly I don't like the way they feel when there in use...

I'm not a fan of the interrupted either, which is why i went with the non. Sadly, i had to swap it out 3 times due to quality control. (the edges weren't coated evenly and the metal substrate wasn't finished well, with the 6" combo's) I'm looking at eze-lap now for diamond stones. And to be fair to dmt, i never had a problem with their diafolds.

9blades · Apr 10, 2013

bluntcut said:
9blades, seem that you are a big knifeKNUT, probably tossing around many diff type of knives. Here is a sharpen stone set might be a good fit for you.

1) DMT 8 diasharp: X, F, E (get 8 EE after getting tax return - heheh).
* easily remove all type of steels, heavy/hog or light touchup (E, EE). The 8" version has thicker/tougherr diamond surface than 6", creditcard, etc..

2) DMT diafold E & EE combo
* portable, great for touchup and burr removal

3) 800 grit King waterstone (2" tall type)
* great for erase dmt F and prebreakin-E scratches. This waterstone produces very nice haze, once you might find a liking to it.

4) Spydero ceramic F & UF
* abrade & burnish almost mirror bevel. The more burnishing it is, the more chance of creating wire-edge and burr, which is undesirable at this refining stage of sharpening. The truth is my spydies M, F, UF stones are collecting dust. I used them only for sharpening professional hair shears.

5) Strop wise - you can go nutso with bare + all sort of compounds (diamond, cbn, bc, cro, alo..) + all sort of backing (leathers, nano cloth, balsa, glass,..). Or give a balance strop a try.

I'll look take a look at the grit king....I was leaning away from water stones because I refuse to flaten (period) that's why I was going for DMT and spydrco ceramics. And if you don't want them I'll be happy to take the full set of ceramic stones off your hands free of charge

and I don't even want to think about strops right now haha....thanks for the help!

9blades · Apr 10, 2013

fervens said:
I'm not a fan of the interrupted either, which is why i went with the non. Sadly, i had to swap it out 3 times due to quality control. (the edges weren't coated evenly and the metal substrate wasn't finished well, with the 6" combo's) I'm looking at eze-lap now for diamond stones. And to be fair to dmt, i never had a problem with their diafolds.

Thanks...if you ever get some eze-lap stones I'd love to know how they perform, there very very reasonably priced!

fervens · Apr 10, 2013

They are, and with a huge selection of sizes and shapes. From what i have read on here, the poly vs. mono diamonds is more of a marketing gimmick than anything, so now i just have to save up for them. Maybe after i get a couple of waterstones to play with. My last dmt purchase hurt my wallet some.

9blades · Apr 10, 2013

fervens said:
They are, and with a huge selection of sizes and shapes. From what i have read on here, the poly vs. mono diamonds is more of a marketing gimmick than anything, so now i just have to save up for them. Maybe after i get a couple of waterstones to play with. My last dmt purchase hurt my wallet some.

*Understanding smile*

P.S
I will now tell you that at this time of night I might say some stupid stuff...

Omega Leather Works · Apr 11, 2013

Don't even want to think about strops? Whaaaat? They are my very favorite part of my whole kit. It's very easy to just make one.

Anyway, if you decide you want to build a strop let me know. I may be able to help you. I've got some leather that makes amazing strops for finishing an edge.

9blades · Apr 11, 2013

Strigamort said:
Don't even want to think about strops? Whaaaat? They are my very favorite part of my whole kit. It's very easy to just make one.

Anyway, if you decide you want to build a strop let me know. I may be able to help you. I've got some leather that makes amazing strops for finishing an edge.

Haha I don't mean I don't want a strop, I just had sharpeing stones on my mind...I will get a strop, but after I get a couple stones:thumbup:

fervens · Apr 11, 2013

Just buy a belt for now. No need for that headache just yet..

Obsessed with Edges · Apr 11, 2013

Strigamort said:
Don't even want to think about strops? Whaaaat? They are my very favorite part of my whole kit. It's very easy to just make one.

Anyway, if you decide you want to build a strop let me know. I may be able to help you. I've got some leather that makes amazing strops for finishing an edge.

9blades said:
Haha I don't mean I don't want a strop, I just had sharpeing stones on my mind...I will get a strop, but after I get a couple stones:thumbup:

There's a LOT to be said for stropping. :thumbup:

Over time, I've started to figure out that much of my best sharpening technique has been built around stropping technique and the muscle memory created by it. I prefer edge-trailing sharpening in general, so I do a lot of work on sandpaper (over glass, most recently), and it's adaptable to stones as well. And yesterday, I even re-bevelled one of my paring knives using edge-trailing on a couple of emory boards (the kind used for filing one's fingernails), and followed with stropping on my leather belt. I'm both proud and somewhat embarrassed to admit the edge created has been the best on that knife yet.

David

9blades · Apr 12, 2013

Obsessed with Edges said:
There's a LOT to be said for stropping. :thumbup:

Over time, I've started to figure out that much of my best sharpening technique has been built around stropping technique and the muscle memory created by it. I prefer edge-trailing sharpening in general, so I do a lot of work on sandpaper (over glass, most recently), and it's adaptable to stones as well. And yesterday, I even re-bevelled one of my paring knives using edge-trailing on a couple of emory boards (the kind used for filing one's fingernails), and followed with stropping on my leather belt. I'm both proud and somewhat embarrassed to admit the edge created has been the best on that knife yet.

David

When I started sharpening all I did was edge trailing and i couldn't get my knives sharp.....I just couldn't keep a consistent angel. I think it must have been my technique because I've seen people get great edges trailing.

that being said, it's funny you mentioned emory cloth, I used some last night (I think around 3000/4000 grit) and it worked nicely! I really want to get some more in a couple different grits...I will get into stropping though:thumbup:

9blades · Apr 16, 2013

Well, last night I got some mother mags aluminum polish and a old piece of leather....I have officially entered the order of the strop! And at this point I have a mirror polish edge (which are very hard to photograph haha) but I'm glad I tried stropping. Also thank you bluntcut! I think I'll make a strop like yours today!

fervens · Apr 16, 2013

and so it begins...