Sharpening Stones for a Beginner.

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stupidcha

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Jun 6, 2011
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Hi all! i just bought my first knife (Spyderco Tenacious) with many more to come. In the near future I am planning to buy a FFG Delica. I bought the Tenacious because I wanted to use it as a guinea pig for the Spyderco lineup as well as to start myself into sharpening knives.

Having this said, I need some recommendations are sharpening stones. I would like to go into stones instead of machines because I move around constantly and space is always limited. In addition, I am a poor college student thus I can't really fork out $100+ for a set.

I am looking for a very cheap solution to keeping my Tenacious sharp and future steels (up to VG10 steel) sharp.
Looking at a price range of spending up to $25 shipped. But the cheaper the better.
I really don't care for cosmetics, as long as it gets the knife sharp and keeps it sharp then I'll be satisfied.

I saw this and was wondering if it was good enough.
DMT Set
I also saw this (individual stones) and was wondering if just getting a coarse or a fine (don't know which) by itself was good enough to maintain an edge
DMT Fine
DMT Coarse

I am completely new to this and am open to any ideas but as I said the cheaper the better. I am also open to rods.

Thanks!
 
I've never tried those very small DMTs, but the DiaFolds are pretty darn good. For $25, it's pretty hard to go wrong there, I'd be tempted to grab them and see how they work!

For KEEPING a knife sharp, the Sharpmaker is pretty hard to beat, although it's out of the price range you listed.
 
Those credit-card sharpeners are probably too small. You can get a Norton India combination stone for around $20 (Knifecenter, other sharpening/knife stores.) If you get the combo version, it has a coarse side and a fine side. That will do a lot of your sharpening.

Myself, I got a Norton "Economy" stone at Home Depot for $6. I'm not sure what the difference between it and the India stone is, but it does a fantastic job. All I had to do was grind it against the sidewalk to get it flattened properly, and it sharpens like a champ.

If you're going to go with DMT, I'd at least get the 6x2" stones in the Diasharp variety (I'm not a fan of the polka-dotted/interrupted models.)

By the way, if you've never done this before, expect a lot of frustration, and expect to mess up your knife's edge. Learning to sharpen is a long, long process. It doesn't happen overnight, in a few weeks, or even a month. I'm on my 3rd year, and I feel like I'm just beginning to become proficient. Methods will change a lot until you finally get comfortable with a certain way of sharpening, and even then you will keep making modifications.

Good luck.
 
All of your selections are quality. I have two of the three, a fine (red) and extra-fine (green). They're very effective for their small size. Takes some getting used to, to figure out how best to hold or support the hone while sharpening. I hold the hone in one hand, between my thumb at one end, and my middle finger at the other, with my index finger bent underneath, to support the hone as I sharpen. With a small hone like these, a 'circular' stroke often works the best, as opposed to a long, sweeping, heel-to-tip stroke across the length & width of the hone (easy to catch the fingertips this way). Otherwise, you could also just lay the hone at the edge of a table or bench, perhaps with some 'tacky mat' or similar material underneath, to keep it from sliding.

You might also consider the DMT Dia-Fold sharpeners. A Blue/Red combo (Coarse/Fine) will handle pretty much any task with a blade, from grinding a new bevel (Coarse) to putting an excellent working edge on it & touching up (Fine). Might cost a little more, but it's probably the best bang-for-the-buck.

The key to using diamond hones is, use very light pressure. The diamond is an extremely aggressive cutting media, so it'll work fast. Scrubbing too hard on a diamond hone will be counter-productive, and it will also scrub too much of the diamond out of the nickel substrate on the hone. A little bit of diamond will gradually wear off from normal use, and that's OK. In time, the finish produced will become more consistent as the hone 'breaks in'. Be patient when using them, keep a consistent angle with light pressure, and I think you'll like the results.

Ceramic rods are quite good at maintaining an already decent edge. Their abrasive isn't nearly as aggressive as diamond, so it would be harder to completely grind a new bevel on the edge with ceramic.

Another very inexpensive, but very effective, method is wet/dry sandpaper on hard or soft backing (such as glass, wood or leather). The sandpaper can be cut to size, and mounted (glued lightly) onto the hard backing, making a very effective and convenient 'stone'. Most normally used with an edge-leading stroke, it will produce a V-bevel. On soft backing (like leather), the paper is often just laid atop it, and an edge-trailing stroke is used. This will convex the edge. The sandpaper can be bought in a wide range of grits (from very coarse, up to about 2000 grit, which can put a very high polish on the edge). A 9" x 11" piece of wet/dry sandpaper costs about $1 a sheet. A lot can be accomplished with a grit selection of 220/400/600 to start. This will be enough to give you a very good working edge.
 
If you are just starting out sharpening freehand I would recommend one of the Tri Hone Systems, they have 3 stones mounted on a block, they really aren't that expensive, usually around $25 and good to learn on.

Then once you advance, get the basics down good buying some better stones will make since, no real need to go nuts price wise to get good edges.

Also a strop is a good investment to remove the burr, again no need to go nuts price wise.

Also if you want to go with a system a Sharpmaker or a crock stick setup will get you started on your way.
 
For "cheaper the better" you just can't beat wet/dry sandpaper. I'll combine elements from the last two responses and say 220/400/600 paper and get some black emery on a cheap strop. You'll learn a lot with this setup and produce very nice edges to boot.

If you really want a bench stone I'd recommend a Norton coarse/fine India stone - the bigger the better - but the strop is not a luxury item - make it part of your set-up from the getgo.

HH
 
thanks for the responses. i am pretty sure i'm going to pull the trigger on the stones i've linked above. as to buying something to strop with, can i just use cardboard or do i have to actually buy something to strop.

appreciate the replies and await for more to come. :)
 
stupidcha said:
thanks for the responses. i am pretty sure i'm going to pull the trigger on the stones i've linked above. as to buying something to strop with, can i just use cardboard or do i have to actually buy something to strop.

appreciate the replies and await for more to come. :)
Click to expand...

I use a old leather belt. Strop on the unfinished side with light compound.
 
stupidcha said:
thanks for the responses. i am pretty sure i'm going to pull the trigger on the stones i've linked above. as to buying something to strop with, can i just use cardboard or do i have to actually buy something to strop.

appreciate the replies and await for more to come. :)
Click to expand...

You can get some ready made strops that aren't expensive, wood with leather attached.
 
For a quick one, just go down to your local shoe repair place (almost every town has one, you might have to do some asking around) and see if they have some scrap leather. I picked up a weird-shaped piece that served me well for years, just rubbed in some white buffing compound I had on hand for my grinder's wheels. I didn't even have a back on it, just layed it flat on the bench. Total cost was nothing, since I had the compound. If you didn't, cost would be maybe $3. Not as good as a real dedicated strop and compound, but it worked just fine for me!
 
ok so i have a dockers (i believe) belt. how can i check if this belt is leather. also what is this compound that i keep hearing of?

thanks!
 
All "compound" is, is a very fine abrasive grit, held together by some kind of waxy binding agent. Think of a crayon, crossed with really, really fine sandpaper. What it does is make the leather just very slightly abrasive, so it can polish the edge that last, tiny bit and remove any remaining feather of a burr. There are a lot of kinds, ranging from stuff you'll easily find locally for buffing wheels, to dedicated stuff sold expressly for knife sharpening. Some of them even come in the form of pastes in a tube, or sprays in a bottle. Those are usually extremely fine, smaller than 1 micron in particle size. The number of compounds available is huge.

Bark River makes some of the best reputed ones for general purpose, if you're looking for one intended for knife sharpening. If you're just looking for something to play with? Go down to your local hardware store, and get a stick of "fine" (usually green) or "Ultra Fine" (usually white) buffing compound. You'll find it right next to the buffing wheels for drills and grinders. That would probably be my choice for just starting out, no need to spend a lot of money for the very best while you're still so early in the learning curve. :) Just crayon it onto the belt, a little bit goes a long ways! Needless to say, NOT your favourite dress belt.
 
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Nope, all you need is a piece about eight inches long, give or take a bit. Larger is generally better than smaller, but it needn't be huge. My first one was kind of an irregular triangle, with a half-circle cut out of one end. Just a scrap left over from "Palmer's Shoes" here in town. Doesn't need to be fancy. :)

Happy to help out if I can!
 
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