sharpening stones

S

Shawn R Sullivan

Joined
Sep 8, 1999
Messages
460
I have some questions about natural stones. I want to get a very fine stone for the final polishing of the edge. The knife that I am going to do this with is used almost entirely for push cuts. The blade is ATS-34 steel. I have read that Japanese water stones are some of the best and finest stones that you can get. Are the Arkansas translucent stones comparable to the 8000 grit Japanese water stones? Will the natural Arkansas translucent stones polish the ATS-34 steel? Thank you for any help that you can give me.
Shawn
 
you need black surgical, and translucent arkansas stones, along with the tree peice set, it should give you an excelent edge but the set is $30, the surgical black is $40, and the translucent is $80. the japanese stones up to 8000 grit will also put a fantastic edge on them, they cost less, but you need to get a whole lot of em. you should finish your edge with a leather strop and compound, or a leather honing belt sander belt and compound.

[This message has been edited by magnum .44 (edited 02 October 1999).]
 
Thanks for the advise. What kind of stroping compound should I use? After using the strop should I then use a steel to get the edge perfectly straight or will the strop have the same effect as a steel?
 
Norton makes a set of Water Stones, they range from 220 to 8000 grit. There are only 4 stones, but i think the retail is over $200.


The best "traditional" stones out there are the Spyderco Ceramic stones. You dont need oil, water or anything else becuase they are a dry use stone. When you start to load them, you simply clean them with hot soapy water under your sink.

They put a very good edge on a knife, and are very convenient.

 
double check on this but i'm pretty sure you use red, you don't need a steel, it won't do much. if you sharpen you knife to 8000 grt. or translucent, just use the lether hone after each time you use the blade and unless you chip it you won't need to resharpen often.
 
From my experience some Arkansas stones will not cut when the knife hardness is over Rc56.

The ATS 34 usually is hardened to at least this level so Arkansas stones may be a bad investment.

If you glue a piece of leather to a hard surface it will aid in keeping the edge straight. The green Stainless steel cut and colour compound does an excellent job. The only red compound that I have seen is designed to polish softer metals like brass and aluminum and will not work on hard metals.

------------------
george
www.tichbourneknives.com
sales@tichbourneknives.com

 
george i just used my arkansas stone on a rc59 bowie, it worked fine, but you can use diamonds if you like.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top