Sharpening stones

nate1714

nate1714

Joined
Apr 16, 2005
Messages
1,738
I alway remeber in boy scouts sharpening all my knives but now im out in teh real world and need a stone of my own any sujestions...im looking for something not expensive but hey if you have a real nice something or other ill be glad to look.....
 
At Wayne Goddard's recommendation, I use a Norton IC11 from http://www.trugrit.com/knife-misc.htm

The IC11 was created by Norton according to Mr. Goddard's design. He calls it his "dream stone."

The IC06 is the same but smaller. The larger stone is a luxury I afford myself.
 
You can look at hardware and home stores for an 8" two-sided medium/fine aluminum oxide hone. Aluminum oxide will give you a smoother finish than silicon carbide.
 
In my opinion, only "Made in China," "Sebenza v. the world," and Cold Steel cause more controversy on this forum than "name your favorite sharpening stone/style/device" threads! :p

Personally, I avoid freehand sharpening. Folks that can do it well and with ease have my respect; I've managed to sharpen knives freehand without scuffing up the blade, but I just plain don't like to bother. If you keep your knife as sharp as possible (i.e., touch it up every few days or after a medium/heavy cutting job), you save yourself a lot of hassle in the long run.

However, if you do want to sharpen freehand, I believe diamond plates are the way to go. You can use water as a lubricant, saving the mess of oil (although Smith's Sharpening Solution, a silicon-based lube, is my personal favorite because it's water-soluable). The esteemed Ragnar of Ragweed Forge has as good of a deal as any I've seen; plus, he's a great vendor and a great knife enthusiast:

http://www.ragweedforge.com/SharpeningCatalog.html

I use diamond plates for my big Buck 119 fixed blade and my beater Okapi folder, as well as my hatchet. For my folders, I prefer my Smith clamp set, which I recommend to anyone beginning to build a knife collection (Lansky and lots of other companies make these kinds of sets, too):

http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=GA10004

I've used clamp sets with regular stones and had great success; this past Christmas, I treated myself to a diamond clamp set and it ROCKS.

Finally, many folks on the forums like the Spyderco Sharpmaster or similar rod sharpener sets. I've used them and found them to have great utility, but I don't have enough large knives to feel like I need one.

Whatever you buy, I urge you to buy a cheapo version first (cheap waterstone, cheap diamond bench stone, etc.) to make sure it fits your own sharpening style, and invest in a fancier version of that same stone later.
 
I'm currently using ceramic benchstones from Spyderco with good luck. I'm still learning how to freehand sharpen but I do like the ceramic stone. There is no water or oil used in conjunction with the ceramic stone. I like the no mess aspect of the Spyderco benchstones.
 
i just have one question about stones, i have an old japanesse stone that you put oil on it still works very nice and it is a big stone. but my question is. have there been advances in meterials used to sharpen knives?
 
wow thanks for the great info i have a gift card for basspro shop and these are the stones i got in mind tell me what you think
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=10848&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=60915&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults
the standard ^^^^
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=10839&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults
my gift card only covers that about there so its kind of limited....
im really looking forword to input and i did do a search for these but no matchs maybe i didnt do it write but ill just assume no review were done...
 
there is also a triangle sharpener on the site i have been reading how thoses are good but i would rather hear what expriance has to say
 
i thought i would have a million people respond by now...this is kinda a opinion question..... ;) ;) ;) ;)
 
It's an opinion question, yes. And I suspect it's one that people are kind of tired of. You might try using the search feature.
 
nate1714 said:
i thought i would have a million people respond by now...this is kinda a opinion question..... ;) ;) ;) ;)
Click to expand...

I don't think it is so much that people are tired of the question. You just weren't specific enough... how much do you want to spend? Can you freehand or need and easy guide? Do you want a home or portable EDC sharpener? And, what sort of thing do you intend to use it for most... slipjoints, kitchen knives, bowies? That little ez-lap you linked to would be great for pocket knives, but not too practical for a machette.

That place you have your gift certificate just doesn't seem to sell much in the way of sharpeners. They don't have the spyderco stones or sharpmaker. Aside from the 3 you already picked the only things that look interesting are:
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=10861&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=40713&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=10843&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=17142&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults
or mabye one of the Lansky sets if you intend to use it on small knives.

They have a Smith's tri-hone which would be great for freehanding kitchen knives, regular EDC and the like, but waterstones would be a lot faster on hard Japanese knives or tough high-tech steels like D2, BG-42 S30v that are showing up in a lot of outdoor and lock-back folding knives these days. So, I think most people would just tell you to spend $50 and get a Sharpmaker, or, if you are decent at free-handing, some of these: http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/norton_waterstones.htm if you want an inexpensive set of good waterstones. You can get even cheaper sets like http://www.tools-for-woodworking.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1499 (They'll be slower than Norton or Shapton stones but they'll get the job done and still be faster than Arkansas stones.)
 
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