Sharpening stones

S

shaun_503

Joined
Nov 2, 2005
Messages
6
What do you guys use? Oil or water? What is the best stone to use to sharpen the new steels used today? Or are people going toward diamond?
 
I generally use diamond below 1000 grit and water stones between 1000 and 15,000 grit (and if feeling incredibly anal, strop on some 0.3 micron aluminum oxide finishing film)
 
when dealing with S30V/M2/D2/etc i like the DMT diamond stones with a few drops of water, i have a folding DMT with fine on 1 side and coarse on the other if ya free hand sharpen this is an excellent stone to have, with the 2 diff sides its all ya need really, ~$35. i would get the fine/coarse though vs fine/xtra fine or others combos, the fine/coarse will handle all sharpening from very very dull up, if its fine/xtra fine ya are gonna need another stone if the knife is really dull .

norton india stones also work pretty good, i use WD40 on mine, they are also fine on 1 side/coarse on the other ya can get a 8"X2" stone for ~$20, i have had a norton stone for years, other than the diamond they are my fav for free hand ............
 
Shaun, you can also find water stones at Woodcraft and other woodworking stores. Woodcraft carries Shapton, King brand, and some other brands of water stones as well.
http://www.woodcraft.com/

If you live in the Seattle area, my favorite place for buying them is Hardwick & Sons hardware store in the University district. If you don't see what you're looking for at their link below, give them a call. They have much more in their store that is available than is posted yet on their website.
http://www.ehardwicks.com/

Another good place to get water stones is Highland Hardware.
http://www.tools-for-woodworking.com/index.asp
 
its hard to beat a sharpmaker imho for your sharpening needs i use my SM 10X more than any other system i have (gatco & edgepro) its just so convenient to use. unless i am just in the mood to freehand sharpen or something about the knife makes it difficult for me to use the SM (ie chisel grind emerson) i always use the SM. and it works fine with any steel too imho.

its when ya wanna reprofile or when the knife is very dull &ya got S30V/etc that the diamond stuff really comes into its own.

for occasional touch up the SM wins hands down imho.
 
 
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