Some new stones and how to keep them flat

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Brutus013

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I need some new stones. I want them to be able to last a good while, and to stay relatively flat. I won't need a coarse, but I would like either a combination medium/fine and a seperate extra fine or three seperate ones. Before this I've only used a Sharpmaker, so I don't have much knowledge on what type of stones, what grit, etc. Also, I'll need to be able to reflatten them, so I'm wondering what the preferred method to do this is? Also, I'm pretty ignorant as to prices, so I'm open to any suggestions as long as they aren't too expensive (I'm not looking to spend more then $150 on the stones, some extra for whatever is used to flatten them).
 
what do you consider medium/fine/extra fine, that depends on manufacturer and abrasive. if you get diamond, you don't need anything to flatten them. you can flatten other stones with diamond plates, or just scrub them on your driveway.
 
I keep my stones flat by scrubbing them on a flat sidewalk. My driveway is not flat lol. It does work. Any flat surface will do, sidewalk, driveway, ect.
 
hardheart said:
what do you consider medium/fine/extra fine, that depends on manufacturer and abrasive. if you get diamond, you don't need anything to flatten them. you can flatten other stones with diamond plates, or just scrub them on your driveway.
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I had figured there was an industry standard, sort of. In that case, what are some brands/types I should be looking for? Since flattening doesn't seem to be a very big issue, no need to discuss those anymore.
 
Alright, as far as fine/extra fine, how would Norton 4000/8000 water stone do? I'm thinking I could get that for the fine/extra fine, and then a less expensive soft Arkansas stone for the medium?
 
Hm, soft arkansas is about 800 grit, which seems like a pretty big gap to 4000. Any issues that might accour because of that?
 
hardheart said:
not really, imo. you could use hard ark instead, or the 1000 Norton.
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Yeah, the Norton's are a lot more expensive, though. I figured I'd rather spend the money on the finer grit stones as opposed to the rough one, since they'll be getting more use.
 
Just keep in mind brutus, that the moment you get a neglected knife, you'll be hating that decision - invest in at least one extra course/course stone to hog material out.
 
jeep45238 said:
Just keep in mind brutus, that the moment you get a neglected knife, you'll be hating that decision - invest in at least one extra course/course stone to hog material out.
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I will eventually, but for now I'm not looking to spend TOO much money, and I don't have any knives in very poor shape.
 
the 4000/8000 grit norton water stones are generally used for straight razors. Just to give you an idea of the fine-ness of them.

A medium ark. stone and a fine ark. stone will be plenty - get 2 strops, load them with different grit compounds, and you'll be at about the same edge the 4000 and 8000 grits would get you to.

The smith's tri-hone setup would be a pretty good starter, course/medium/fine arkansas all in one setup.
 
I would say get a two-sided Norton coarse/fine crystolon stone (the economy model is about $6 at Home Depot) then follow that with a two-sided DMT diasharp in fine/extra fine ($37 from knivesplus.com) and then follow that with the 4K/8K Norton waterstone.

The diamonds will cut anything, and the silicon carbide crystolon stones are right behind, though they will need to be flattened. But, as I said, use the driveway (or sidewalk :)) it's what I do with my economy norton, though the fine side doesn't wear all that much. You can use the DMT to flatten the waterstone.

There are a ton of options, just throwing this one out there, esp. since you mentioned the Norton waterstone.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I just found, for $120 and no shipping, a 220/1000 Norton water stone, a 4000/8000 Norton water stone, a Norton flattening stone, and they come with plastic cases to help stop them from dehydrating and a free sharpening DVD (although I'm pretty set without it). Seemed like a good deal. I recently received a puukko with a scandanavian grind, and I'm very excited to see just how sharp I can get that on the 4000/8000.
 
One nice thing about arkansas stones - they rarely ever need to be flattened. I've seen some stones that have been used for multiple generations that are still going strong ;)
 
jeep45238 said:
One nice thing about arkansas stones - they rarely ever need to be flattened. I've seen some stones that have been used for multiple generations that are still going strong ;)
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I'll have to try some out eventually. I don't have THAT many knives to sharpen, nor that often, so I shouldn't have to use the flattening stone TOO often.
 
The problem is they cut so slowly on modern steels. Great for final polishing and touchups, and of course softer carbon steel blades.
 
yoda4561 said:
The problem is they cut so slowly on modern steels. Great for final polishing and touchups, and of course softer carbon steel blades.
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Anything worth doing is worth doing properly - if it's slower, use a courser grit and work your way up.

No they won't cut as fast as diamond - but for a beginner's setup, it's hard to beat for $30, and requires no maintenance other than some water or oil when you're honing and the occasional scrubdown when it's loaded up with steel.

Faster isn't always better ;)
 
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