Hey everyone, I am looking to pick up a stone for christmas. I mess around with freehand sharpening some, but mostly use a sharpmaker for the speed and precision. Anyway, i am thinking about getting a DMT XX coarse to put a quick back bevel on my blade, and then going from there to the sharpmaker. I am worried however, that doing so constitutes too big of a grit jump. So my question to all of you gurus is, would this work, and if not, what other stone should i throw into the mix? I am currently a fan of putting a very very thin backbevel on my blades, and then microbeveling with the sharpmaker at a comparatively very steep angle. So, thoughts and opinions? Thanks in advance
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Stone selection help
- Thread starter Kronos
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- Sep 10, 2006
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I don't know... but I'm gonna bump this, because I was thinking of doing the same thing myself and am curious if it'd fly. I don't see why not though.
BJE
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- Apr 12, 2006
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- 3,079
That would be a pretty big jump in grit sizes. You could do that, but it might take a while to polish out the deep scratches left by the xx coarse stone. Consider picking up a Norton India stone, it is a combo stone with a coarse side and a fine side, only runs $10 to $15 and will last a lifetime. I use mine all the time. They are good for sharpening a pretty dull edge or as a stepping stone between my silicon carbide and my arkansas stones.
That would work fine if you're using the SM for the microbevel only. If you don't care about the scratches on the side of the blade you'll have no problems. I do the same thing myself except I use a DMT fine instead of the sharpmaker. Here's what it will look like:
The jump in grits doesn't matter with such a thin back bevel. The amount of steel you actually grind when hitting the microbevel at the edge is so small it's trivial to do even starting at over 1000 grit. In this photo only two stones were used, one for each part of the edge. DMT XX Course for back bevel, DMT Fine for microbevel. Took less than 10 passes per side to set the edge.
The jump in grits doesn't matter with such a thin back bevel. The amount of steel you actually grind when hitting the microbevel at the edge is so small it's trivial to do even starting at over 1000 grit. In this photo only two stones were used, one for each part of the edge. DMT XX Course for back bevel, DMT Fine for microbevel. Took less than 10 passes per side to set the edge.
Thanks all. I too figured that the deep scratch pattern wouldn't be much of a problem seeing as i was putting a comparatively stout microbevel on it. So my questions about the DMT XX coarse are, how long does it realistically take to reprofile to a low angle back bevel? i dont have a specific angle, but back of the blade almost on the stone (and yes i know that different steels are going to take different amount of times, but lets say vg10 and "lesser"). And also, i'm always worried that the diamonds are going to strip out and leave me with a useless stone. Do you find that to be a concern?
I used the DMT fine stone to reprofile knives for two years before I got the XX Course, the same one that I still use to get my knives hair whittling sharp. I'd use very heavy pressure. It still works great. I've been doign the same with my X Course and XX Course and they both still work great.
If you go here you can see some other regrinds I've done. The Caly Jr. in ZDP took something like 10 minutes because the geometry started out nice and thin. The Centofante taken flat to the stone took maybe half an hour. The Spin was another 5-10 minute job. I'd say taken a flat ground VG 10 knife down to a thin back bevel can be done in 5-10 minutes with the XX course, with flat to the stone grinds taking about twice as long, if not a bit longer.
If you go here you can see some other regrinds I've done. The Caly Jr. in ZDP took something like 10 minutes because the geometry started out nice and thin. The Centofante taken flat to the stone took maybe half an hour. The Spin was another 5-10 minute job. I'd say taken a flat ground VG 10 knife down to a thin back bevel can be done in 5-10 minutes with the XX course, with flat to the stone grinds taking about twice as long, if not a bit longer.
This is a very timely thread for me.
We've established that we can make a big jump in 'grit' if the conditions are right. (This is good...means buying less stones.)
What would be the suggested grits to buy from those that have been there and done that? X Course and Fine? XX Course, Course and Extra Fine?
I don't put REAL aggressive of backbevels on my knives but I spend nearly ALL my time on the X Course Lansky. I dreadfully want to get away from the tiny stone, hassle of the clamp and the limitations of the whole system. I'd like something even more aggressive than the X Course Lansky stone, but do not know if DMT makes it for them.
Right now I usually go as follows:
X Course Lansky
X Course Lansky
X Course Lansky
X Course Lansky
X Course Lansky
X Course Lansky
Medium Lansky
Medium Sharpmaker
Fine Sharpmaker
Fine Sharpmaker
Cardboard or Clay paper strop.
We've established that we can make a big jump in 'grit' if the conditions are right. (This is good...means buying less stones.)
What would be the suggested grits to buy from those that have been there and done that? X Course and Fine? XX Course, Course and Extra Fine?
I don't put REAL aggressive of backbevels on my knives but I spend nearly ALL my time on the X Course Lansky. I dreadfully want to get away from the tiny stone, hassle of the clamp and the limitations of the whole system. I'd like something even more aggressive than the X Course Lansky stone, but do not know if DMT makes it for them.
Right now I usually go as follows:
X Course Lansky
X Course Lansky
X Course Lansky
X Course Lansky
X Course Lansky
X Course Lansky
Medium Lansky
Medium Sharpmaker
Fine Sharpmaker
Fine Sharpmaker
Cardboard or Clay paper strop.