Thinking about a Waterstone

[Trout Hound]

Hi Everybody,
So, I'm thinking of trying a waterstone. I'm looking at the King K-80 250/1000 grit. I know there are higher quality stones out there, but I don't want to spend very much on it right now, and the Kings seem to be of respectable quality from what I have read. From what I understand, the 250 will cut quickly for reprofiling and repairs, correct? I have it on excellent authority that the King 1000 grit stone leaves just enough tooth in a blade for kitchen slicing and everyday use. I really don't see myself using a 4000 or 8000 grit stone; I like an edge with a little bit of bite in it.

What kind of cheap solutions have you guys found in terms of trays, etc., to use on a tabletop to contain all the schmutz involved with a waterstone? I know there are fancy ponds and such out there, but I'm more interested in a $3 Wal-Mart solution right now, especially one that will still allow me to use my DMT Aligner clamp alongside the stone if I want (and keep me from getting murdered by my wife if I get red waterstone swarf all over the table, and the carpet, and the cats…you get the idea.

Thanks!

 

[Trout Hound]

I just thunk of a follow-up question. I know that waterstones wear fairly quickly. If I use a DMT Aligner clamp with the foot running on a surface beside the stone, will the height of the stone change enough as I sharpen to cause angle problems, such as edge rounding? I know I can run the clamp foot on the stone, but that will eventually grind it away.

 

[Jason B.]

No one ever listens when I say this but I might as well try again.

King stones are good but its like driving a 1989 F-150, great truck but a bit outdated in todays world. I keep a King 1k around because it puts a nice Kasumi finish on singe bevel Japanese knives but it's a rare day that I pull it out for routine sharpening.

For not much more you can get a Shapton Pro 1k and it's literally one of the best stones you can buy, wears super slow, grinds quickly, and puts a nice toothy edge on a blade. The whole Shapton line is reasonably priced and will provide the highest quality edges to your cutlery. A much better stone to start with.

 

[bgentry]

I use an inexpensive cookie sheet (shallow pan) to catch the water and swarf from waterstones. You need some kind of stone holder also with a setup like mine. I like the rubber stone holder that's pretty common and I think is around $15 give or take.

The other way to go is to buy a large plastic basin, like one of the storage containers you see at Target and those types of stores. Then use a combination of a 2x4 as a bridge and some cloth at each end to "stick" it in place on the edges of the basin. One more piece of wet cloth on top of the bridge and the stone will stay in place. At least that's what Murray Carter does and it seems to work for him.

Jason B has a setup in his videos that looks similar, but it looks like his bridge is made of Corian or some other synthetic material and it appears that his bridge has legs that go to the bottom of the basin on both sides. His setup looks very stable and nice to use.

Good luck.

Brian.

 

[Jason B.]

My "sink bridge" is a 1x6 Pine board screwed together and sprayed with Flex Seal my "basin" is a plastic storage tub from Home Depot. In all, about $20 and some ingenuity.