Time For A Japanese Waterstone?

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valentin_84

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Jul 12, 2009
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I have the EDC Benchmade Osborne 940 and can't get the damn thing sharp! :eek:

It came from the factory with a crappy edge which was surprising to me because my Benchmade Model 42 was razor sharp. I used my Crock Sticks setup but I just cant get an edge to stay on it. I don't know know too much about sharpening and edge angle and I think it's time to get into it if I want to be able to get a good edge on this thing.

I found a couple of Youtube videos with Japanese Waterstones and thought they may be the answer. What would you guys suggest for a newbie to sharpening? I was thinking a combination stone may be the most cost effective to start out with???

What grit would you guys suggest for this S30V blade with no edge? Also, is there a specific site you guys suggest?

Thanks!
 
I used to sharpen my BM940 S30V with King 1000/6000 grit waterstones, worked great. The stones are nice and consistent, they wear evenly, and they're fairly inexpensive.
 
Sharp maker. Get the diamond rods though, they'll make fixing that worthless benchmade factory edge so much easier.

Though last night, I was having a hell of a time getting both my 940[in d2] and ritter grip in s30v to take an edge...

While my tanto s30v sebenza got wicked
 
For the price really the 940 should have been sharpfrom the start. Send it back...
 
I don't recommend using a knife you care too much about to practice on while learning to use a waterstone.

I would recommend you get a king 250/1000 combination stone. Re-profilig an edge is much easier done on 250 grit.
 
Wilde said:
For the price really the 940 should have been sharpfrom the start. Send it back...
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That may be so, but that still doesn't address the issue of needing to sharpen a knife after use. Or do your knives stay sharp forever?
 
valentin_84 said:
What do you guys think about this?
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I think it's a very big jump from 800 to 4K. Most likely you will spend a lot of time on 4K trying to remove all the scratches from 800 grit, causing excessive wear of the 4K stone, and if you are not experienced enough, that also increases chances of making mistakes during sharpening and spoiling end results. 1500-2000 grit in between would be very nice addition, and for the edges that are rough utility type, that grit would be final, no need for 4K.
Also, 800 grit isn't all that effective for serious reprofiling. 250-400 tone would be better starter for those jobs.

And leather strop is a must IMHO. Plain or charged with fine abrasive like CR) or diamond spray 0.50.- 0.25 range. I use both in succession, followed by plain leather and now very often insert 0.30 abrasive film in between 0.50 and 0.25, but that's for very high polish levels. You can skip all that and go directly to stropping for 2K edge.
 
If it's S30V, perhaps a duo-sharp DMT continuous plate would be a better option. My experience might be a bit limited as I only attempted Buck's S30V on a 6000 grit waterstone, but I found diamonds to be a better choice for steels with vanadium in them.
 
Gator97 said:
I think it's a very big jump from 800 to 4K. Most likely you will spend a lot of time on 4K trying to remove all the scratches from 800 grit, causing excessive wear of the 4K stone, and if you are not experienced enough, that also increases chances of making mistakes during sharpening and spoiling end results. 1500-2000 grit in between would be very nice addition, and for the edges that are rough utility type, that grit would be final, no need for 4K.
Also, 800 grit isn't all that effective for serious reprofiling. 250-400 tone would be better starter for those jobs.

And leather strop is a must IMHO. Plain or charged with fine abrasive like CR) or diamond spray 0.50.- 0.25 range. I use both in succession, followed by plain leather and now very often insert 0.30 abrasive film in between 0.50 and 0.25, but that's for very high polish levels. You can skip all that and go directly to stropping for 2K edge.
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???

I reprofile on a 1000 grit all the time and then jump to a 6000 grit. I'm not saying you're giving bad advice, but your advice is counter-intuitive to the very way I sharpen my knives.

[youtube]ozZF2EgnYm0[/youtube]

Reprofiling Blue Super on only a 1000 grit and then making a 'very big jump' to 6000.
 
It depends on what you're going for. For polishing, it's too big of a jump. But for refining the edge after you've reached the apex(raised a burr), it does just fine.
 
Noctis3880 said:
It depends on what you're going for. For polishing, it's too big of a jump. But for refining the edge after you've reached the apex(raised a burr), it does just fine.
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Aren't we going to sharp knives? As you can see, this system makes knives sharp.
Maybe the real question is, are you for utility, or are you for looks?
 
somber said:
???

I reprofile on a 1000 grit all the time and then jump to a 6000 grit. I'm not saying you're giving bad advice, but your advice is counter-intuitive to the very way I sharpen my knives.

[youtube]ozZF2EgnYm0[/youtube]

Reprofiling Blue Super on only a 1000 grit and then making a 'very big jump' to 6000.
Click to expand...

In my experience the 1K is good for sharpening blades that need a little more attention that just honing, but it isn't practical for repairing. So if you have a slightly radiused edge, little dents/chips, then a 1K works well for me, but any larger "repair" or "reprofile" job it's not worth spending the time and wearing the stone out that much as opposed to using the 220 grit.

I think it really depends on how bad the edge actually is, beacuse for some jobs 220 is going to be overkill and you'll have to spend longer on the 1000 to get the scratches out. Some jobs are too much for the 1000 and you'll wear it out. I think actuallying figuring out which grit is right for which is the hard part.

To the OP I would suggestion some diamond stones though. Less maintenance and more appropriate for steel like S30V. The only reason I see to go for waterstones here is if he wants to eventually go up to a very high polish. Otherwise everything available in diamond should fit his needs, will sharpen much quicker than a waterstone, and will require less maintenance.
 
Usually a 600-ish grit diamond hone works well for setting an edge before you strop. The DMT ones are great, and I have had good results with the Harbor Freight and EZE-LAP diamond hones as well.
 
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somber said:
Aren't we going to sharp knives? As you can see, this system makes knives sharp.
Maybe the real question is, are you for utility, or are you for looks?
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I like to have both. And with a mini-belt sander I get exactly that. Though I suppose it's good to have some experience with stones just in case. I feel a coarse stone would be a better choice since you can control how aggressive it is with lighter pressure and fewer strokes, thus making a coarse stone behave like a finer one.
 
1000/4000 Norton waterstone could do 95% of your sharpening duties. 4000 and up is mainly polishing which, if your mirror edge crazy, could be done with sandpaper and/or a strop. I don't bother with it myself as my knives are users, not mirrors.
You could get a 220 if you have major re-profiling to do. Sharpmaker works OK at maintaining, but takes a long time IMO and is awkward to use with longer blades. If I only had to get one stone it would be the 1000/4000.
 
Noctis3880 said:
I like to have both. And with a mini-belt sander I get exactly that. Though I suppose it's good to have some experience with stones just in case. I feel a coarse stone would be a better choice since you can control how aggressive it is with lighter pressure and fewer strokes, thus making a coarse stone behave like a finer one.
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Do you put water on the belt sander so that you don't ruin your blades' temper? Regardless, I'm glad that you have what works for you, I don't think I'll try and convince you otherwise.

I have what works best for me.

4800970691_04e5ffc104_z.jpg
 
The jury's still out for me on the sharpmaker. The seb sharpened up like a dream. Less than 15 minutes to get chips out and pop arm hair better than it did out of the box. Yet I'm having a helluva time getting ANYWHERE with my bench mades. Finally managed to get my 53 reprofiled but I still haven't put much of an actual edge on it.

Sure do like how the seb sharpened up though. Man. Just a breeze.
 
I just don't know what it is with the Benchmades. Just hit and miss I guess, I've had razor sharp and dull as crap out of the box like others that have stated the same thing...

So, where do my ceramic rod's come into play in all this? Where they a waist of money???
 
valentin_84 said:
So, where do my ceramic rod's come into play in all this? Where they a waist of money???
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ceramic rods are good for maintaining an edge, not for re-profiling it.

as you can see, everyone here has their own way of getting the job done. any method that gets a knife to your required sharpness is "right". IMO, free hand sharpening is 90% technique and 10% equipment. even using sharpening jigs requires a certain level of skill to get the best results. if you are going to get one stone to start out with, the king 250/1000 is my recommendation. 250 grit is coarse enough to re-profile an edge pretty quickly and the 1000 is fine enough to put on a pretty wicked edge.
 
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