Time to buy sharpening stones , cant decide

Zakk Wylde · Jan 21, 2015

Hello gents;

I want to get some benchstones to improve my freehand sharpening but want some opinions on what to buy.
First some info;
I can get a fairly miror polish with my lansky system and definetly love it but it doesnt need to be scratchless real mirror , not so anal about it.I examine my edges with 75x microscope and preffer it to be at least 600 grit fine lansky level
My longest knife is about 7 inch cutting lenght and all my fixed blades are carbon steels.(1905, 5160, sk-5)
Folders are 8cr13mov , aus8 , sandvik 14c28n and vg-10.I dont use the s30v one because its not avaiable here anymore :grumpy:
I need to do some reprofiling work but i can do the most of it on lansky then continue freehand.

So far my options are;
-Dmt dia-sharp double sided 6x2 coarse-fine for 50 bucks.I will buy a leather strop+ green compound with my order too, want to leave the good ol leather belt on desk method

-Dmt dia-sharp set (xcoarse, coarse, fine, extra fine) 6x2 for 75 bucks.

These 2 are looks like great good deals but not sure about the 6x2 size , 8x3 will definetly be more comfortable but 2 of them costs about 100 $.

-Norton India 8x3 , coarse, medium ,fine each costs 19$, set price is 50 $.My experience with cheap silicone carbide was not so favorable , hope these alu-oxide are better.

-As for waterstones goes , Naniwa Traditionals are in my price range , 220, 1000 and 1500 are 30 $ each.I didnt like the coarse water stone feel in my again experince with cheap water stones so i may opt them for high grit stuff.

What combo would you guys recommend , you can mix them up too.I dont know the capabilites of stones so i cant decide ie how aggresive is 1000 water stone or fine diamond.

Thanks in advance and sorry for wall of text

Benuser · Jan 21, 2015

In the EU the Naniwa Pro (former Choseras) are much more affordable than in the US. Consider a 800, will do most reprofiling as well. Have a look at knivesandtools.de

Zakk Wylde · Jan 21, 2015

Thanks for suggestion Benuser, they are indeed cheaper but they dont ship to here sadly.

rlwhite5599 · Jan 21, 2015

I recently got the diasharp double sided set. They are great and good value price at $75.

awestib · Jan 21, 2015

Benuser said:
In the EU the Naniwa Pro (former Choseras) are much more affordable than in the US. Consider a 800, will do most reprofiling as well. Have a look at knivesandtools.de

They are not cheaper, not really! The Naniwa Pro 1000 grit for instance is 47 Euros, which is about $Can 75. At Sharpeningsupply.com the same stone is $80!

Zakk Wylde · Jan 22, 2015

Have to do with different exchange rates i guess.

Zakk Wylde · Jan 23, 2015

I didnt get responses from usual suspects and made more research so here i am again;

My all big knives are 1095 or 5160 so i feel no need for 8x3 DMT stones anymore even though they are nice.Also from what i read diamonds acts too agresively on these steels and make burr removal etc harder.

So im thinkin to get norton india combo stone coarse/fine.Which stone is good to follow up fine side?1000 grit uf ceramic on lansky makes a mirror enough edge for me after fine(600) hone is there an alternative to ceramics spydercos are too expensive?

Reprofiling vg-10 on my lansky system takes awful a lot of time even with x-coarse stone which says 80 grit.
So if i want faster work should i get x-coarse dmt or coarse is fine?Getting diamond hone(coarse or x-coarse) for lansky is also an option , im not insisting on reprofiling freehand.

I would like to keep it under 100 $ around 75$ as i want to add an strop+compound too.

Jason B. · Jan 23, 2015

I would get a combo SiC stone then add a Naniwa waterstone or two.

Can you order a Naniwa 2k Aotoshi? If you can I would highly recommend it. An 800-1k stone plus the 2k GB and a combo SiC stone would keep you in budget and give you a quality set that would handle most any sharpening.

Zakk Wylde · Jan 23, 2015

I found it on chefknivestogo but shipping is more than the stone itself so its out of budget sadly.I will order from sharpening supplies btw

From what i see Naniwas traditional or speciality(thin super stones) are in my budget but at coarse grits people were not fond of them , nothing like chosera.Not sure how it behaves at high grits would you recommend them?

I have one SiC and and dont like how they create a gritty mud to be honest.
Do you recommend the SiC opposed to india for faster cutting , replaces the diamonds in my case? From what i read they dont give the edge refined as India but 1 and 2 k stones polishes that up nicely i guess.

Thanks in advance