TSProf K03 Diamond Stones?

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NorCalQ

Joined
Dec 13, 2018
Messages
51
So I just bought a TSProf K03 Expert that comes with no stones. I'm used to using diamond stones with my WE130 and would like to stick with diamond stones for the K03. What stones and strop would you recommend and where's the best place to get them? I read that Edge Pro stones fit, but I have no idea which set to get.
 
As stated in the other thread, Gritomatic is the best place, look at the dual sided Venev and they have a good range of strops, have a look at their kangaroo strop. But in the end you purchase what you think will be best for you. That is one of the unintended consequences of having such a great range of stuff to purchase, it becomes confusing. I have no experience with them, but i know plenty of people who do, and they all like the Edge Pro diamond stones. There is another site, but i don't know if i am allowed to mention them here, message me and i may be able to help you, they are American and have fantastic customer service.
 
Hey, thanks for the reply. I'm trying to message you, but for some reason I can't. Can you message me with the info.?
 
NorCalQ said:
Hey, thanks for the reply. I'm trying to message you, but for some reason I can't. Can you message me with the info.?
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Sorry cannot message you, it might have something to do with your member status, e.g. paid membership.
 
cudgee said:
As stated in the other thread, Gritomatic is the best place, look at the dual sided Venev and they have a good range of strops, have a look at their kangaroo strop. But in the end you purchase what you think will be best for you. That is one of the unintended consequences of having such a great range of stuff to purchase, it becomes confusing. I have no experience with them, but i know plenty of people who do, and they all like the Edge Pro diamond stones. There is another site, but i don't know if i am allowed to mention them here, message me and i may be able to help you, they are American and have fantastic customer service.
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Good info and recommendations from cudgee here.

Just FYI, Gritomatic is also an American company. They're in Georgia, USA. They definitely have the best range of sharpening equipment and abrasives on-line for knife sharpening, bar none.

I have both Edge Pro Diamond matrix stones, and Venev Stones mentioned above and use both sets extensively.

Both brands are excellent stones. The Matrix stones are not as mass produced as the Venev stones, so they are more expensive. Personally, I prefer my Venev stones but that is personal preference, both Venev and Matrix stones are awesome.
 
NorCalQ said:
Thanks. Hope I do love the K03. I was concerned about the fit of the dual sided stones with the K03? Also, Like that the single sided set goes up to 4000. Do they make additional dual sided diamonds that go up that high?
By the way, thank you so much for giving me all this info. Like I said, I know WE, but I'm lost when it comes to the K03.
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(Quote above from your other thread, in case you only read this one.)

The K03 Stone holder holds the dual sided Venev stones very well and perfectly secure. I've had no issues at all with how it clamps them.

Regarding your point about the single sided stones up to 4000 grit - you are talking about the Edge Pro Matrix stones here; they go up to 4000 grit.(Which is about 5-6 micron size diamond particles). But make sure to read on...

The Venev single sided stones go up to Fepa-F 1200 (2-3 micron size diamond particles). Single sided and dual sided Venev stones are the exact same grit ratings, there is no Venev 4000, only a Edge Pro Matrix 4000.

Be careful to compare apples with apples here, because the grit ratings used is vastly different with different stone brands. This is a mistake many people make when comparing "grits with grits".

Venev uses the Fepa-F grit rating, and they also list the average diamond particle size for completeness. The Venev 1200 is a much finer stone than the EP Matrix 4000. As an example, if you would compare Fepa-F 1200 grit to Japanese JIS rating, then it would equate to about 5000+ grit JIS.

As a matter of interest, some background info if you are interested - Venev offered a 2000 grit (Fepa-F) diamond stone for a while, which is around 1 micron diamond particle size. (That would equate to about the same as a Japanese Shapton 16k in particle size). They found that the "binder" actually caused a scratch pattern coarser than the actual diamond particles, so they replaced most of their finer grit stones (400 and up) with a new binder a year or two back. They call it "OCB" binder. It works a lot better with the finer grits. Unfortunately, they still found that in their 2000 grit stone, the diamonds clumped together and caused scratch patterns equal to lower grits. Because of this, they are not really offering the 2000 grit any more.....but honestly the 1200 leaves a killer finish already. If you want to take it higher from there, then loaded strops are the way to go.
 
I'd like to go with the Venev stones, however I like that the Matrix stones go up to 4000. Can I get there with Venev stones? Also, what about a strop for the K03. I got used to using Balsa strops with diamond paste with WE. What is best to use with the K03?
 
NorCalQ said:
I'd like to go with the Venev stones, however I like that the Matrix stones go up to 4000. Can I get there with Venev stones? Also, what about a strop for the K03. I got used to using Balsa strops with diamond paste with WE. What is best to use with the K03?
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See my reply above regarding the grit rating.

Venev 1200 is finer than a Matrix 4000.(See my post above)
 
Killer info here. Just what I needed. So I guess it's just a matter of, do I want single or dual sided. Do these stones require lapping? As for stropping, what strops and what should I use on the strops?
 
NorCalQ said:
Also, what about a strop for the K03. I got used to using Balsa strops with diamond paste with WE.
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You might just find that the Venev 1200 already leaves such a fine edge that you possibly don't need to strop after this, unless you want to go super mirror finish.

If so, then you can also use balsa strops and the diamond paste you already have, if you're comfortable with this. Some guys prefer bass wood, I personally prefer hard, smooth leather.

I really like the Venev diamond pastes, Gritomatic sells a big sample pack with many grits for like 8 bucks, and you can go a very long way with it. Just make sure to warm it up with a hair drier or something after you've applied the paste to let it melt and settle into the strop nicely, because it is wax based.
 
NorCalQ said:
Killer info here. Just what I needed. So I guess it's just a matter of, do I want single or dual sided. Do these stones require lapping? As for stropping, what strops and what should I use on the strops?
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No real lapping required for normal use, they wear down very, very slowly. If you really do want to lap them, it is easily done with some loose sic powder, but you won't need to do it for a few years if you're not a professional sharpener.

They do load up after a while, but they clean off very easily with something like a cheap King Nagura stone, or even just plain old bar keepers friend. I prefer conditioning them with a cheap Nagura (Amazon has one for 10 bucks). Only a few strokes with a cheap Nagura under some running water and the Nagura particles break down and clean the Venev stones off very nicely.
 
NorCalQ said:
So I guess it's just a matter of, do I want single or dual sided.
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If you have the money, go for the single sided set, but I would recommend the dual sided. Far better value for money. The only real difference that makes the single sided ones more expensive, is the thickness of the layer of diamonds & resin on the single sided stones. It's thicker than the layer on the dual sided ones.

Don't be concerned about wearing through the layer on the dual sided stones though, it's more than enough for a years and years of "normal" use.
 
I also wanted to add that you really should get a nice digital angle cube to use with your K03, if you don't have one already. Don't rely on the K03's mechanical angle gauge.. that's just meant as a ball-park number.

And make sure you compensate for the thickness of stones (using your angle cube) as you swap them (especially if you're using different brands), and also compensate for the thickness when you move on to your strops.

You may even find that the K03 stone holder might just grip your WE stones & strops in position well enough to use them on the K03 too...which would be a bonus for you. The stone holder on the K03 is very versatile and grips just about any stone / plate / strop very well.

When you get it, give it a try and post about how it possibly clamps WE stones. Would be a fun experiment. Just make sure to compensate for their excessive thickness if it works.
 
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Yet another question...is there a thickness compensator on the K03 like the one on the Kadet? That looks like a pretty cool feature, if it works. As for using WE stones, they are shorter and mounted to handles, so I'd have to demount them to even use them. I will be able to use the diamond emulsions and sprays however, so that'll be nice.
I just pulled the trigger on the single-sided set of Venev stones and a leather strop. I'm on the notification list for the Balsa strop when it comes in. Hopefully, that grit progression will get me through the scratches without too much work. Also hope the learning curve on the K03 isn't as steep as with the WE system.
 
NorCalQ said:
Yet another question...is there a thickness compensator on the K03 like the one on the Kadet? That looks like a pretty cool feature, if it works. As for using WE stones, they are shorter and mounted to handles, so I'd have to demount them to even use them. I will be able to use the diamond emulsions and sprays however, so that'll be nice.
I just pulled the trigger on the single-sided set of Venev stones and a leather strop. I'm on the notification list for the Balsa strop when it comes in. Hopefully, that grit progression will get me through the scratches without too much work. Also hope the learning curve on the K03 isn't as steep as with the WE system.
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When you use the K03 you use angel cube and you zero it out on a spot on the sharpener right behind crossbar then you put the angel cube on the guide rod and adjust the angel from there.

Also use Bar Keepers Friend in the Gold canister to clean all your stones including the Venev stones,just sprinkle a tiny amount on and rub the powder in while the stones are still wet then let them sit for 1 minutes and rinse them while rubbing them with your fingers.

If you haven't ordered your dual sided stones yet,get the 80-150 240-400 800-1200 stones in 100%,if you don't know the difference between 25% and 100% it's referring to amount of diamonds the stones have,the 25% are more for mirror polished edge's.

The Venev 1200 stones is the same as a 4K Jis stone,I also like to use 60 brit silicon carbide powder as my first powder when I need to flatten mine,then I switch to 120 then 400 aluminum oxide powder and then your done,I suggest that you only use silicon carbide for the 60 grit powder because silicon carbide is more friable which means brittle and it will breakdown and shatter into a finer grit faster then aluminum oxide,with that being said the only reason I use silicon carbide 60 grit is because gritomatic doesn't have 60 grit aluminum oxide powder.

To find the aluminum oxide and sic powders just type in powder on gritomatics site.

Also if you like a fine edge pick up a Suehiro G8 8K stone it's a great splash and go finishing stone that gives you are great edge and it's silicon carbide but it doesn't wear and breakdown anywhere near as fast as other stones made with silicon carbide.

https://www.gritomatic.com/products/6-x-1-dual-side-bonded-diamond?_pos=9&_sid=e426c7781&_ss=r

https://www.gritomatic.com/products/suehiro-g8-8000-edge-pro?_pos=1&_sid=e997b5837&_ss=r
 
NorCalQ said:
Also hope the learning curve on the K03 isn't as steep as with the WE system.
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Does not matter what system you use, they all have their quirks, and take time to learn how to use, TIME, and patience being the operative words. Just go slowly till you get the feel of it, don't rush and expect miracles, every system has it's faults and good points. But from all the reports i have seen you will love it, i'd love one but out'a my league. I'm jealous. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :cool::cool::cool:
 
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