Using a DMT coarse with a Ceramic or wetstone?

J

joepa150

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Mar 15, 2010
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I want to purchase 2 stones to start out. I will mostly use them to maintain a sharp edge but I do have a few knives that are very dull or have a few chips out of the blades. I want to purchase one DMT Diasharp stone and a wetstone or a spyderco ceramic stone.

What would be a good combination to start with?

Here is what I was thinking.
DMT Coarse with Spyderco Fine
DMT fine with Spyderco Fine

DMT Coarse with Naniwa wetstone or super stone (3000 grit?)
DMT Fine with Naniwa Westone or super stone
 
you can't go wrong with those combinations. What I would recommend is a dmt extra or extra extra coarse as they're the best at removing metal. Then a spyderco double stuff bunchstone (medium and fine) and you should also consider an ultra fine benchstone; they're pricey but I hear some really good things about them.

edit: I forgot to mention a strop. Stropping your knife will bring it to the next level of sharp and will make it very easy to maintain your edges.
 
A 'starter set' should contain a coarse and fine stone, so eliminate any of the combos that contain two fine stones.

A good starter set, if you have chipped and really dull edges would be a DMT XC stone, followed by a combo waterstone around 1000/6000 grit. The XC can do the heavy work, and can also be used to flatten the waterstone. The downside to combo stones, is one side, usually the 1000, tends to wear faster, but if you use the XC stone to establish a good bevel, it will extend the life of the 1000 stone. This setup will give you great edges, and you can add to it as the need/desire arises.

cbw
 
cbwx34 said:
A 'starter set' should contain a coarse and fine stone, so eliminate any of the combos that contain two fine stones.

A good starter set, if you have chipped and really dull edges would be a DMT XC stone, followed by a combo waterstone around 1000/6000 grit. The XC can do the heavy work, and can also be used to flatten the waterstone. The downside to combo stones, is one side, usually the 1000, tends to wear faster, but if you use the XC stone to establish a good bevel, it will extend the life of the 1000 stone. This setup will give you great edges, and you can add to it as the need/desire arises.

cbw
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Wouldn't the DMT Fine be coarser than the Spyderco Fine. Almost like a Spyderco Medium.
 
cbwx34 said:
A 'starter set' should contain a coarse and fine stone, so eliminate any of the combos that contain two fine stones.

A good starter set, if you have chipped and really dull edges would be a DMT XC stone, followed by a combo waterstone around 1000/6000 grit. The XC can do the heavy work, and can also be used to flatten the waterstone. The downside to combo stones, is one side, usually the 1000, tends to wear faster, but if you use the XC stone to establish a good bevel, it will extend the life of the 1000 stone. This setup will give you great edges, and you can add to it as the need/desire arises.

cbw
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I wouldn't mind a combo stone but like you stated one side will wear faster.
What do you think of a combo stone with a 1000/3000 set up such as the Naniwa has?
What jumping from a DMT XC or C to a 2000-3000 waterstone be too big of a jump?
 
joepa150 said:
Wouldn't the DMT Fine be coarser than the Spyderco Fine. Almost like a Spyderco Medium.
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Maybe, but they're too close to buy as a starter set. You want something that does a decent job of removing metal... setting bevels, making minor repairs, etc. then something to smooth it out. From that, you can determine if you want something even finer, or more coarse, etc. depending on your needs.

joepa150 said:
I wouldn't mind a combo stone but like you stated one side will wear faster.
What do you think of a combo stone with a 1000/3000 set up such as the Naniwa has?
What jumping from a DMT XC or C to a 2000-3000 waterstone be too big of a jump?
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By the time one side wears, you'll have a better idea of what you want to replace it with, so it's a good way to get started.

I'm not familiar with that particular combo stone, so I can't specifically comment on it.

The reason I suggested the DMT XC, is you can use it to flatten. The C stone isn't a good flattener. If you buy a waterstone, you need some method of flattening it. You can use other methods, but getting an XC also gives you a stone you can sharpen on. Jumping to a 2-3K stone wouldn't be too bad... it's still aggressive enough to clean up an XC grind.

cbw
 
Honestly I think you should buy the largest DMT coarse you can afford and nothing else.

Why? Because if you purge your budget trying to buy multiple hones, you are going to end up with multiple pieces that you will later be unhappy with, and possibly be unhappy from the start.

Simply put 2 stones will not fill the bill. You really need more, and buying small stones to save money is fine, but there will almost certainly come a day when you will wish you had a larger stone.

Do not go half a$$ here. Buy a big DMT coarse and use it until you can afford more stones...also by then you will have developed a better understanding of what your needs are. The coarse will leave a fairly coarse edge, but it can be used to remove chips and dings, and will result in a great working edge.

Some may say Xcoarse or XXcoarse, and that is fine, but my pref is the coarse since I can re-profile with it (though it takes a bit more time) and I usually do not let my blades get THAT bad before I pull out the stones.
 
joepa150 said:
Can you flatten water stones with the dmt coarse?
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Actually it's not recommended, in fact, unless it's changed, DMT only recommends their XXC stone be used to flatten. I've done stones with the XC, which is why I recommended it in that specific setup... but I wouldn't use an XC to flatten a really coarse waterstone. The problem is the stone can actually wear away the DMT stone under the diamond, (also why you should lap under running water) and the finer stones will also "stick" to the water stone (stiction) making it harder to lap.

cbw
 
If I was starting over I'd get a DMT XC and a Spyderco medium for my first 2 hones. You can get a very sharp edge with the Spyderco med hone and you can do some good grinding with the DMT xc. Heck I just did a quicky sharpening with a DMT xxc and then finished with the Spyderco Med. A pretty big jump but it still didn't take too long to polish out the xxc scratches.
 
db said:
If I was starting over I'd get a DMT XC and a Spyderco medium for my first 2 hones. You can get a very sharp edge with the Spyderco med hone and you can do some good grinding with the DMT xc. Heck I just did a quicky sharpening with a DMT xxc and then finished with the Spyderco Med. A pretty big jump but it still didn't take too long to polish out the xxc scratches.
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That actually sounds like a good idea. I have been researching for days. At first I was going to go with the Sharpmaker but I know I would enjoy benchstones more. I can then add a waterstone in the future and use the XC to flatten it.

The longest knife I will sharpen is a Henckels 8 inch chef knife.

Should I go with a 6 inch or 8 inch DMT?
 
I have the 8 inch.Probably the best way to decide is cut some cardboard one 6 inches and the other 8 inches and do a few strokes on both like you are sharpening and see what length your most comfortable with.
 
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