Venev 6x1 vs 8x3?

[PlumasDePan]

Hi.... I have due to country importing laws a budget of 200 dollars.

I will only freehand sharpen.

Whith 110 i can buy the whole 6x1 set + some other stuff like a flatten and a 0.1 diamond spray (i only have one of 1 micron) and a couple of rubbers

However with the 8x3 i can buy only 2 of them and kinda hurts that i cant get that juice 2000 stone in giromatic right now since is not in stock.... What do you guys recommend?

I had had once a 1x6 inch stones and my memory is then totally sucking. However that is probably more due to them being a crapy stone from a non existan brand

 

[chalby]

I use the 6x1 for that reason. It is very affordable. I only have shorter folding knives that I sharpen with them though; all of my bigger knives are lower alloy steels that I use waterstones on.

I am super happy with my 6x1 Venevs

 

[willc]

I have a set of the Venev 6x1 stones and they are excellent.
They still fit good in a stone holder and they are comfortable to use in hand.

 

[Bamboo238]

What other equipment do you have? I also have the 1x6 set, and am also happy with it. I would take the larger stones in a heartbeat though! I've been sharpening for some time, but am still a novice in this game. I mostly use the 400 and 800 grit for now. For lower grits I prefer diamond. So, getting the double sided 400/800 in the larger size would be sufficient for me. I do like the luxury of bigger size stones.

Sometimes I take the edge beyond 800, but it's not necessary for my EDC tasks. I'm glad that I bought the 1x6 set to be able to try it all out.

 

[TRfromMT]

I love my 6x1 3-stone set on any knife up to a 6"fixed blade. I rarely use the 1200 grit. 800 grit plus stropping can get a blade to whittle hair.

 

[willc]

What other equipment do you have? I also have the 1x6 set, and am also happy with it. I would take the larger stones in a heartbeat though! I've been sharpening for some time, but am still a novice in this game. I mostly use the 400 and 800 grit for now. For lower grits I prefer diamond. So, getting the double sided 400/800 in the larger size would be sufficient for me. I do like the luxury of bigger size stones.

Sometimes I take the edge beyond 800, but it's not necessary for my EDC tasks. I'm glad that I bought the 1x6 set to be able to try it all out.

If your question is directed at me, over the years I have accumulated a lot of sharpening stones.
My most used though would be the Baryonyx Manticore and American Mutt, Nubatama 220 Black, Norton Crystolon combo, Naniwa Chosera 400, Naniwa Super Stone 400, and King 800/4000 combo.

The Venev Stones are very good especially for their price and at some point I would also like to get the 3x8 plates.
For all my initial work on knives I prefer larger stones but the 1x6 size does pretty ok.

Some times I will go all out and take a knife to 8-12k just because I like sharpening but most of my work knives top out at 400 grit.