Water stone / Sharpening set for travel?

G

Gone2Fish

Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
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Does anyone know of a good set of stones for travel? I at times go on 7-10 day trips and have had to fix some dull blades on those trips. My skills are poor but my buddies have zero skills. My spyderco double stuff and Fallkniven DC4 are ok. I need something better. I thought there maybe a manufacturer willing to make different sizes if a large enough order is made? I don't even know how to go about it. What do you guys and girls use for a travel sharpening set? Most of my knives are now CPM S30V or higher.... So.... lol

What are your thoughts?
Thanks for the help

Gabriel
 
What kind of travel? If I drive or take the train to my parents' house I bring two full size water stones (three if I'm expecting to repair badly damaged knives).

I know Murray Carter sells "pocket sized" King stones (at an outrageous price). I guess it'd be possible to cut up a bench stone, but perhaps the pieces need to be glued to something (like edge pro stones) so they don't crack. But you still need to dry the stones, etc. The easiest, I guess, would be to bring some sand paper and a piece of something flat to put it on.
 
You can pick up a diamond sawsall blade and easily cut down an existing waterstone to any size you like. I've done this to a whole bunch of mine and the saw is still cutting like new. For travel, I have an old plastic tool box with a bunch of 1/2" holes cut into the top. It doubles as a bath, and for storage the holes let the water evaporate out and not make the stones funky if I don't have time to let them dry thoroughly before packing them back up.

The rig I make and sell through the link in my signature travels very well and does a great job with sandpaper and lapping films. It comes with some wet/dry, but 6" diamond films can be picked up very inexpensively for bright finishes on high Vanadium carbide steels. The wet/dry does a good job on them up to 800-1000 grit, so unless shooting for a high polish, the SiC works very well. For other steels, the wet/dry and included compound make a pretty complete kit - all the details are on the linked website.

After that I'd start looking at diamond plates, or any bench stone set in a good case. Is weight an issue, or just portability?
 
A 2x6" Norton combination coarse/fine India stone in a wooden box with diamond slurry applied to the box lid. Makes a great travel sharpening kit. A couple rubber bands keeps the lid secure. This fits easily in the corner of a duffel bag. DM
 
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You can get Shapton , Chosera , Nubatama , Atomas and DMTs in 1x4 " 1x6" 2x6" and 3x8" sizes
 
I really like my Spyderco Double Stuff personally, but a mousepad and some different grits wet & dry sandpaper might be an option you could look in to as well.
 
I carry my DMT Credit Cards, C, F, EF. Should work well for S30V although I don't have that steel. Need to be accompanied by some freehand sharpening skill though.
 
I like my Shapton pro stones for travel, they come with a sturdy plastic case that protects the stone in travel and doubles as a stone holder when sharpening. They are also very fast and produce excellent cutting edges.
 
Maybe something like the DMT Aligner kit, whichmis pretty light weight in a pouch but gives yiu a coarse stone with it for dull or damaged blades. Throw a marker in the pouch to find the correct angle for your knives and you have a good setup. It also helps take the noob or suck out of sharpening! :)
 
You mentioned you have the Spyderco DS and DC4, I use both of those. When you say you are looking for something better, do you mean bigger? I find both the DC4 and Spyderco DS good travel sharpeners, as long as you are not re-profiling a knife.
 
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