water stones :)

[adam4584]

hey guys! i picked up a norton 1000/4000 combo water stone the other day at my local knife shop(house of blades in ft worth, tx) and have been using it the past couple of days on some of our old kitchen knives and man do i like it. i just have a few questions regarding the use, maintenance, and using different brands of finer stones with it. first do y'all have any tips/tricks to keep a consistent edge while using it? second is there anything "special" maintenance wise i need to know about it or is it just straight forward? and last but not least if and when i decide to get the 8k grit stone and maybe the coarse 220 grit do i need to stay with the norton stones or can i get a different brand like naniwa? thanks in advance for all the info.

 

[somber]

Tips/Tricks:
-Use a black marker on your edge so you can easily determine where your grinding away.
-You can place one or two coins under the spine of the blade to prop it up so you can gain a perspective. I think of it as like... one nickle maybe 12°, two maybe 17°. Depends on the blade, but you get the idea. Use this as a guide.
Maintenance:
-It's pretty straight forward. I let my stones drink for twenty minutes before I use them.
-After a while you're going to create a slope in the waterstone as you grind your blade on them, usually in the middle, and sloping down from the corners (since you really don't use the corners). You can always flatten your stones by watering down a sidewalk grinding the stone itself on this... Or you can practice using every area of the stone instead of just one specific area. But this isn't really anything to worry about.
Brands:
-I don't think it matters if you go to other brands, as long as the finished product is what you want. I use a KING 1000/6000 grit. I may get a stone that's in between the two, it will probably not be the same brand.

Hope that helps. There are better people than me at sharpening, but I think I've got an idea on how to do it fairly well.

 

[Roger999]

Tips/Tricks:
-Use a black marker on your edge so you can easily determine where your grinding away.
-You can place one or two coins under the spine of the blade to prop it up so you can gain a perspective. I think of it as like... one nickle maybe 12°, two maybe 17°. Depends on the blade, but you get the idea. Use this as a guide.
Maintenance:
-It's pretty straight forward. I let my stones drink for twenty minutes before I use them.
-After a while you're going to create a slope in the waterstone as you grind your blade on them, usually in the middle, and sloping down from the corners (since you really don't use the corners). You can always flatten your stones by watering down a sidewalk grinding the stone itself on this... Or you can practice using every area of the stone instead of just one specific area. But this isn't really anything to worry about.
Brands:
-I don't think it matters if you go to other brands, as long as the finished product is what you want. I use a KING 1000/6000 grit. I may get a stone that's in between the two, it will probably not be the same brand.

Hope that helps. There are better people than me at sharpening, but I think I've got an idea on how to do it fairly well.

You can use the corners if you want to get the most life out of your stones, this technique feels a bit awkward at first but is easy to get used to.

[youtube]cqOc75YhuBQ[/youtube]

 

[somber]

Murray Carter is the master of sharpening knives. I actually use his DVDs throughout the week as a refresher for how to properly train ones' self on water stones. He's got great, concise advice on how to sharpen knives on water stones.

 

[adam4584]

funny you post that video. i've been really contemplating getting his sharpening video's but haven't gotten them yet. are they worth the money? thanks for the info

 

[somber]

Hands down the best investment (besides the stones, of course) if you're trying to learn how to sharpen on waterstones. I would buy the first one, learn on that, and then get the second video on advanced sharpening. I have both, but I only really watch the first one since I don't want to overwhelm myself with too much information. The video is about three hours long, it's not a short demonstration but Mr. Carter goes into every detail you could think of, and explains the process very well. Often times when I'm thinking something about "How to do this" or "What's happening here..." it will be mentioned in the video.