Waterstone Advice Needed

i4Marc

i4Marc

Joined
Oct 19, 2011
Messages
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For those of you who have experience with Japanese waterstones, I have some questions. Like most of you budget is a concern. Also, I am not sharpening a lot of kitchen knives. Most sharpening will be sporting knives like hunters and bowies etc. The knives I'm making now are all flat ground with the exception of a couple of kitchen knives which basically have a full flat grind but convexed toward the edge. I have purchased a couple of stones which will arrive today. One is a Suehiro Rika 5K. The other is a Takenoko 8K polishing stone. I also have Green Chrome and Pink No Scratch rouges for strop loading. And if I ever feel like getting crazy I have 50K and 100K grit diamond powders too. But here is my question. I am considering buying a coarse stone. I am leaning toward the Amakusa natural stone which is approximately 1K grit. The reviews I have read say it acts more like a 3K stone which I feel is advantageous. I want to fill the 1K-3K range. The Amakusa gets good reviews and the price is very good. Am I missing something or does the Amakusa seem like a good choice? Additionally, I would like to get a Nagura stone or two. My research suggests that the man-made stones and naturals should use different Naguras. What grit range and material would be appropriate for the natural 1K stone and which for the 5 and 8K synthetics? Again, price is a concern. I plan on using wet/dry paper mounted to a granite surface plate to set the bevel and sharpen up to perhaps 1 or 2K grit then go to the stones and finish on a strop.
 
Well your dealing with many different types of abrasives here , which can lead to problems , so lets forget about strops for the moment.

There is no advantage to go Sandpaper - Jnat - Synthetic.

The synthetic will quickly remove the natural finish , you could save some money and just go sythetics all the way to your rika and then.move up to some Jnats.

The Nubatama stones play particuairly well with Japanese Naturals , i would be looking at the 1k and 2k speckled stones to get you started. These are the more cost effective stones of the line. From there you can move on to your Rika , and then start looking at some naturals. Maybe a Meara or Yaginoshima Asagi.

You will need a high quality lapping plate such as the Atomas. Expensive , but worth the cost over other options.

When get Jnats you can get them with matching TomoNagura , this would be all you would need.

The Amakusa is only 800-1000 grit , its a hard stone.
 
Can you post a link/links where I could find some of these other stones you mentioned (Meara or Yaginoshima Asagi)?
 
Contact Ken at ksskss@earthlink.net , hes the worldwide distributor for Tanaka Toishi (outside of japan)

Down the road i would also be looking at replacing the sandpaper with something along the lines of the 150 nubatama
 
Ok, great. And because I'm a complete noob at stones I'm assuming Jnats refers to Japanese natural stones, right? Also based on your comments earlier, am I to understand that natural stones will leave a finer finish compared to man-made stones at comparable grit levels?
 
Not necassairly finer. But different.

Jnats scratch patterns are much different than comparable synthetic stones. Both Aesthetically and from a performance standpoint. These stones have no known "grit" rating , Even looking under the microscope is decieving with Jnats. This is a complex topic with -many- variables.

So i wouldnt neccassairly say finer than comparable synthetic stones , although sometimes this may be the case. But i would say that they tend to outperform comparable synthetic stones.

Im sorry i cant give you a more precise answer, but these stones just do not work that way. :) If your interested we can skype sometime and go into more detail. Or Ken would be more than happy to get you started down the rabbit hole :)
 
I would like the best performing edge possible but I don't think I can afford natural stones. I definitely need to do more research. I will contact Ken and see if I can get a better understanding without my head exploding.
 
Very hard to explain the different finishes.

My 8000 synthetic leaves a near mirror shine.
My natural stone leaves a misty finish (no grit rating but less mirror shine) yet it looks fantastic.
 
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