- Joined
- Jun 9, 2014
- Messages
- 1,125
It's ok, I was just being a bit defensive.
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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
waterstone sharpening, I suck.
- Thread starter Kitten Party
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2008
- Messages
- 1,647
I find the DMT Duosharp stones the best value available: http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/8-DMT-DuoSharp-Bench-Stone-P127.aspx
There are not cheap but excellent quality, 8 inch long and double sided with two different grits. Interrupted surface and very light. You can get a simple plastic base for it that works. No fuss, you can use them dry, (works very well, the dots prevent the stone from clogging) or with water and a bit dish-soap (that is what I do). You can also use mineral oil as a lubricant! I do not have much experience with oil but I used WD40 which I did not like. HeavyHanded I think likes them with oil?!
Mine are years old, well used and still going strong. Little pressure is the key and they will last you a lifetime.
Some here like the uninterrupted surface stores better but they are double the price and I have not found a significant difference, other than maybe a bit faster cutting. They are very heavy.
You can not use them for recurve blades though, so if you have knives like that you may want to consider a different way.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2010
- Messages
- 6,642
I do use mine with mineral oil. Most often I use them to recondition the carbide cutters I use to tool the surface of my Washboards (really just the extra fine DMT).
I honestly do not much like to use them on most cutlery. I believe Jason has stated the Shapton Pro waterstones can do even the higher Vanadium carbide steels, even if maybe not the best choice, so would be a strong contender. Starting from scratch, if I had to buy something for high VC steel I'd get the diamond jointer stone from Global tooling, and just use silicon carbide stones to do the base work - one only needs diamonds to take it to higher polish.
One could also use silicon carbide wet/dry to about 600-800 grit and transition to diamond lapping film for 12 micron and finish with 1 micron. I would buy DMTs if most of my cutlery were high Vanadium, for a piece or two I'd improvise the fine finish and get some stones I enjoy working with more for everything else.
I honestly do not much like to use them on most cutlery. I believe Jason has stated the Shapton Pro waterstones can do even the higher Vanadium carbide steels, even if maybe not the best choice, so would be a strong contender. Starting from scratch, if I had to buy something for high VC steel I'd get the diamond jointer stone from Global tooling, and just use silicon carbide stones to do the base work - one only needs diamonds to take it to higher polish.
One could also use silicon carbide wet/dry to about 600-800 grit and transition to diamond lapping film for 12 micron and finish with 1 micron. I would buy DMTs if most of my cutlery were high Vanadium, for a piece or two I'd improvise the fine finish and get some stones I enjoy working with more for everything else.