What is the best size stone for guided sharpening?

D

Diemaker

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Apr 28, 2017
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I have been wondering about this for a while now. 1" was picked in the beginning because the 6" stones only came in 1/2" or 1" widths, and 1/2" is too narrow. I think 6" long is correct. Maybe 7" would be nice for the stroke length but it would increase the size of the sharpener itself, which I am against. As for the width, I find I only use about 60% to 75% of my 1" stones so I think it should be narrower. I cut down some polish tape holder blanks to .6" and .725" wide, and think the .725" wide stone would be my pick. Of course, the stone holder widths would need to be the same too, I wouldn't want them wider than my stones. The advantage of a narrower stone is that you would get a thicker abrasive for the same money. Making a narrower stone with the same abrasive thickness wouldn't save much, so going with thicker abrasive would be the better value.

So, if we were starting from scratch, what size stone would you pick for guided sharpening?
 
I've often wondered if going a bit narrower would be an improvement...but my EdgePro is essentially a talisman, sitting alongside the shop sink waiting to be called into action if I screw things up beyond my ability to repair otherwise.
 
I like to start with a narrow stone when doing the first sharpening of a factory edge. I find it much easier to fix the weird spots that the sharpie reveals. But then I move to 1" stones.
 
I haven't used it much in recent years, since fully committing to freehand sharpening. But I did appreciate the versatility of DMT's Aligner clamp, which could be used with full-sized bench stones and closely emulated good freehand technique as used with bench stones. The guide for the clamp slides on the tabletop adjacent to and along the full working length of the stone. A very good training aid. Until I tried that the first time, I hadn't realized how much difference it makes in working speed for reprofiling edges. More abrasive surface area makes a huge difference. It cut the working time down to maybe 1/4 of what I could do with the typically smaller stones used with most guided systems.
 
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Diemaker said:
So, if we were starting from scratch, what size stone would you pick for guided sharpening?
Click to expand...
For large guided systems, 6x0.75 is great, but the 4 inch size works best for many of the compact, smaller sharpening systems.

0.5 inch stones are very useful too, but they easily roll and can deform an edge if the user is not careful.

Your 4x1 CGSW stones are excellent for the more compact systems, so please don't stop making them D Diemaker
 
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