What should I add to my existing sharpening stone set?

SunOfAtom

SunOfAtom

Joined
Feb 26, 2014
Messages
193
I have a oil stone kit which includes a coarse+fine India stone, a soft+hard Arkansas stone, a leather strop and chromium oxide honing compound. As I continue to get better with sharpening, I feel like there is a fairly big jump between the hard Arkansas stone and the strop. I added a step with 1500 grit sandpaper before stropping, which seems to have helped. I can get a decent polish on the blade, but under close inspection it is still somewhat cloudy with fine scratches.

I am thinking of adding a couple of strops (black emery and white rouge?) though I thought I would see if this seems like the right direction. Would I be better off going with something like an ultra fine ceramic stone? The knives are coming out really sharp, I am just looking to get better refinement.

Dave
 
SunOfAtom said:
I have a oil stone kit which includes a coarse+fine India stone, a soft+hard Arkansas stone, a leather strop and chromium oxide honing compound. As I continue to get better with sharpening, I feel like there is a fairly big jump between the hard Arkansas stone and the strop. I added a step with 1500 grit sandpaper before stropping, which seems to have helped. I can get a decent polish on the blade, but under close inspection it is still somewhat cloudy with fine scratches.

I am thinking of adding a couple of strops (black emery and white rouge?) though I thought I would see if this seems like the right direction. Would I be better off going with something like an ultra fine ceramic stone? The knives are coming out really sharp, I am just looking to get better refinement.

Dave
Click to expand...
The reason for this is all your doing is polishing the high parts of a 1500 grit scratch pattern. Stick with your one CrOx compound for now but get another finer stone, maybe pick up a 1k/8k India stone to replace/compliment your Arkansas stone. Or if you want to stick with the hard Arkansas look for something ~5k before stroping. This will help get rid of the "polished scratches" your getting now.

Also what compound are you using, there can be a huge amount of difference from one "green" to the next, there is no standard.

Even a fine ceramic stone would be a step in the right direction, the fine spyderco is around 2500 grit, that would be a good start.

My choice- instead of buying an ultra fine spyderco stone I'm going to lap one side of my fine spyderco 8x2 to make it into a combination stone, it'll probably take several days of work but its free. The material is exactly the same, only the finish is changed to determine fine or ultra fine.
 
How about a more aggressive compound? Or 1500-2000 then strop. I am learning too.
 
Last edited:
You could spend a couple dollars and pick up 3m wet dry 2000, 2500 sandpaper and see how you like the finish going that high before investing into the various stone for that same level of finish.
 
I picked up the 1500 grit sandpaper at an auto parts store, though they did not have anything higher. I may stop by another to get some finer grits, though I know I would like to get better refinement than I am getting now, and would like to avoid sandpaper in the longer term.

Cereal_killer, the CrOx compound is Formax green micro fine honing compound (.5 micron particle size). The inconsistencies of products and different scales for abrasiveness (micron, grit, etc) certainly don't make things obvious for us beginners. I am still not sure what grit my hard Arkansas stone is, but have heard a range of 600-1200.

Can you tell me more about lapping the Spyderco ceramic stone? A combo fine/ultrafine stone sounds like it could be just what I need, and the price would be more manageable for me if I only need to buy one stone.

Thanks!
Dave
 
I'm actually in the process of doing it right now (along with taking pic's), been at it all day with a 180grit lapping plate. I'm pretty satisfied with the progress, I'll move up to my 360 grit plate tomorrow then 600 then 1200 (I planned on this being a multi-day process over the weekend). I'm going to do a write up w/ pic's some time next week, I'll look you up and PM you when I'm done and have it posted.

So far its coming along great and you can already see (and feel ) the difference.
 
You may have to go online, I know around where I lived when I tried looking online for local ships with those higher grit sandpaper's I didn't find anything. And the auto stores around where I live are very good about having their inventory online and up to date too, hardware stores same thing. So you may have to purchase online and not local. I know of one assorted pack which is 9 x 3 2/3 in size and has 1000,1500, 2x 2000, 2500 which may be the cheapest way to test things out, the model number is "3m 03006" a quick google search will bring it up. That's among one of the cheaper routes to go unless you can find a place to buy the sheets individually or you buy 5pk's of each grit.

One of the reasons why I recommended sandpaper was so you could test out what a more refined edge is like before investing more heavily into a stone. Should give you an idea if you like edges that refined.
 
Stop by an auto body shop and ask. A local shop GAVE me a few sheets of 2000. I did sharpen the guys knife, but that's not a hard price too pay! :D I will ask Monday (they are closed Sat.)

Maybe I can get a care package together for you.
 
Auto parts stores will have up to 2000 grit, though they might not have anything more coarse than 600. Fiber optic supply shops will have lapping film in silicon carbide, aluminum oxide and diamond generally from 30u through sub micron. Use them over a very hard backing (or a Washboard :)) for best results.

Martin
 
For hard backing if you choose to go down that route you can go down to a glass or plastic shop and have them custom cut a few sheets for you. A local place near where my mom lives charges a minimum of $10 to run a custom order but depending on how thick I want the polycarbonate or glass I could be looking at as little as $1 a sheet for things that are around 9x2 up to 9x3 2/3 as I am not set on dimensions on what I want if I go down that route.

As for the Washboard, I have heard great things about it and if you ever decide you like using sandpaper( even though it sounds like it's more of a temporary thing) I highly suggest looking into this as I've heard nothing but praise for it from the little research I did into it.
 
HeavyHanded said:
Auto parts stores will have up to 2000 grit, though they might not have anything more coarse than 600. Fiber optic supply shops will have lapping film in silicon carbide, aluminum oxide and diamond generally from 30u through sub micron. Use them over a very hard backing (or a Washboard :)) for best results.

Martin
Click to expand...
Now I'm thinking I need a whole new set up! Thanks a lot!
 
Thanks for all the info guys. It looks like I'll find some additional grit sandpaper until I decide exactly how I want to proceed with finer stones.

Dave
 
Monofletch said:
Now I'm thinking I need a whole new set up! Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

All these films and papers are very convenient but do make it difficult to achieve crisp shoulders and bevels, the substrate allows for a bit of give in most cases. Keeping them clean while working is another big concern - they have no built in way of shedding the swarf. On sandpaper is very important to stop and clean often with a large eraser of crepe rubber - every time you see the debris build up. This will make the sandpaper last far longer than many would believe possible, and improves the quality of the ground edge quite a bit as well. Use of soapy water will make the films last a long time respectively - have to take care of them if you want a good return. Light pressure is very important too.

I personally stopped using them for a long time after learning how to convex on a hard stone, but came back after testing it on my Washboard which eliminates a lot of the shortcomings I find using sandpaper or film, even over steel or glass. When I saw I could now do crisp transitions/shoulders even on a tanto pattern, was enough for me. Experiment but observe carefully, keep the paper tight.

Martin
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top