What Stones for Sharpening?

Should I go for the 3" wide Arkansas stones? 2" wide ones are a lot easier to find and like 1/4 as expensive....
 
fonedork said:
Should I go for the 3" wide Arkansas stones? 2" wide ones are a lot easier to find and like 1/4 as expensive....
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Yes, I think 2 in wide would be fine. I like length though, especially for choppers. I can't use a 6 in stone, 8 in is barely adequate. The stone that I use in production is 15 in long. I wish it was longer.
 
If I was doing all of my sharpening with stones, I would want a relatively coarse diamond stone to set the burr before using anything like an Arkansas stone. Honestly, in Arkansas Stone is not really a good match for Delta 3V, but that's what I use because I'm retarded.

I'm allowed to say "retarded". I have a doctor's note.
 
If you strop loaded with a diamond compound as a touch up or as a final step in a sharpening sequence do you loose your toothy edge, and end up with a finer, more polished edge that will dull much easier?
 
Mendoman said:
If you strop loaded with a diamond compound as a touch up or as a final step in a sharpening sequence do you loose your toothy edge, and end up with a finer, more polished edge that will dull much easier?
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It would depend on the grit of the diamond compound or spray. The diamond will give a bit more aggression than stropping on bare leather alone.

Now, whether or not stropping is a necessary step once you've come off the stones, is another matter, and open to debate.

I tend to just go with my whims on any given day...as I enjoy various sharpening media.

(Also, whether polished or toothy edges last longer is a matter of some serious debate and contention. It's not for the faint of heart.)
 
Our sharpening processes have changed over the years as we have scaled up. Currently, all CPKs are stropped on a one micron diamond leather strop before they ship.


Years ago when it was just me and Jo we were shipping very sharp knives. That level of sharpness was difficult to scale up as we grew, but I have been tweaking and tinkering this whole time and our current output is very close to the level of sharpness we had years ago when we were low volume. A homemade 1 micron diamond shmoo is a part of this process. Although tree topping has never been a goal, we often are. 1 micron diamond seems to work pretty well, although you have to keep the strop loaded and fresh.


We use Arkansas stones for the microbevel after the belt grinding process. This is not an optimal material for a high vanadium carbide steel because it glazes, but this can be addressed by dressing the stones on silicon carbide paper frequently to keep them sharp.
 
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Good stuff, Nate. I use a 1 micron diamond emulsion from NORTHWEST_KNIFE_GUY NORTHWEST_KNIFE_GUY who is a member and service provider here on the forums...along with a few of his strops in various leathers and basswood.

Don is a great guy to deal with for anyone who has an interest in such things.

I'm somewhat surprised to hear that you use the Arkansas stones, (I still have some that haven't seen use in a while), though not at all surprised by the 1 micron diamond you use. Always great to hear about various methods and techniques.
 
Yes, Arkansas stones are not ideal but I have been using them for over 30 years and am a creature of habit. They can be made to work by keeping them aggressive but you are correct, they are both too hard (insufficiently friable) and too soft (lacking wear resistance) for such a hard and abrasion resistant material. My challenge is finding a CBN or ceramic stone large enough for my technique. I like a 15 inch stone.

The majority of my sharpening process is done on a 3M ceramic belt but a hard stone is necessary at the end to get the edge condition I need. First and foremost there must be no wire edge. I don't care if the damn thing is dull, no wire edge!
 
I stop on 400 grit venev

Then strop with 6 micron diamond emulsion on basswood

This has been used and not re sharpened but still insane sharp and 6 micron gunny juice gives me a some what polished but wonderfully toothy edge

Screenshot_20220424-130424_Gallery.jpg
 
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Nathan the Machinist said:
Yes, Arkansas stones are not ideal but I have been using them for over 30 years and am a creature of habit. They can be made to work by keeping them aggressive but you are correct, they are both too hard (insufficiently friable) and too soft (lacking wear resistance) for such a hard and abrasion resistant material. My challenge is finding a CBN or ceramic stone large enough for my technique. I like a 15 inch stone.

The majority of my sharpening process is done on a 3M ceramic belt but a hard stone is necessary at the end to get the edge condition I need. First and foremost there must be no wire edge. I don't care if the damn thing is dull, no wire edge!
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I wonder if you could contact DMT to see if they have (or could custom produce) a 15" diamond plate in your preferred grit?

They already have 11.5" diamond plates (Dia-Sharp line). I have the Extra Fine (10" 6 micron?) and Extra Extra Fine (8" 3 micron?) plates.

I usually skip the EEF plate and go from EF to homemade diamond paste strop (balsa wood strip from Menards, glued to finished pine base 4" x 12").
 
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