What's a "good" stone for sharpening...

M

michealey

Joined
Dec 12, 2004
Messages
7
Hi Guys,

What would you suggest as a "Good" simple rectangular stone for keeping sharp my new Laguiole? I currently use a simple sharpening stone from K-Mart... with a little Marvel Mystery Oil on the stone for my old buck work-horse... but I'll a little scared to put the laguiole on that!

Should I go Diamond or Natural? Round or rectangular? I do enjoy the process... getting the right angle... checking progress - so some automatic sharpener is not for me... Also, not too expensive.

Any suggestions kindly appreciated as always,

Thanks!

~Mic

P.s. Happy New Year!!! :D
 
I like ceramics, a double medium/fine ceramic stone would be a good choice, I believe Spyderco makes a good one, If you want natural a set of medium/fine Arkansas should do the job.

My stones are very old and probably not in the market any more, my ceramic stone is an extra fine from Colorado Ceramics, my Arkansas set (actually Washita/Arkansas) is from Case or Buck, a set of Cheap Coarse/medium Washita/fine Arkansas/extra fine Ceramic, has worked for me for just about any knife sharpening job, though I should add that I also own a couple of diamond stones.
 
I'm a big fan of Japanese waterstones. They cut faster than anything other than diamond, are available in virtually any grit, and need nothing other than water as a lubricant. On the negative side, they "dish" quickly and need to be flattened from time to time and they wear faster than stones that don't cut as quickly.

You'll find that the tradeoff generally is between speed and longevity. The faster they cut, the faster they wear. Natural stones, as an example, cut very slowly but tend to last a lifetime. The waterstones make quick work of the process thanks to a water soluble matrix but need maintenance and replacement.
 
The 4"x10" DMT diamond laps and Japanese waterstones... favorite so far Aoto Blue Stone (2-3000 grit).
 
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