where to buy sharpening stones

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JJ_Colt45

JJ_Colt45

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Hi, I have been looking for some Shapton Glass Stones that aren't in stock at the usual vendors I use to buy my sharpening supplies from ... and was wondering if anyone could recommend other options that are good to buy from ...

the two sites I usually buy from are Chefs Knives To Go ... and Sharpening Supplies ... and I'm not big of ordering on Ebay due to past experiences ...

so can anyone recommend other places that are good to deal with that I can check to see if they have the stones I'm looking for in stock?

Thanks JJ
 
I haven't bought Shaptons before, but bought a few items from BestSharpeningStones, and noticed that they carry them.
 
I saw they have them listed in stock ... but after doing a search on here I found several threads about bad experiences dealing with them ... so I don't know about that ... but thanks for your reply.
 
Shapton parted ways with their main US distributor last year. Now individual dealers buy direct from Shapton, so there are lead times on when they get their orders in. They have to make relatively large orders at one time, and then have to wait for delivery. You already mentioned the two places I do business with.
 
Thanks for the information ... I was not aware of that ... I may have to see if it's possible to backorder from one of the two vendors I usually deal with.

Thanks JJ
 
Agree that SharpeningSupplies and CKTG are the preferred places, and for me, in that order. Sometimes I find better deals on a particular item at Knifeworks (like DMT and Norton), although I suspect they don't carry Shaptons.

Have you checked out some of the Japanese knife supply places online? @adamlau (whom I haven't seen online for a while) knew a lot of good sources of this type. Also, might PM Jason B. Jason B. , he has a lot of Shaptons and may know other sources.
 
Harrelson Stanley was Shapton USA but had a falling out with the new Shapton owners. Literally, overnight Shapton USA was gone and everyones main stone supplier was lost. CKTG picked up the slack by becoming the main importer but with many other items to stock he can't keep up on the demand.

The biggest issue for these small importers is that stones are shipped by boat and that averages about 3 months from the time the vendor places their order. So, without the ability to stock thousands of a single brand of stone like Harrelson did these smaller mom and pop shops tend to run out of stock quickly and are left waiting for the boat to arrive.

Your best bet for Shapton products will always be CKTG followed closely by Sharpening supplies... unfortunately, the wait times are longer these days and I suspect they will continue to be this way until a new Shapton USA comes along.
 
Thank you for your information Jason ... I usually order from CKTG I've been really happy with their service.

I may contact them and see if I can order the stones I want and them just back order them until they happen to get them in stock.

I may check with Sharpening Supplies also and ask the same.

I might have to go with an alternate brand of stones to fill the areas I need for awhile ... I have and like the Chosera Professional stones I have ... may get a couple in the grit I'm looking for or close to them for now.

The other option someone mentioned was trying the Spyderco Ceramic stones ... but I don't know anything about those yet ... I will have to look them up.

Thanks for everyones help JJ
 
Spyderco ceramics are not bad but not stones I would invest in given the other stones you are looking at.

The Naniwa Pro (Chosera) stones are very good and tough to beat in the enjoyment department however, I would only recommend the 400, 1000 and 3000 stones. The others in the NP line are good but these are the unicorn stones.

I would also recommend Suehiro Cerax and the Kohetsu stones. The Cerax were made to rival the Chosera and the Kohetsu is just an awesome 2 stone set thats ideal for harder steels.
 
Jason, slightly off-topic from thread title but sounds like OP has next steps, and I'm interested in your recommendation. ;)

Do you find that the Kohetsu could replace the needs for diamonds altogether? Or do you still see a place in your set for diamonds for certain high vanadium steels, plus a collection of something like Shapton/Naniwa/Suehiro for everything else?


Jason B. said:
Spyderco ceramics are not bad but not stones I would invest in given the other stones you are looking at.

The Naniwa Pro (Chosera) stones are very good and tough to beat in the enjoyment department however, I would only recommend the 400, 1000 and 3000 stones. The others in the NP line are good but these are the unicorn stones.

I would also recommend Suehiro Cerax and the Kohetsu stones. The Cerax were made to rival the Chosera and the Kohetsu is just an awesome 2 stone set thats ideal for harder steels.
Click to expand...
 
Only diamond and CBN is harder than Vanadium. For any steel with over 4% Vanadium I would only recommend diamond.
 
Jason B. said:
I would also recommend Suehiro Cerax
Click to expand...

I was looking at these also but am unfamiliar with them ... the Cerax seemed they might be on par ... but since I have used the Chosera and Shapton ... I will probably try the Chosera

I may try the Cerax until the Shapton come back in stock though ... thanks Jason.
 
Actually, that is an interesting comment. Because a lot of the so-called super steels have up to 4%, but not over. Including some of the latest popular choices like M390, S35vn, etc.

Are you able to get optimal results on these steels with anything other than diamonds?

Jason B. said:
Only diamond and CBN is harder than Vanadium. For any steel with over 4% Vanadium I would only recommend diamond.
Click to expand...
 
JJ_Colt45 said:
I was looking at these also but am unfamiliar with them ... the Cerax seemed they might be on par ... but since I have used the Chosera and Shapton ... I will probably try the Chosera

I may try the Cerax until the Shapton come back in stock though ... thanks Jason.
Click to expand...

JJ, if you have the time and are so inclined: would be interested to hear a brief post/review later on what you decide, and your feedback on the stones. I'm interested to hear about your experience with the Chosera.
 
I have used some Chosera stones already ... I really like them ... I don't sharpen alot of the so called "super steels" ... but the Chosera give good feedback and cut fairly fast for the steels I use mostly ...

I do prefer the Shaptons slightly over the Choseras for steels that are a bit harder ... but I'm far from a professional sharpener.

I have used the Choseras on everything up to S35VN and Elmax ... but usually use the Shaptons or at least finish on the Shaptons.

I am looking to add a couple stones on the coarser end and thought I'd try the Shaptons but seems they are out of stock currently. I do have a Chosera 400 I like but was going to try corser for some reprofiling ... I honestly don't like the feel of sharpening on diamonds and I don't own many knives that really need them.

I may try the Cerax or might go less exspensive and try to Norton Crystolon coarse ... at least until the Shaptons are back in stock.

I had not read anything on the Kohetsu Jason mentioned but they may be an option since he said they were good for harder steels ... they may reprofile faster.
 
Coticules from sharpeningsupplies.com?

My brother's friend(i sharpened and honed a machete they dinged up cutting up tree roots) offered to buy me a new whetstone for an upcoming birthday, and like someone with no real concept of money(but maybe some experience gambling) I suggested a coticule. So has anyone ever gotten one from sharpeningsupplies.com ? The price is something of an issue and on their site you can get a 2(2x4, 2x6, 2x8) inch wide stone vs the narrower stones of comparable price at the ardennes site. I'd considered a bout but can see how an irregular stone might need lapping more frequently. SharpeningSupplies says it isnt uncommon for hairline cracks to be in their stones, and im fine with that. I am curious if Ardennes sells them the cracked stones at a slight discount or what, i cant recall the ardennes site mentioning hairline cracks or not.
So if anyone has ordered from them i am curious if their stones are too coarse for razor finishing? If they are, that isnt really a problem for me, i could just use it before my black arkansas.
Also could i just order a benchsized bbw to rub it on for creating slurry? I assume i could use sandpaper on the coticule... but ideally the slurry stone would supply the larger-sized garnets, right?
Thanks for any info
 
For what it is worth, I have made many purchases from bestsharpeningsupplies and never had a problem. All my shaptons came from there in great shape, and in timely fashion. Russ
 
I should have closed this thread I found the stones I wanted back in stock not long ago and grabbed them whike they had a few at sharpeningsupplies

but thanks for the replies JJ
 
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