Where to find a good arkansas stone/strop + examine my setup

I don't like to use oil so I put mine in a pan with water and boiled it out (takes about 10min) and use soapy water now. Works better IMO.

It's only a size difference.
 
You won't be going for razor sharpness with a 100 grit Sic stone so that's not a issue.
 
Just wet it in soapy water and use it wet and soapy? It's not an issue because I'm finishing with a extra fine dmt diamond whetstone and strop, the coarse norton is just for making the beginning edge. Makes sense. I really hope this extra fine dmt stone makes a scary sharp edge. *fingers crossed*
I've been making less than decent knives for years. I'm ready to get a "little" better.
 
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Wow that .05 micron paste makes that edge look mean. I mainly only use 154cm but I will get the 1 micron paste as you said when I can. It is $20.00, is this necessary or just a slight difference?
If I ever wanted my edges to be even sharper later on what would I add to this Norton/DMT setup?
 
As edge refinement increases cutting technique must also advance. The only problem is it takes years of paying close attention to master cutting technique let alone the ability to produce the edge. The edge has breath taking sharpness but its more a show of skill and ability of tools than a practical edge. Though that greatly depends on application.

The advantage of diamond compound is it does not slow down and works extremely fast. In your case it would be used just to remove the burr, 1 micron is far too fine to polish the edge after a EF hone. But.... I personally have stopped using compounded strops, I have started using a barber strop and like it much better.

Adding on for increased sharpness you could go several directions but I would probably add the Naniwa aotoshi green brick + kitayama 8k. I would hold off on that for a while though, build your skill with the diamonds and work at getting sharpness at lower grits before shooting for the stars.
 
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Hand American sells strop leather at woodcraft.com for $14, check my "how to make a strop" thread. I would only recommend this leather for use with compound.

Bare leather works but I find only bare horse hide leather makes any progress. Hand American sells it through CKTG.

When it comes to the burr and stropping a burr should be almost undetectable before stropping. If the burr scrapes the leather or compound then you didn't do enough on the stones. My thread "the burr" might help explain some of that too.
 
Chef knives to go is out of horse hide leather right now. I would like horse hide so I can get away without any compounds right now and then use compound when I need.

And just to be sure from this store this is the correct Norton silicon carbide stone isn't it? It says coarse when checking out but has a different picture and item#.

http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/983/sharpening-tools
 
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It says coarse...

I have never ordered from that site so I can't say for sure.

I'll check with Keith on the leather....

You might also want to check classic shaving.com barber strops are very worth it.
 
Barber strops from what I've seen are about $60.00 to $80.00. Why are they better than regular horsehide?
 
They are better cuts of leather and go through a more involved process that makes them work MUCH better. They usually have a linen de-burr side too that comes in handy. Just a higher quality product.
 
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