Which Dia Sharps Should I Buy?

nate3993

nate3993

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Jul 29, 2008
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I really want to get I to free hand sharpening. I' ve done very minimal, but am not bad for what I know. Anyways, I wanna get some dia sharp stones and was wondering which to get? Thanks
 
I've been pondering the same question for a while too. I think that what I've decided is that two stones is what is needed; one for reprofiling or fixing bevels and one for sharpening. The consensus is that the Fine stone is great for sharpening and I think that the Extra-Coarse is preferred to the Coarse for reprofiling. But, this is just what I've picked up from reading, not from doing.

There may even be a double-sided stone with just this combination... yep, D6FX 6" benchstone with fine and extra-coarse. That would be my first choice if I had $55 and wanted to get really into freehanding.
 
if your just getting into hand sharppening with stones I wouldnt recomend using diamond stones at all.

You Will Fu*k up your blade garanty it lol its just the take off metal to fast go out an buy some cheap oil stones first practice keepin same angles
 
It is very easy to mar your blades with a coarse or extra-coarse diamond hone. I would start out by just buying a fine grit hone. Once you get confident with that I would decide whether I wanted an extra-fine hone for finishing edges or whether I had a lot of blades that needed heavy work and that I needed a coarse hone. I don't think an extra-coarse hone is needed. Go and buy a cheap belt sander from Harbor Freight if you need to do that much heavy stock removal.

Get the longest hone that you can afford (at least 6 inches). I keep a 6" fine/extra-fine Diasharp hone in my desk drawer at work. At home I use 8 or 12 inch hones.
 
I agree with the mucking up your blades. Diamonds are great, remove material fast and leave a nice finish that can be brought up through the grits. Practice on some cheaper stones then move up.

I use Course-Fine-Extra Fine-Cr2O3 loaded strop. Excellent edge. Managed to put a much steeper edge on a 3.5" S30V folder with just course stones.
 
Or you could just get the diamond hones and practice on some cheap/beater blades :thumbup:
 
cool...i think that all i would need would be fine and extra fine...i'll start on some cheap stones first though...thanks
 
For years I used a DMT Fine for everything from reprofiling to putting the final hair whittling sharp edge on my blades. It's held up fine and is still in use to this day. I currently use a DMT XX Course for reprofiling, which is much faster. I'd order these two, and practice on the fine. They remove metal quickly, so I'd focus on making sure your technique is solid before using the XX Course.
 
For years I did all my sharpening with a DMT coarse and x-fine. Now I do more with the fine and xx-fine, but I tend to keep my knives shaving sharp and try not to let the get really dull.

I second Vivi's caution regarding the xx-coarse; it is the belt sander of the flat stone world. It is amazing for reprofiling really dull blades and removing nicks, but converts steel into dust very quickly so use a light touch.
 
I think I like my X-coarse duosharp more than my XX-coarse diasharp. It doesn't remove material quite as fast, but still does a good job and doesn't leave as deep a scratches in the blade (when you decide to go finer). I've used the XX-coarse a bunch, and I need to go for a long time after it with the X-coarse and/or coarse to get the deepest scratches out. I may have a rogue big diamond or two that has never worn down. I use these more for re-doing the main blade grind than edge bevels (though they come in pretty handy when you damage an edge, too).

I agree that the fine is a good first stone. And I'd buy good stones and use cheap knives to practice - you can always use a cheap knife, but you will rarely or more likely never use a cheap stone after you get better ones. And I'd also recommend to get a nice waterstone and make a nice strop if you want to get empty water bottle cutting sharp.
 
Broos said:
I think I like my X-coarse duosharp more than my XX-coarse diasharp. It doesn't remove material quite as fast, but still does a good job and doesn't leave as deep a scratches in the blade (when you decide to go finer). I've used the XX-coarse a bunch, and I need to go for a long time after it with the X-coarse and/or coarse to get the deepest scratches out. I may have a rogue big diamond or two that has never worn down. I use these more for re-doing the main blade grind than edge bevels (though they come in pretty handy when you damage an edge, too).

I agree that the fine is a good first stone. And I'd buy good stones and use cheap knives to practice - you can always use a cheap knife, but you will rarely or more likely never use a cheap stone after you get better ones. And I'd also recommend to get a nice waterstone and make a nice strop if you want to get empty water bottle cutting sharp.
Click to expand...

Haven't heard that before(empty water bottle cutting sharp), but I like it.
 
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