Will this rig work/best sharpening set up for $100-180

Bladenoobie1

Bladenoobie1

Joined
Jul 20, 2012
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I need a good free hand rig good for getting out small chips, reprofiling, and taking an edge to a mirror polish. I've been looking at an potential set up which is:

DMT coarse diasharp
Shapton glass 1k stone
Spyderco UF ceramic benchstone


This rig will mainly be used for sharpening pocket knives all under 4 inches in length. I don't have a ton of money to drop on this set up so don't recommend things that are out of my budget range. I would like to keep this set up limited to 3 stones if possible.


- Bladenoobie1
 
pretty sure you can get a Edge pro with a couple stones for that coin on Ebay. I just got one, mine was 225 but it came with more stones etc. The other systems may be fine yet I don't have any experience with them but from what I've read the Edge Pro would be superior. On the higher end of your budget, though.
 
I actually prefer freehand sharpening as opposed to guided systems. I also noticed the edge pro lacks diamond stones to be rigged up with it and it a bit of concern to me as I'll be sharpening high wear steels.


EDIT:

Can anyone tell me if the Shapton glass 1k to the Spyderco UF benchstone is to big of a jump?
 
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You can get 2x6" DMTs of all grits for the EP already mounted on blanks, or Atoma diamond plates, which are more expensive, but work even better.

If you want to stick with freehanding, that's cool, but another Shapton is a whole lot better than the Spyderco anything.

The DMT XC is a better choice than Coarse for your needs.
 
I've used spyderco ceramics and the uf will mainly be for polishing the edge and giving that extra "pop". Still have the same question as before:

Can anyone tell me if the Shapton glass 1k to the Spyderco UF benchstone is to big of a jump?
 
No, it's not too big. From all I've seen, Spyderco's ultra fine is about 2k grit.

Shaptons and Spyderco's ceramics are not even related. Spyderco uses a fine diamond plate to surface their stone. The "grit" is not renewable. The surface of the stone stays "as is". It quickly loads with steel, and you clean the surface with a mild acid as found in Bar Keeper's Friend.

Shapton glass stones do use ceramic for abrasive, but it is a renewable surface. The grit fractures and exposes fresh, sharp, new grit. That's why they work so much better, and aren't similar.

You could easily go from your 1k to a 3k or 4k glass stone, and get much better results.
 
grizzled gizzard said:
No, it's not too big. From all I've seen, Spyderco's ultra fine is about 2k grit.
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In my experience, UF effective grit around 8K-12K. It can burnishes a nice mirror edge better than my Kitayama 8K, especially on wear resistant steels.

Shaptons and Spyderco's ceramics are not even related. Spyderco uses a fine diamond plate to surface their stone. The "grit" is not renewable. The surface of the stone stays "as is". It quickly loads with steel, and you clean the surface with a mild acid as found in Bar Keeper's Friend.
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A few lapp with DMT XX or X would remove rounded/bald abrasives (embedded alumina), expose new layer of alumina.

Shapton glass stones do use ceramic for abrasive, but it is a renewable surface. The grit fractures and exposes fresh, sharp, new grit. That's why they work so much better, and aren't similar.
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Apple vs orange <=> ceramic vs alumina.

You could easily go from your 1k to a 3k or 4k glass stone, and get much better results.
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Agree, per OP intention.

**
OP: 1K shapton glass jump to UF is too large, perhaps jump to a 5K (or spyderco Fine) before UF. Still, I think, diamond/cbn is a better route for getting your m390 knives sharp & mirror.
 
Is cbn ceramic? I may just go the diamond/ceramic route. Its just that I was recommended shapton 1k stones by some individuals and was told they give a great edge.

As of right now I have 2 possible routes for a freehand rig:

Coarse DMT diasharp
Extra-fine DMT diasharp
Spyderco UF benchstone

or

Coarse DMT diasharp
Shapton glass 1k
Spyderco Fine benchstone
Spyderco UF benchstone


Also I'm deciding whether to purchase a 8x3 dmt stone or a 2x6. There is a huge cost difference and I'm wondering if the larger stone makes that much of a difference.
 
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for that kinda coin you get a heck of a set up, just got mine for less than 150$ a few months back, it is 6inch DMT dia-sharps in course, fine, extra fine, 8x2 spyderco UF and then a leather strop with DMT 1 micron paste they make a perfect mirrored edge that pops hair clean off.

but if you really want to be fancy go DMT course, fine, extra fine, strop on 6 micron paste, DMT extra extra fine, strop on 1 micron paste, then 1/2 micron diamond spray, total cost should be $180 ish

btw the spyderco UF is not too big of a jump coming from a 1200 mesh DMT extra fine.

and btw i sharpen a large ka-bar kukri on my 2x6 stones and its fine, just dont sharpen swords on them.

and for a good mirror you need course>>fine>>extra fine>>ultra fine>>strop with paste, i've found anything bigger in jumps dosent get a good mirror on it.
 
kimberfan said:
for that kinda coin you get a heck of a set up, just got mine for less than 150$ a few months back, it is 6inch DMT dia-sharps in course, fine, extra fine, 8x2 spyderco UF and then a leather strop with DMT 1 micron paste they make a perfect mirrored edge that pops hair clean off.

but if you really want to be fancy go DMT course, fine, extra fine, strop on 6 micron paste, DMT extra extra fine, strop on 1 micron paste, then 1/2 micron diamond spray, total cost should be $180 ish

btw the spyderco UF is not too big of a jump coming from a 1200 mesh DMT extra fine.

and btw i sharpen a large ka-bar kukri on my 2x6 stones and its fine, just dont sharpen swords on them.

and for a good mirror you need course>>fine>>extra fine>>ultra fine>>strop with paste, i've found anything bigger in jumps dosent get a good mirror on it.
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So in your experience, the 2x6 stones are fine to work with?
 
I recommend, DMT 8X, 6F (yes, skip Coarse), 6E, 4EE and diamond paste 3+1+0.5+0.25micron ... adding up to around $180. The 8x3 Extra Coarse is great for heavy metal removal, thus larger is better.

CBN = cubic boron nitride, almost as hard as diamond and produces smoother surface/edge than diamond. Yes, it will abrade Vanadium carbides.

In the last 3 months, I used my 8x3 UF stone less than 5 times. The burnishing mirror finish is nice but its slow cutting and tendency to produce wire edge kept this stone in the leather pouch. btw - I spent/invested more than 10hrs flatten this darn stone and ruined my 8X in the process. Neverthelss, it's nice for sharpening straight razor.
 
I'm pretty darn confused. Also why do you skip coarse in your list of dmt diasharps? And where would I buy a cbn stone?
 
Bladenoobie1 said:
I'm pretty darn confused. Also why do you skip coarse in your list of dmt diasharps? And where would I buy a cbn stone?
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X = 60 micron, C=45 micron, F=25 micron, E=9 micron ... C is 75% of X, hence C is redundant in the sharpening grit progression.

Instead of diamond paste, you can get CBN compound or slurry from United States Products.
 
Have you made the jump from x-coarse to fine? Is it feasible to get rid of the deeper x-coarse scratches with the fine stone?
 
Bladenoobie1 said:
Have you made the jump from x-coarse to fine? Is it feasible to get rid of the deeper x-coarse scratches with the fine stone?
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Look at F to E, 25 to 9 micron which is about the same jump percentage-wise as 60 to 25 micron. Recommendation based on my own experiences.
 
Bladenoobie1 said:
So in your experience, the 2x6 stones are fine to work with?
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more than fine for 12 inch or less blades, my kukri is just pushing the limits of the 2x6 stones but i can do it fine, if you plan for pocket knives and fixed blades less than 8inchs i would go the 2x6 and save money.
 
I have been using an XC to F step for a long time, with absolutely no issues. You won't spend much time with the F plate at all. It will surprise you.

A word about smaller stones; Yes, you can sharpen your machete on a 2x6 stone.

Back in the day... way back, lol, I used a set of Arkansas oil stones. There were only two stones. The big one might have been 2x5" or so, but the fine stone was really quite small. At the time, I thought nothing of it, and got sharp knives. I knew nothing of scratch patterns, but Arkansas stones, especially the fine one, really doesn't leave any tooth on the blade anyway.

Obviously, bigger stones are easier to use, but more so, they are quite a bit faster. More stone coming into contact with more of your blade will do that.

It takes a little understanding of scratch patterns to understand the second reason. Your scratch pattern can be thought of as serrations, especially with the nice sharp scratch patterns of diamond stones. Optimally, your scratch pattern should be 90* to the edge of the blade, for the whole length of the blade. This will give you the maximum number of teeth.

The more you have to draw the knife toward you as you move across the stone, the more slanted your scratch pattern will be, and the fewer teeth you will have.

The finer your scratch pattern is, the less this matters, but it does make a difference.

So, for speed and optimal scratch patterns, bigger stones work better. When you figure the investment in your DMTs spans ten years, that's very little extra investment compared to the benefits you would be reaping for those ten years.

JMHO
 
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