Recommend a good stone?

jkf96a

Well-Known Member
I'm pondering getting a stone for sharpening. Currently I sharpen with a 400 grit belt on my craftsman, then use the 600 and 1000 grit stones from my lansky system (without the jig) to polish out the edge, then strop on bare leather. My lansky stones work well, but are tiny. What kind of stone should I be looking for to improve my process? Hard Arkansas? Diamond?
 
I've always been fond of using a cermic rod for sharpening all of my blades. I use a 400 and then 600 grit belt to establish my edge. As a final step in the sharpening process, I use the ceramic rod and allow just the weight of the blade to apply the needed pressure.
 
I've always sharpened a knife with the idea in mind of whom I'm sharpening it for, and the intended use. For example, if I'm sharpening a "collector grade" knife, I will generally sharpen it on a worn out 400 grit belt, then give the edge a light buff. This produces an edge that will "scare the hair" away....but it's not necessarily the best edge for everyday chores, and especially not the best for hunting situations/game animals.
For knives that I know are going to be used, particularly for hunting, fishing, etc. I use a Norton Fine India stone, leavings the edge UNPOLISHED/BUFFED. This produces and edge that may not be super shaving sharp, but it is a very aggressive, long lasting edge, which works particularly well cutting hide, flesh, etc.
 
I have alot of stones but dont use one for knives . Razors is a different story.I would get a set of stones if thats the way you want to sharpen and Norton is hard to k beat for the money. You could get 2 stones a 1k/4k combo and a 3/6k or just go with the combo .You really dont need to go any higher than 4 k for knives . Then get a strop and paste it with chromium oxide and it will be pretty good. I use lots of different things for sharpening I have a tormek t7 and a paper wheel system and high grit belts up to 3000k I use for sharpening knives . Stones in my opinion are slow but very effective. I have several norton stones from 600 to 4k and then finish on a scotish hone or my japanese whet stone up in the 12k range and use a nagura slurry to bring it up to 20 k . then strop in a variety of diamond paste and cr ox and finish on a fine leather strop.
 
For cutting speed and feel I'd opt for waterstones. For ease of maintenance diamond stones.
Depending on the intended usage and the knife you can go to different grits to refine the edge.
In the 1k grit range I like the Naniwa chosera 1k and lots of people rate the bester 1.2k highly (I have the 800 grit but prefer the 1k chosera). The advantage of these stones over the Norton waterstones is higher hardness and abrasive density which gives quicker cutting, slower dishing and less chance to gouge the stone.

For Diamond stones, Atoma are generally seen as the best, followed by DMT. I'd opt for a continuous pattern to avoid the tip from digging in.
 
For cutting speed and feel I'd opt for waterstones. For ease of maintenance diamond stones.
Depending on the intended usage and the knife you can go to different grits to refine the edge.
In the 1k grit range I like the Naniwa chosera 1k and lots of people rate the bester 1.2k highly (I have the 800 grit but prefer the 1k chosera). The advantage of these stones over the Norton waterstones is higher hardness and abrasive density which gives quicker cutting, slower dishing and less chance to gouge the stone.

For Diamond stones, Atoma are generally seen as the best, followed by DMT. I'd opt for a continuous pattern to avoid the tip from digging in.

Well said. I too would suggest the same approach.
 
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