Sharpening stone Q's

[jeffrice6]

It's time for me to put away my sharpening "kits & systems" and learn to freehand on stones! My question is what stones? Can someone please recommend a brand(s) I should be looking at ~ as well as what grits I'll need.

[uxo2]

For starting out.

Buy harbor freight stones
And swapmeet knives.

When you get Free hand down. Then ask what I should get.

[jeffrice6]

For starting out.

Buy harbor freight stones
And swapmeet knives.

When you get Free hand down. Then ask what I should get.

Appreciate that, but could you point me towards something a little higher quality than HF?

[Cokebottle]

Norton synthetics are okay
DMT are diamond impregnated steel and never need to be lapped

I never could get the hang of freehanding knives, but I can put a wicked edge on a straight razor with a nice Belgian Coticule... totally different technique though. The straight razor is designed to lay flat on the stone so the angle is self-setting.

[uxo2]

Appreciate that, but could you point me towards something a little higher quality than HF?

There is a reason why.

When you start out learning free hand.

Everything is going to get screwed up. blades and stones.

You will concave your stone.

If you wish to trash high end. Go for it.

http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_store.html?ttl=Japanese%20Style%20water%20Stones&a=sharpen&c=water&

Or 10 bucks or cheaper with a coupon.

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-sided-sharpening-stone-60763.html

[kotetu]

what do you guys think of something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Togeru-Knife-Sharpening-Guide/dp/B00H8XPWEG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1450541727&sr=8-5&keywords=sharpening+angle+guide

I suppose you'd have to get the right one for each knife though, depending on the edge angles.

[Blademan21]

Just buy a Sypderco Sharpmaker. Chris Reeve recommends the Sharpmaker for sharpening his folders. In addition you can sharpen serrated edges with it and scissors if needed.

[ElvenSoul]

DMT

[Mirac]

A piece of thick plate glass and wet/dry sand paper.
120 - 1000 grit will get it scary sharp.

[ElvenSoul]

This kit + leather strop

http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/DMT-Duosharp-Plus-Diamond-Kit-P248.aspx?gclid=CjwKEAiAndSzBRDp5P232v-qtHkSJABw-VdtopFiqCFaqTpiYXs_1o6AsS9IYRGNh2XcloxW3KdtkxoC0Bfw_wcB

Can do large and small blades
Rust proof Google DMT Rust
Does not ever need to be lapped

[oktavist]

15 years as a sushi chef and I'm a huge fan of japanese wet stones.

[IMG][/IMG]
I've ended up with a variety of different grit stones over the years.

[IMG][/IMG]
The most used brand in my profession is called キング　"King"...
They are often 2 sided with a course and smooth side.
This is the box for a king stone with 4000/800 grit on each side.

[IMG][/IMG]
This one I use more for finishing...
1200/8000 grit.

I could get away with just the 4000/800 king stone if I needed to.
8000 grit is really just for polishing the edge.

I also employ a chisel stone that's super course to re-bevel edges.

I've found all these in my local major hardware store.
Ask if they have japanese wetstones.
They're usually tucked away in a locked case in a corner in some random section.

You can also try asian kitchen supply stores.

If your stone develops a bow in the center, you can take it outside
and rub it on the sidewalk outside to flatten it out again.
You'd be surprised at the number of sushi chefs I've seen doing this...
Or rub two stones together under running water.
The rougher stone will flatten out the softer one.

I never strop with leather. I usually use a piece of scrap cardboard
because it's all over the place at a restaurant. I like to improvise...

[oktavist]

what do you guys think of something like this?
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Togeru-K...ng+angle+guide

包丁とぎホルダー　"bouchou toki horuda" = knife sharpening holder
スパートゲル　"super togeru" = super accomplish
セラミック付　"ceramic tsuki" = ceramic attachment
Wow, calguns japanese lesson!

Angle guides never seem to be at the exact angle that I want...
Also, as the width (breadth) of the blade changes moving toward the tip, the angle of the guide needs to change. Otherwise you end up with a wider angle at the tip than at the the back of the edge.
Slow and steady practice makes them unneeded.

[Cyberion]

+1 on Japanese wet stones.

Watch Bob Kramer sharpen. While his stones are pretty expensive, you can use less expensive Japanese wet stones if your budget calls or it.

[uxo2]

Those are nice stones.

But hardly the stone I would recommend for a noob to learn on.

[slamfire1]

It would be nice to have Florindo DePinto's sharpening machine, (Ohio Historical Center), it does not require electricity , only water and leg power. You can sharpen knives, saws, scissors, and lawn mower blades! This is in the Ohio Historical Center.








Barring that, I don't recommend the harbor freight stones as I bought two and they were awful. The ones I had had hard spots and that ruined any edge.

I have had consistent good experience with Norton brand stones. I like long stones, an 8 inch stone is as small as I would go for free hand sharpening. It is really a toss up between an india/carborundum stone or an all carborundum stone. Carborundum is an advertizing name for a silicon carbide stone, goes back at least a century. Carborundum stones wear in the middle faster than the India, but then, so what, they are consumable items. I would say starting off with a fine/coarse 8 inch carborundum stone with a whetstone holder would the best combination to start.



I am currently using DMT 8 inch diamond stones. Knife steels have gotten so hard , particularly stainless steels, that I need the aggressive cutting of an extra coarse to coarse diamond stone to establish a bevel. Then I will go down the path to a fine, then I use either a Japanese waterstone or my extra fine Norton India stone. But, for high carbon and cheap carbon steel knives, there is nothing wrong with any of the pictured combination stones.

And there is one more piece of equipment that is needed: a magnifying lens. I am using the magnifying lens of a Swiss Army knife to examine the edge as I sharpen it. This provides the feedback I need to see what I am doing, and understand what I am are doing. For me, a free hander, it is vital to see the edge and see if I am varying the bevel angle. A consistent bevel angle is 100% critical to establish a sharp edge. It is far too easy to vary that angle when free hand sharpening. Seeing what you are doing, seeing if the angle is varying, getting that feedback is critical to achieving a sharp edge, especially with the extremely hard steels that are found on good knives.