what stone do you prefer (oil, water or diamond)

lyman

lyman

Member
Hi guys
With all the options out there I'm having a hard time deciding whats best for me so I would like to know witch you prefer for sharpening and why.
really what I'm looking for is how you put on your first edge when finishing a new blade
whatever your method I would like to hear it.

thanks
 
Last edited:
I was taught on oilstones so that's what I use. They work well for me, if I do my part.

I have a tiny cheap-o 1" belt grinder but I would never use it for sharpening....too much room for error for a klutz like me. I use it almost exclusively for roughing out wood.
 
Diamonde for me. Way faster than anything else for me. Finish with a few strokes on leather loaded with green rouge.

Todd
 
I like water stones, although I only use them to sharpen my straight razor. They cut quickly and finely, and don't have nasty oil involved. They do cost, however. For sharpening all other knives, I generally use my 1x42, first grit belts, then a leather strop belt with green rouge. Nice and quick. There is also a page on my site dedicated to sharpening that I am currently working on, if you would like to check it out...
 
I really like the japanese waterstone on my tormek wet grinder,very pricey but worth it imo.
 
I have carried a red DMT for the last 12 years(the same one). I use it to finish all my customs and always have people hand me their knives cause they know I will sharpen theirs while they watch.
 
I use several things but get a good start with a 320 then 500 then 1200 structured abrasive norax belt on the 2x72 then switch it up to the paper wheel and its pretty hard to beat. kellyw
 
At home I always use a 400 or 600 grit belt to finish my blades. I do have a Smith's tri stone on my bench. But it rarely gets used.
 
I'll create an edge on a new knife by first setting it with a 120 or 220 belt, then clean it up on a P400 (about 320 grit). I'll gently slack grind it on a worn P600 (about 400 grit) belt. I bring the knife in and run it across my Spyderco ceramic sharpening stick. It's one that Sal handed out to all the makers at a Guild show years ago. Don't recall the grit, but it's the reddish brown one with synthetic garnet (I think). The belts get the material at the edge about as fine as possible, and the ceramic aligns and refines it. It's pretty darn good!

This technique is pretty much what Tim Zowada described in an article and to me personally years ago. Some people like their edges to be "toothy", but I believe this is better. The edge slides through things easily.

I've told several people about the Spyderco ceramic sharpening systems and they like them a lot.

David
 
David try a paper wheel youll never look back. When you said toothy I know exactly what you ment. Its when the steel cant get any sharper useing that method the steel actually flakes off the edge leaving a toothy appearance under magnifacation. This is not truely sharp but causes almost like a ripping action made by the blade. The rest of that edge when it breaks off will result in a very dull knife.
 
I always thought toothy was a less than good edge, sort of like unfinished. I've seen some makers describe using a 220 grit belt as the last one they use, but that's where I like to start. I can't imagine a toothy razor, sushi knife, or scalpel!

To use a paper wheel I'd have to buy a new piece of machinery, and I'm a cheapskate!

David
 
Well, I'm in the "toothy" camp. I'm pretty adept at sharpening anything to any finish I want, and have tried a highly polished edge on my edc and my kitchen knives, and they always leave me wanting. A polished edge will not cut a lot of things as well as a somewhat coarser one, and, unless you're just shaving with it, will never last as long as a somewhat coarser finish. I've tested and tested and tested trying to prove that a polished edge is superior, because it seems like it should be, but it just isn't in all around use. Scalpels are polished because the cuts they make heal faster with less scarring than something coarser, not because the edge lasts longer. A polished edge cuts better in this application because it is basicly a true push-cut, without the edge being drawn out of the cut as the cut progresses (basically no sawing action). Straight razors cut the same way- push cutting each individual hair, not drawing across it. Choppers fall into the same category. If you aren't push cutting, though, odds are that a somewhat toothy edge will perform better and last longer.
 
Todd, while I'm not personally wild about toothy (I've seen some toothy edges that I thought were small saws; I suspect your edges are a little finer!) I don't like polished either. For one thing, buffing an edge on a nice hand finished blade can screw up the finish. For another, running an edge up against a buff makes it feel like it's washed and rolled out. I guess my edges are in between, approaching the fine structure of a polished edge but not quite.

Scalpels only have to last for one surgery. They are disposable these days so they probably use a lesser grade of stainless for the blades. Wouldn't have thought of them as push cutters like a razor. Every procedure I've seen they seem to be drawn across the tissue in a slicing motion.
 
David, mine aren't exactly coarse, but nowhere near polished. I think the diamond stones I use are about 400 grit, and I finish with a few passes on a piece of leather loaded with green rouge.

A surgeon does draw the scalpel across the flesh, but does not "saw" at all, so it is, in effect, a true push-cut rather than a slice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top