If you guys are doing a fully natural progression, what's your favorite stone to use to set the bevel?
If you have the right striped iyoto jnat it will get it done... A ridiculously fast coticule can do it but I always found bevels set on coticules wanting.
One of my favorite edges is a 100% Arkansas progression coarse Washita->fine Washita->surgical black. No synthetic edge I’ve found comes close to that progression, but if one did it would sure involve more than just 3 stones. I could easily cut it down to 2 stones too and just do more laps finishing.
there is a lot to be said for and in many cases a lack of appreciation for the lack of uniformity in grit sizes that natural stones provide.
I like a Washita no. 1 used with oil as a natural bevel-setter, followed by a translucent or black hard Arkansas.
A bevel is formed when an edge meets in the middle. An apex. How is one apex better than another? Imo it doesnt matter what you use.
Different stones and cutting actions yield different bevel geometries particularly at the apex. The end result is you need more or less time refining on different slower cutting finishers to get the final edge behavior you want. It ends up being overall faster for me to match up certain coarse/midrange stones with certain finishers.
An edge off a Washita for me takes fewer laps to finish on a slow cutting hard Arkansas than required to finish an edge coming off 3mu synthetic. The Washita also cuts noticeably faster with a little pressure than the 3mu, and stays flat.
It sounds like I’m blurring the question away from bevel setters into midrange, but I’m really not- I’ve got no shortage of midrange options and my experience is the Washita does it all if the blade isn’t particularly hard tempered. It’s just an easy brain dead decision to start with the Washita when I want an ark finished edge.
The other natural bevel setters have some value, but I don’t find them as useful and flexible as washitas.
A Washita edge on a kitchen knife is pretty wicked too.
I have a few mid-range jnats that cut very fast. One of them is super fast. 2 minutes or so to eliminate 1k scratches. I still think a bevel is a bevel. Many use a 3 or 5k to refresh bevels. Same principle. More refined edge than a 1k. You can dull an edge on glass and restore that bevel with a jnat finisher easily. I consider a bevel setter however to be a tool for grunt work, chip removal etc.
I use Arks that way often, I honed an edge that way last night actually; and the edges are shaveable, I just prefer 'more' out of my edges.