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Dalstrong whetstones

Also for the guys talking about using the paper with paste and or the lapping film, I have also tried that with exceptional results. But I don’t get the same feedback as I do with a stone. I guess it’s hard to explain. I will continue to use the lapping film on my marble slab when it suits me to do so, I just have an affection for feeling the stone I guess. But yeah I was amazed at how well it works for how cheap it is.
 
I tried films but no matter how clean my environment is some kind of debris ends up under the film causing a bump that would frustrate me very much but I never have that problem with stones. I have plenty of film and blocks to use it on but I much prefer natural stones for touchups and finishing and synthetic to get me to the finish fast so I can use a coticule or similar.
 
Dalstrong does a quite a good job at three of the most important things to making a product a success in a somewhat naïve marketplace.

Marketing their product, presentation of their product, and customer service.

From what I’ve heard, their customer service is wonderful, second to none.

They’ll take back, and issue refunds if you’re unhappy, without too much question. Nice quality in a company.

Their packaging and presentation is right up there with the best, and for a lot less money.



Their marketing is doing a wonderful job at convincing people there knives are made out of high-end steel, and their top of the line knives are actually a super steel. Throwing words around like Japanese steel, German steel, and Super steel. Can pretty much think you’re buying thebRolls-Royce of knives, if you don’t know better. Last I checked ASU8, and ASU10v (a step down from VG-10) were, well OK, but far from hi-end.
The product is manufactured in YangJing, China.

I’m not saying any of this is a bad thing, just that the sharpening stones probably run along the same lines as the rest of their product line, and are manufactured with the same type of moderate material. The stones may be lacking some of the qualities, Steve pointed out, your looking for to use on a razor.


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Or you could finish out your Shapton pro line with a 5000, 8000, 12,000 for $240, from CKTG. Then have a good bit of money left to spend on Atoma/DMT plate, strops, and find some other nice finishing stones.

Take your time and buy what you want, it’s not that extravagant a hobby.

Don’t put too much emphasis pinching pennies for something you will be able to keep a lifetime.

If you do decide to keep the Dalstrongs. Good luck with them, and I do look forward to seeing what you think of them.

JMHO
 
Dalstrong does a quite a good job at three of the most important things to making a product a success in a somewhat naïve marketplace.

Marketing their product, presentation of their product, and customer service.

From what I’ve heard, their customer service is wonderful, second to none.

They’ll take back, and issue refunds if you’re unhappy, without too much question. Nice quality in a company.

Their packaging and presentation is right up there with the best, and for a lot less money.



Their marketing is doing a wonderful job at convincing people there knives are made out of high-end steel, and their top of the line knives are actually a super steel. Throwing words around like Japanese steel, German steel, and Super steel. Can pretty much think you’re buying thebRolls-Royce of knives, if you don’t know better. Last I checked ASU8, and ASU10v (a step down from VG-10) were, well OK, but far from hi-end.
The product is manufactured in YangJing, China.

I’m not saying any of this is a bad thing, just that the sharpening stones probably run along the same lines as the rest of their product line, and are manufactured with the same type of moderate material. The stones may be lacking some of the qualities, Steve pointed out, your looking for to use on a razor.


View attachment 1082773
Or you could finish out your Shapton pro line with a 5000, 8000, 12,000 for $240, from CKTG. Then have a good bit of money left to spend on Atoma/DMT plate, strops, and find some other nice finishing stones.

Take your time and buy what you want, it’s not that extravagant a hobby.

Don’t put too much emphasis pinching pennies for something you will be able to keep a lifetime.

If you do decide to keep the Dalstrongs. Good luck with them, and I do look forward to seeing what you think of them.

JMHO

That’s some great information too. I’m not expecting a lot from these stones other than something that works and hopefully doesn’t create any bad habits. If I’m not happy with these I will definitely just slowly progress with better stones when I can. But who knows, maybe they are Chinese miracle stones ;)
 
When I first started 2 to 3 years ago with the gold dollar mod contest, I bought a set of king stones from the bay the full set cost me under £130. And to be fair they worked, from there I have progressed got a few coticule's a full set of arks and several Jnats.
And at this moment in time, I'm happy to where I am Plus I got a welsh slate and a purple slate.

But one thing I will say is the members helped me along the way, the only thing I had to do was ask the questions for advice....
 
When I first started 2 to 3 years ago with the gold dollar mod contest, I bought a set of king stones from the bay the full set cost me under £130. And to be fair they worked, from there I have progressed got a few coticule's a full set of arks and several Jnats.
And at this moment in time, I'm happy to where I am Plus I got a welsh slate and a purple slate.

But one thing I will say is the members helped me along the way, the only thing I had to do was ask the questions for advice....
I’m thankful for the responses I’ve gotten. I’m going to do some honing this weekend and follow up. But everything I’ve learned has came from reading these forums. Well that and geofatboy and Keith V. Johnson for sure.
 
Like I said, hones could be good quality, but like others, looking at price and the fact they're new, it's a gamble for the time being.

When I was starting with razors and transitioning from oilstones (Which I've used for decades for knives) to buying a set of whetstones, everyone said just buy Nortons, and the Naniwa SS series, and shaptons were just starting to gain traction as "premium" alternatives. I looked at the $200 Norton kit that was what people were calling the standard razor set back then and wanted something cheaper. I bought Kings and three or four different chinese brand hones off eBay for $10-30 each. They all removed steel. Problem was it didn't seem that the 8k I had was any finer than the 5k or that that was any finer than the 3k. Using them was an act of faith. Then two of them dissolved and started crumbling while soaking. By this point I had a DMT 600, 1200 and an 8k en route... and I was noticing my edges coming off the 1200 were better than what I was getting off these cheap synths. Once the 8k got here, there was no comparison.

I've since tried premium brands (naniwa, shapton, bester, etc). I keep reselling them and going back to DMT's. None of them are as good at the grits DMTs are available at as are the DMTs... but they are miles ahead of the cheap hones I was using. I've got one midrange synth in my pile right now. A Sigma Power 6k. It's a split-stone with a 13k on the other side.
My DMT 8k finishes better, but not miles better... if I didn't have the DMT 8k... I'd buy one... If I couldn't buy one, I could get by with the Sigma 6k. If DMT started selling a 20k hone, I'd be first in line (I guess diamond film is the closest thing atm... but I'm too lazy for film).

Compare that to the cheapo 5k, 6k, and 8k I'd owned? My 1200 finished better than those.


Keith used to be a regular on this forum if I'm not getting names mixed up. Still posts a bit, I think. @Gamma


Geofatboy rings a bell too.
 
I will definitely look into DMT plates a bit more. I’m really grey on their function and what you need vs lapping film. But it seems there is a lot of info out there. I just need to see what I’m missing out on I guess.
 
I'm actually the opposite. I'll use the lower grits for knives, but I never use my 8k... I just don't like that feeling of absolute no give and almost no bite. Don't doubt that it works... I've seen some guys on knife forums ranting and raving about them. I just don't like the feeling under a knife. In that range finish, I'll grab a Tam-O... now that's a feeling I love under a knife.


I've had a lot of razor honers I respect try the 8k DMT and brush it off as no good or not worth using for razors. Most of them are Chosera guys. Hey that's their stance. I've compared 8k DMT edges against pretty much every stone you could imagine. Nothing that's anywhere NEAR the grit or speed comes anywhere close to producing an edge as clean. I have to go up to 10k JIS and beyond to start getting edges as clean as my 8k mesh DMT produces (for reference that's about 2.5-5x finer grit). An 8 or 10k JIS stone sure as heck shaves better... but the edge is not cleaner.

Why does that matter? Because how CLEAN an edge is directly translates to how much work the next honing method has to do. That means that even if a Shapton 8k shaves better than a DMT 8k, if you're following them both with a Jnat, or a Coti, or a Thuri, or a 10k Chosera, or a 16k Shapton... it requires less time and effort with the DMT than the Shapton. And since I'm not planning to shave off either, that means the DMT does the job I bought it for better.

This mentality and methodology has led me to keep using a <$200 razor honing progression for 10+ years, even while I've spent thousands buying and testing numerous alternatives. And with that cheap progression, a whole lot of funds are freed up for buying what matters... the best darned finisher you can lay your hands on and a nice strop you enjoy using.
 
Oh I'm with you on that. I hate the feedback, but I agree you can't argue with the edge produced. I usually use mine for just the last touch on wood carving knives, chisels and sometimes lathe tooling. Stuff that needs a super keen pushcut edge. Not kitchen knives.
 
Well as promised, I return with a report for anyone who gives a hoot. I’ve honed about 18 different razors on these stones and here is what I have found out... the 1K stone is pretty much junk. It’s actually like a 500 half the time and it seems to get tired after a bit. I eventually pulled this after about the 3rd razor and will use it on my kitchen knives if needed. The rest get progressively better and the 8K is quite nice. I wanted to wait until I had done a nice Sheffield wedge on this setup to give my feedback. But most of you guys were pretty spot on with your reservations. I did a few razors with just the Dahlstrong stones and they were OK at first. I had good shaves. Nothing crazy. But I pulled the 1k from the rotation and used my Shapton 1.5k to set. Then used the 3-8K. Things improved. Then I went back to finishing on lapping film and started at the 12K film and finished on 30K. I know that’s overkill but it was consistently really good. Like really really good. I spent about 2 min at each progression. Maybe 40 laps or so. I only used paper on the 30K film but tested a float pass on my arm hair each time and could really feel it from the 8K on. I’d say they are a great budget set and move on from there. I’ll probably phase them out this year though. Just not what I would want to use all the time. Thanks for everyone’s initial assumptions (you were all correct) and your expert advice is easily proven here.
 
You look at the Shapton Kuromaku stones? Excellent stones.... great value

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
You look at the Shapton Kuromaku stones? Excellent stones.... great value

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Yeah that 1500 that I have is a Shapton Kuromaku! It is what makes everything great with my edges! (I have already decided that I’m going to blow tons of money on stones because that’s just fun to do.) I bought a coticule today from @Gamma so maybe I will figure that out this century.
 
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