for Knife Sharpening Stones/ buy is closed

[ouch]

Jay we all know that your pile of stones makes this stack look like bread crumbs in comparison.

Maybe my kidney stones..........

 

[jmwebster]

Looks like I will be getting this tomorrow. VERY excited!

Thanks to everyone who played a part in putting this deal together for us!

 

[Mink]

Just a quick check, will these sharpening stones require anything special for flattening or can I use a DMT on them?

 

[Doc4]

Just a quick check, will these sharpening stones require anything special for flattening or can I use a DMT on them?

Great minds think alike ...

HI Dave, and thanks for taking part!!

So ... for us straight razor guys, we're used to lapping our hones on an almost constant basis to maintain the uber-flat surface that razor honing needs. How often (if at all) do we lap these knife-honing stones? And what's a good item to use for lapping? (I have a DMT diamond grit 325 plate for lapping ...)

I like to keep my knife sharpening stones flat but they don't need to stay nearly as flat as your razor stones do. I simply let the stone tell me when it needs lapping and then I do. If I see a lot of steel showing on the surface, if I feel grooves or wear marks, or it's just been a couple of knife sharpenings I will flatten my stones. I don't make a religion out of it but I am more pro-active with lapping than most knife sharpeners and I think that's because I've come to realize that it's a lot easier to lap a little bit often than a lot every now and then, plus I've experienced that if you let a stone begin to dish it begins to wear at a much greater rate as the dishing becomes worse so it's best to not let it dish at all.

My preference for stone lapping is diamond plates, the coarser the better. I can't stand fine plates that stick through suction (aka - sticktion) to the stones while I'm lapping, this drives me nuts. In the past I've used DMT plates (120x) but in the last year or so I've switched over to the Japanese made ATOMA 140x plate. The ATOMA plates are more expensive but have some key features that make them superior. The surface is made up of tiny posts that have the diamonds embedded into them which leaves the areas around the post to become channels that work in preventing the sticktion effect from occurring. This doesn't word for every stone but it's at least 50% better than DMT's in this regard. Also, the plate is comprised on two parts, the base and diamond surface pad, the latter being replaceable at a lower cost. For use on knives I also prefer the ATOMA plates since they cut faster yet are far less aggressive causing zero edge fracturing which is a problem that I've seen commonly with DMT plate use on hard thin Japanese knives.

As I mentioned above my preference for stone flattening is a coarse diamond plate (140x) but I've found that finer grit stones work more efficiently if their surface is smoothed over so for stone in the >4k range I follow the diamond plate with a 6000x synthetic nagura. I chose to use a nagura because it doesn't stick but a finer grit ATOMA plate like the ATOMA 600x would also work great here as well.

Thanks for your questions.
Dave

One question ... how do I use the 6000x synthetic nagura? From its size, I would expect to lay the stone down, and then rub the nagura on top of it, kind of like using a giant slurry stone. Is that about the size of it?

You have the use 100% correct. The only thing I'd add is to rinse the stone's surface after use to make sure that the slurry has been removed.

 

[DaveMartell]

Just a quick check, will these sharpening stones require anything special for flattening or can I use a DMT on them?

Doc posted the answer and some extra info too but if you missed it yes a DMT plate can be used to flatten/lap these stones.

I'll also add that all stones should be flattened out of the box before use. Very rarely are stones provided flat from the manufacturer.

Now for flattening the 500x Beston you'll need something in the 120x-140x range, anything finer just won't do.

 

[pdillon]

Got my stones yesterday. Glad I checked in here, because I didn't realize the stones would need to be lapped. I'm completely new to all of this. Looks like I will need to get a course plate and the finer nagura. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[DaveMartell]

As a short term solution you can use sandpaper on a flat surface (like glass, granite, marble, etc) to lap your stones on. This isn't ideal for sure but it's cheap and does work.

 

[Mink]

It's ridiculous, why am I more excited about having 3 new hones than really sharp kitchen knives?

The 1200 is a big, beautiful hone.....and may also see some bevel setting activity on the razors (especially circles). The 500 is really coarse. The 5000 is on a nice high base, and should last several lifetimes. Off to watch the video.

 

[DaveMartell]

It's ridiculous, why am I more excited about having 3 new hones than really sharp kitchen knives?

The 1200 is a big, beautiful hone.....and may also see some bevel setting activity on the razors (especially circles). The 500 is really coarse. The 5000 is on a nice high base, and should last several lifetimes. Off to watch the video.

Don't forget the No-Doze pills

 

[Alacrity59]

As a short term solution you can use sandpaper on a flat surface (like glass, granite, marble, etc) to lap your stones on. This isn't ideal for sure but it's cheap and does work.

Can you expand on this a little? Wet/dry . . . 120 grit sandpaper? 60?

 

[DaveMartell]

As a short term solution you can use sandpaper on a flat surface (like glass, granite, marble, etc) to lap your stones on. This isn't ideal for sure but it's cheap and does work.

Can you expand on this a little? Wet/dry . . . 120 grit sandpaper? 60?

I'd go with the coarsest you can find and maybe a finer one or two grits for smoothing the finer stones. The actual grit # makes little difference, it's how fast they cut and how long they last being the key things to consider.

Oh yes, wet/dry is a must, silicon carbide will work nicely here.

 

[Jim]

I just want to add how important it is to ease the edges of the stones before using them as part of the flattening process.

 

[ouch]

I just want to add how important it is to ease the edges of the stones before using them as part of the flattening process.

Yep. Chamfer the edges.

 

[century]

Got mine today.
Schweet !

 

[Mink]

So, my feedback so far. I have Henckels knives that are 12 yrs old, or so. They have never been professionally sharpened, but they're ok knives. I watched both videos - the 2nd disk has most of the new info if you are experienced with sharpening razors.

1. lots of variables when you first start out. Setting the primary bevel is very different because of lifting the spine off the hone. I don't think my knives had a primary/secondary bevel, so it's like starting from scratch. It's not easy. The black line left from the metal - is it a not quite flat yet hone?, is it uneven pressure?, does making a bevel leave a very uneven black trail on the hone until it's evened out. You'll see.

2. I sharpened two knives, a paring knife and a chefs knife that is a little smaller that what he sharpened in the video. The transition from the straighter part of the blade to the point is a royal PITA. Arcing to make the bevel on the point end of the blade and making a smooth transition to the straight part will take some experience....meaning, maybe next time.

3. I found that only using one thumb against the hone and spine to maintain the angle works much better than using two because two thumbs/fingers moving against the hone causes too much drag.

4. Just like razors, getting the bevel right is key. I will need to go through the whole sharpening sequence again when it's time because the sharpness is not the same along the entire length of the blade. This is frustrating. Both knives are sharper than I can get them by just using a sharpening rod (not saying much), but I still have quite a ways to go before I will be satisfied.

5. I feel like this was a good start. I would really like to hear from others and what they experienced. Maybe we need a new thread.

 

[Alacrity59]

Great thread Dave and a natural direction to take us all in as we start receiving our hones.

I had gotten into the habit of riding the top of the blade edge with the fingertips of my free hand to help guide the blade and maintain the angle. Worked very well for me at 1000 grit but when I moved up to 4000 and 8000 I started shaving off skin from my finger tips. My point, other than letting everybody know my silliness, is that maintaining the blade angle is very important.

Man, I can't wait to see the dvds.

 

[Dude123]

Awesome!

Got my stones toady, amongst a few other goodies, though Canada Post feel the need to hit me for taxes . Hopefully I will have the chance to watch some of the DVD this week. Gotta admit I'm excited to sharpen up my knives, though my kitchen knives are still razor sharp, so I'm afraid to mess them up. I see some very sharp pocket and camping knives in my future though.

Thanks again Dave!

 

[Alacrity59]

Awesome!

Got my stones toady, amongst a few other goodies, though Canada Post feel the need to hit me for taxes . Hopefully I will have the chance to watch some of the DVD this week. Gotta admit I'm excited to sharpen up my knives, though my kitchen knives are still razor sharp, so I'm afraid to mess them up. I see some very sharp pocket and camping knives in my future though.

Thanks again Dave!

Just like going to the store. Yep taxes. I think the collection efforts have become less stringent over the years but these were a bit over the limit.

 

[Dude123]

Haha yea. Not an issue at all, just hoped to get one by the customs boys. To be honest I think this is the first, or maybe second time canada post has ever collected from me, though UPS has nailed me before.

Regardless, money well spent. Now we need to see some of those super sharp knives that we all should have sometime soon.

 

[Alacrity59]

I watched the two disks . . . Dave Martell Basics . . . very well presented. Great tips that will help me better maintain my Japanese knives without doing damage. (or in my case to at least reduce the damage I cause)