Add a Comment

In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on May 20, 2011 at 21:23

Thanks so much Hal, I am really excited about all this and what I am learning about the new ways to sharpen knives. I guess ya'll are laughing at me for being so out of touch with the progress that has been made in knife sharpening. I have alot of friends and have talked to a professional cook in the city of Lafayette, La. He said he's gonna give me a set of Japanese water stones that should get me going in the beginers stage and beyond. Thanks again, buddy.

Comment by Halicon on May 20, 2011 at 18:07

@Jan, I'm afraid you're touching an incredibly vast subject. Natural Japanese stones is something that I haven't seen any interest for here at iKC, I would love to help you out but I'm afraid I would -really- have to pick your husbands head on the kind of steel he uses, what he uses it on and so on.

The Japanese has a saying that goes with their stones and that is that the steel is the husband and the stone is the wife, basically meaning that you can't just get anything but more in-depth that each stone is as different as a person and that's something that I realize more and more as I use these natural stones.

 

In either case I would be happy to help him if he's a woodworker to acquire a really nice finisher, those are the easiest to obtain and are sold rather cheap with uneven sizes while the perfect rectangles can really run your wallet dry.

 

@Robert, I would really recommend for you either to get a fully customized set in a cooperation together with someone that has experience of what stones are good.

In general, combination stones are almost always of inferior quality compared to the "purebred" stones. The only brand I know puts decent quality on their combination stones is King, but seeing how good Kings regular stones are I still can't recommend it.

 

There are generally three major brands for knife sharpeners today, Shapton, Sigma and King.

Shapton is an amazing stone, the only drawback of it is that it's quite hard rendering it unforgiving for beginners, this is a plus for some and a minus for some others though. It also has some troubles getting a good hold of heavy alloy blades, Blue steel, D2, ZDP-189 (or Cowry-X, same thing) and the like, if you mainly use steels like those I would have to recommend either a Sigma or King.

 

Next up is the Sigma, an equally amazing stone but this puppy is utterly devastating for beginners - almost ridiculously hard but it can tackle any type of steel and eats it up in the process. Extremely aggressive, my favorite brand right now but I polish a lot of HRC 64-68 Jap tool steel which you need a stone like this for.

 

Then we have the King. It is a medium-soft stone with natural particles mixed in. Very forgiving and a great stone for starting out. Has no problems with alloys or carbon steels but on the other hand also lacks the almost space-age cutting ability of the Shapton and Sigma.

It doesn't fall behind too far though and I would hands down recommend this to someone that I know doesn't deal with very hard steels.

 

I have sets of each three kinds of stones and they all excel at different areas, so what I would really like to do is either get you a customized set for your needs or make a mixed set fully customized only for the sharpening tasks you face (like Sigma or Shapton coarse stones and King mid and finisher).

 

Feel free to contact me when you're ready to get cracking on your own specialized set, this is the way I was introduced and is the way I introduce people myself now with very good results.

 

Until then, stay sharp my friends

In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on May 20, 2011 at 16:13

Thanks Don and Halicon, this is what makes this club great.

Comment by Terry Waldele on May 20, 2011 at 1:05

OK, I give up.  I now realize that I don't have the stones to participate in this discussion.

In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on May 19, 2011 at 19:42

Don, thats what I meant when I said "maybe not even those". I'll study everything and listen to some of ya'lls advise.

In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on May 19, 2011 at 18:34

I have been given these web sites that have them for sale and explain them a bit. Sharpeningsupplies.com and Traditional wood worker.com

In Memoriam Comment by A. G. Russell on May 19, 2011 at 18:27

Would some one please define whetstone for me, I am stuck between 1940 and 1965 and really need to know what you are all talking about.

 

thanks,

 

ag

Comment by Jan Carter on May 19, 2011 at 18:14

While ya'll are talking stones.  Can someone tell me what all buzz is about the Japenese stones?  The ones that look like they broke it into a bunch of small peices to sell?  I dont know anything about them but Donnie really likes his stones so I thought I would find out some info and maybe get him one for his birthday

In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on May 19, 2011 at 18:14

 

Hal, I am thinking of getting two Japanese whetstones, which two should I get. A 240X1000 or a 1000X6000 stone. Maybe not even those, your thoughts on it please.

In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on May 19, 2011 at 15:17

Great Hal, now you see where I'm at with stones. I don't like useing something that I don't know how to use correctly. Some might just grab the stone and go with it. I know enough to realize that whetstones and oil stones are quite different and just because I know how to use a oil stone doesn't mean I know anything about whetstones. I hope to learn and learn right. I am not looking to be a master professional like yourself but someone that can put a real good edge useing a whetstone.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 18
• 19
• 20
• 21
• 22
• Next ›
• Page