Thought on this sharpening Kit

[brian c miller]

Hello,

So far I've been using the sandpaper system on a piece of glass... it's worked okay but paper cost are starting to add up and the sheet of glass is big and clunky.

I thought I was a video on on scarysharp where at the end the guy did a demonstration using the diamond stone / water stone combo and sharpened a chisel us VERY quickly. I can seem to find it but thought this was bassically what he used:

http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Ultimate-Sharpening-Kit-P209C18.aspx

or the nest more expensive:

http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Ultimate-Woodworking-Sharpening-Kit-P86C18.aspx

Let me know what you guys think about switching setups.


Brian

[Jim Koepke]

I have a combo stone and I have separate stones. I mostly only use the 4000 side of the combo stone and then go to a separate 8000 stone.

A lot of my stones were bought used so there are a few duplicates.

My opinion is, in the long run one will find having the separate stones will be a better investment. If a blade has not been dulled too much, a quick touch up on the 8000 is often all that is needed on my blades. Sometime a trip to the 4000. The 1000 is usually only needed if the blade has a nick from hitting a knot or something else in the wood.

My suggestion would be to buy a 1000, 4000 and 8000 stone. If there are financial constraints, then a 4000/8000 combo stone may be best to start out. For anything coarser sandpaper is less work since it doesn't need flattening like a coarse stone will. Sandpaper also seems to cut faster than a coarse stone. Unless like me you buy a lot of used tools, you will not need much else for maintenance of your edges. If you do a lot of restoration work, then you will want a power sharpening set up. That is another story.

My caveat is that I only own one diamond stone. It is a small one that stays in the kitchen. It puts a good edge on the kitchen knives. My wife complained that the knives were "too sharp" when they were sharpened on my water stones. I like knives that are too sharp.

jim

[David Gendron]

Same as Jim here! I wouldn't get the diamond stone, you can flaten the WS on sandpaper on glass, and it is much cheeper than the diamond stone. I also work bad edge on 180 sand paper on granit plate and it work realy well!

[Jay Davidson]

Here is another good waterstone system: Shapton Glasstone

http://www.craftsmanstudio.com/html_p/Q!0000000.htm

This is a ceramic cutting media that lasts longer than Alum Oxide and Silicon Carbide, it works very well and requires minimal upkeep and flattening compared to other waterstones. It is very flat and you can easily keep it flat; you don't have to soak these stones, just spray some water on them, use your nagura to raise a slurry and, after reading Toishi Odata's book, sharpen freehand.

I also use a Veritas mark II to flatten the back of the irons, chisels, etc - what price tedium?

[Steve Dallas]

Hello,

So far I've been using the sandpaper system on a piece of glass... it's worked okay but paper cost are starting to add up and the sheet of glass is big and clunky.

I thought I was a video on on scarysharp where at the end the guy did a demonstration using the diamond stone / water stone combo and sharpened a chisel us VERY quickly. I can seem to find it but thought this was bassically what he used:

http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Ultimate-Sharpening-Kit-P209C18.aspx

or the nest more expensive:

http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Ultimate-Woodworking-Sharpening-Kit-P86C18.aspx

Let me know what you guys think about switching setups.


Brian

Slow speed grinder with a ruby or white wheel (150 grit), medium oilstone (or combo medium/fine), and hard black or translucent Arkansas stone.

S'all you need!

[jerry nazard]

+1 to both Jim and Jay's comments.

[michael osadchuk]

I also agree with Jim, David and Jay.

If you are on any kind of a budget, use sandpaper on a flat media (glass or a granite/marble floor tile) for flattening stones and put the money into the stones that do the sharpening/honing ...... if you wait for the stone surface to dry out, you can use any sandpaper and don't have to use wet 'n dry (like Jim, I've bought most of my Japanese waterstones used, so I have duplicates of most grits so I don't have a problem waiting to use cheaper, ordinary sandpaper for flattening)

I would recommend single grit Japanese waterstones or, at higher initial cost w/ less flattening maintainence, Shapton ceramics (as Jay suggests).

There are many media and ways to do sharpening: initial cost, long term cost, convenience/messines and maintainence chores often are trade offs and with technique and practice making most any media work for most anyone.

good luck

michael

[Don Dorn]

There are so many ways to do it well. It seems I've run the gambit, but have settled on a system much like your kit. I'm a big fan of investing the time up front to polish the back of the blade so I don't have to ever deal with it again, including not ever needing to use the ruler trick.

When I feel an iron getting dull, I take it out, draw it back on a 1200 diamond stone (don't have to flatten it) on it's sharpening bevel until I get a burr which is usually between 7 and 10 times. I then sprits an 8000 stone and repeat that, take it out of the honing guide and polish the back until the burr goes away. From beginning to end, it takes about three minutes with at least one minute taken up by getting and putting away "stuff". The result is a blade that will slice through a piece of receipt paper with no effort.

I went this way simply because I got a little tired of flattening water stones all the time. Since I only use an 8000, and a few strokes back, I only have to flatten it about every four sharpenings or so.