Yet another sharpening stone question

[Frank Carnevale]

So looking around at some stones and wondering which way you would all go. So looking at the norton waterstones and the DMT stones. As far as the DMTs go, looking at the fine and extra fine (25 micron and 9 micron). As for the Nortons, looking at a set of 4 (220, 1000, 4000, 8000). Which would you go with if facing this decision? I am not buying old blades that need ALOT of work. I have a few new LN planes and Blue Spruce chisels...thoughts?

[Archie England]

So looking around at some stones and wondering which way you would all go. So looking at the norton waterstones and the DMT stones. As far as the DMTs go, looking at the fine and extra fine (25 micron and 9 micron). As for the Nortons, looking at a set of 4 (220, 1000, 4000, 8000). Which would you go with if facing this decision? I am not buying old blades that need ALOT of work. I have a few new LN planes and Blue Spruce chisels...thoughts?

All sharpening systems work! Pick one, or two, or three....;)

Speed, convenience, and edge sharpness/finish are the primary three issues to choose from. How much dishing, how quickly they break down, how hard or how soft, and how they feel in use would constitute the secondary issues to sort through. Oh, and let us not forget cost!

So, back to my first statement: all systems will work!

Ark stones equal Norton in speed on O1 but are slower a bit in A2. Your Blue Spruce are probably A2. The Nortons are horribly messy at the 220 and 1000 levels but wonderful to use at 4000/8000. Again, Ark and Nortons both top out about equal to a 5000 Japanese ceramic water stone. That's plenty sharp though not the end of sharpness. I hated the Norton 220; it's useless, being too soft and messy beyond description. The 1000 is messy, too, but effect eventually. I believe the Nortons are a great starter set if you can get them used. The Ark stones are great, fantastically easier and cleaner to use--just slower. Speed counts. Cost is about the same, though you might score the Ark stones a little more cheaply.

Look at the gloat thread about sharpening discovery, if you haven't already. There's some good material that will address more of your specific questions.

Lots of luck.

Arch

[Ryan Griffey]

I have the Norton 1000/4000 and 4000/8000 combination stones. I flatten them with a coarse diamond stone. I recommend them to all people learning to sharpen. Combined with hollow grinding it's an economical start with excellent results. I advise keeping it simple at the start.

If you evolve to ceramic/oil stones or diamond paste later on the water stones will still be useful at times.

[Gordon Eyre]

I too have Norton stones and find them easy to use and they produce an excellent edge on my chisels and plane blades. The 8000 grit stone gives a very nice polished bevel.

[john davey]

I have a Norton 220/1000 & King 1000, 4000 & 8000. The Norton is not used that much unless a chisel is in real bad shape. I currently use the 1000 side of the Norton to flaten the other stones. I think this is a good combo but am not sure of the differences between King and Norton although I am sure they both are fine. I think the grits you have chosen are good. I have no experience with the DMT's

[Joel Goodman]

So looking around at some stones and wondering which way you would all go. So looking at the norton waterstones and the DMT stones. As far as the DMTs go, looking at the fine and extra fine (25 micron and 9 micron). As for the Nortons, looking at a set of 4 (220, 1000, 4000, 8000). Which would you go with if facing this decision? I am not buying old blades that need ALOT of work. I have a few new LN planes and Blue Spruce chisels...thoughts?

If you get the DMT fine and extra fine you have 600 and 1200 grits -- at that point the Norton 220 and 1000 are unnecessary. I find the DMTs are good for the coarser grits and for flattening. I would go with a DMT coarse (325) for flattening the waterstones and to address nicks, then a DMT extra fine (1200) and if you are using a honing guide and microbevels just the 8000 Norton. You can always add stones if you find the need. IMHO the coarser waterstones are not so useful. Also for me more stones do not always equal faster or better sharpening. With an inexpensive honing guide look up the LN "board" to set the angles on their website; the fancy LV has it built in.

[Chris Griggs]

I find the DMT fine (600 grit) to be a good substitute for a 1k water stone if you want to avoid/decrease your soaking and flattening. It is not nearly as course as it sounds, and for I while I jumped from it straight to a norton 8k. I personally, don't like the DMTs (particularly the diasharps), as I find them diffuicult to freehand sharpen on, but when I was using a guide it worked fine for me.

[Jared McMahon]

I've bought mostly antique store and flea market tools that need a lot of TLC. I got a 500-grit stone (Shapton GlassStones if you're curious) and I find it gets the least use. If something is in good shape, it can usually go straight to 1000 and up from there. If it needs significant elbow grease, I almost always end up needing to work it on my granite plate with very coarse wet/dry sandpaper (in the neighborhood of 200-grit). So in my (admittedly limited) experience, those moderately-low grits seem to have limited utility.

If I were doing it again, I would get stones for 1000+ and stick to wet/dry sandpaper for anything lower on a case-by-case basis.

Just my $0.02.

[john brenton]

I would give the same old opinion that I always give, but the "gloat gloat gloat" thread is making me reconsider some things.