Preferred Sharpening Abrasive

[Robert McNaull]

What is your preferred sharpening abrasive in terms of waterstone/oil stone/diamond plate/sand paper and brand (norton, king, etc.)? I have a cheap 1000/6000 grit no brand water stone and would like to upgrade to a couple better stones and get a higher finishing grit. I am sharpening plane irons and chisels. You don't have to provide justification for your selections unless you wish too, especially useful if you have switched methods for a certain purpose.

What is your preferred sharpening guide or do you prefer free hand?

I am 99% confident I want to continue with water stones, I just don't know what the best choice between all the options of water stones and ceramic stones as well. Anyways, thanks for sharing and appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

This could be another thread that goes forever.

The more I sharpen, the more I re-affirm to myself that the media matters less than I want to believe.

If you're 99% sure you want to continue with waterstones, perhaps the best way to move forwards is to decide what you don't like about the stones you have now. Do you want something harder, softer, faster, easier to flatten, less likely to go out of flat, not needing a soak, etc.? If you just want "better", there's plenty of good choices that are probably all equally valid. If your combo stone is working ok for you, perhaps just adding a polishing stone, or a charged strop to finish off the edge when the extra bit is needed is a good way to go.

Ever since Chris got my hands on a Sigma 1000 grit, I've been meaning to replace my lower-end Naniwa Superstones; the new 1000 stone grit fixed my largest problem with them - that the 1000 grit didn't stay flat because it wasn't bonded well to it's base. Since then, even though someday I'd like to replace them, I've learned to work with their little idiosyncrasies, and realized I don't *need* to replace them.

[Robert McNaull]

Joshua,

I think the biggest struggle is it seems to cut slow, but I seem to have to flatten it much more often than I feel like I should. Maybe another good question is how often you have to sharpen your specific stones.

I do want to add an 8000 stone at least and a better 1000 grit. The 6000 side stone seems to hold up fairly well, cuts slowly, but does not need flattening near as much as the 1000. I use sandpaper on a granite surface to to grind bevels and remove major defects when lapping.

My wife wants to get me something for my first fathers day so with the great opportunity, I want to get a good water stone I think;)

[Chris Griggs]

My preference is for ceramic water stones. In the 800-1500 range my favorites I've used are the Sigma 1200 and the Chosera 800. The Bester 1200 and Sigma 1000 are also very very good and a bit less expensive than my two favorites.

In the 8k and greater range there are lots of good options. I'm currently using a Naniwa Snow White 8k as a finisher, which isn't the finest finisher out there but is a fantastic stone that is very nice to use and has an incredible amount of speed for its finess. I'd kinda like to get something finer so will probably pick up a Shapton Pro 12k or Sig 13k one of these days.

I don't use a mid grit stone much other than sometimes for working up backs, but I do have sigma 6k which is nice, its on the fine end of things for a mid grit stone but still plenty fast enough.

The best bang for buck out there at the moment is Stu's 1k,6k,13k, atoma diamond plate set. There really nothing out there that's better and still reasonably priced and the only reason to go with something else is if you specifically want splash and goes or if you have a personal preferance for something harder (which I happen to) or something softer.

If you have a specific budget you really want to stay in just get a 2 stone setup, shoot Stu at http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/ an email and talk to him about your needs.

A high quality 1k ish stone and a high quality 8K or higher stone can cover 99% of your needs.

As far as methods, I prefer to hollow grind on a regular 6" bench grinder and free hand hone, but I do use aguide sometimes for some plane blades. My favorite guide is the cheap side clamping guides you can get for $15 from just about anywhere.

[Harold Burrell]

Joshua,

I think the biggest struggle is it seems to cut slow, but I seem to have to flatten it much more often than I feel like I should. Maybe another good question is how often you have to sharpen your specific stones.

I do want to add an 8000 stone at least and a better 1000 grit. The 6000 side stone seems to hold up fairly well, cuts slowly, but does not need flattening near as much as the 1000. I use sandpaper on a granite surface to to grind bevels and remove major defects when lapping.

My wife wants to get me something for my first fathers day so with the great opportunity, I want to get a good water stone I think;)

How much $ do you want to spend???

[Robert McNaull]

How much $ do you want to spend???

Don't really know for sure, I want to buy quality enough stones that they last and work. Got what I paid for on the last one which worked for sharpening a few chisels. I expanded to some planes and a friend refurbished a #7 and #4 for me and replaced the irons with Hock A2's. I would pay upward of $100 for a quality 8000 stone and about half that for a 1000.

[Chris Griggs]

Don't really know for sure, I want to buy quality enough stones that they last and work. Got what I paid for on the last one which worked for sharpening a few chisels. I expanded to some planes and a friend refurbished a #7 and #4 for me and replaced the irons with Hock A2's. I would pay upward of $100 for a quality 8000 stone and about half that for a 1000.

That's budget is just about right. You can get very nice stuff for that.

I would recommend either getting two Sigma's from Stu (1k or 1.2K and either an 8k, 10k, or 13k) Or a if you are partial to the idea of hard no soak stones you could also get a "gray market" Shapton 1k and 12k for that. "Gray market" shaptons are the ones made for distribution in Japan and if you buy them from a Japanese seller (like Stu or on Ebay) they are MUCH less expensive than the ones distributed in the US - last I checked a shapton 12k could be had for about $80 where as the Shapton 15k sold in the US (which I'm told that for all practical purposes is the same stone - though not exactly the same) goes for at least $115.

Chef Knives to Go also has some nice stuff in that price range, but I think the above are the best all around options.

[Robert McNaull]

Thanks for the responses guys, I appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

I have checked out Stu's stones before and they seem well priced. What is the difference between the 'hard' 1k and 'soft' 1k stones under the sigma power ceramic stones?

[Chris Griggs]

Thanks for the responses guys, I appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

I have checked out Stu's stones before and they seem well priced. What is the difference between the 'hard' 1k and 'soft' 1k stones under the sigma power ceramic stones?

You'll want hard for tools. I haven't used the soft but I asked Stu about it once. It's more friable so its a little faster but it will also dish a little faster. I believe he sells it mainly for knife sharpening folks. They tend to like soft stones. You want either regular 1k hard or if you can spend a little extra the 1200 which is even more awesomer.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I believe the Sigma 1K "hard" is the stone I got from Chris - I don't have a lot of experience with different stones, but that ones a joy compared to the Naniwa SuperStone and India stones I used to use. I don't know how much softer the soft would be, (but I would be more than ready to defer to what Chris has said) but I will say I find the hardness of the hard just about perfect.

[Chris Griggs]

I believe the Sigma 1K "hard" is the stone I got from Chris - I don't have a lot of experience with different stones, but that ones a joy compared to the Naniwa SuperStone and India stones I used to use. I don't know how much softer the soft would be, (but I would be more than ready to defer to what Chris has said) but I will say I find the hardness of the hard just about perfect.

Yes. The stone I gave Joshua is the 1k hard. Its a great a stone. Joshua got it because I have something I like slightly better so it was going unused. I don't like seeing good tools go unused and I knew Joshua would use it and it was a good way for me to thank him for lending me a couple things. Joshua, I'm delighted that you are getting so much good use out of it...of course, I figured you would :)

[Mike Holbrook]

Good advise! I started 30-40 years ago with a couple King Stones. I replaced those with a couple Shaptons, one of which fell & broke. I am now using Stu's stones, although my selection is a little weird due to the original stones I had. I like Stu's stones and have a selection of 'hard" & "soft" ceramic stones. The "hard" stones are the Sigma Power stones. The hardness is due to a binder which is added to hold the abrasive particles together. The "soft" stones, Sigms Power Select II, have no binder added to the abrasive particles. The abrasives in the "hard" stones are held together by applying heat and great pressure. The soft stones may break down a little faster without the binder but they also cut faster. One might argue that the greater cutting speed equalizes any tendency of the softer stones to abrade faster. The softer stones might be called a true ceramic since nothing else goes into making the stones. The softer stones were developed to work on the exceptionally tuff newer steels. Yes, knife guys like me often have exceptionally hard steels to sharpen so we like things that cut these steels faster. The soft stones are a little more expensive so economically it is sort of a toss up. I have Sigma Power Select II: 3,000, 6,000, 10,0000. I had a Shapton Pro 2,000 before I bought the Sigma stones and Stu thought th Shapton 2,000 was close to the Sigma 1,000.

I don't have a 1,000 stone. I use a Sigma Power, 3F Carbon #700. The 700 is a big stone that breaks down relatively fast, kinda like my old King stones, cutting harder steels at a faster rate. I use A Sigma Power 120 and a Dia-Flat Lapping plate when the going gets tough.

[Jim Matthews]

I get my best edge with Shapton waterstones.

I get my most consistent edge with Diamond plates, freehand.
I don't have to flatten the Diamond plates, and there's less mess.

Sharpening is necessary to making furniture by hand the way seasoning lumber is necessary;
there are a few successful, repeatable ways to manage the task - some of them are simpler than others.

Simple is good.

[David Barnett]

I, too, love the simplicity and consistency of diamond; 600 Eze-Lap, then 1µ paste on cast iron, freehand—although for hard simple steels (and even certain HSS tools) I get supremely polished edges on dry jasper (iron-rich chert); no oil, no water—followed by submicron oxides.

[Chris Hachet]

I get my best edge with Shapton waterstones.

I get my most consistent edge with Diamond plates, freehand.
I don't have to flatten the Diamond plates, and there's less mess.

Sharpening is necessary to making furniture by hand the way seasoning lumber is necessary;
there are a few successful, repeatable ways to manage the task - some of them are simpler than others.

Simple is good.

Agree with simple, which is why I use diamond right now....

[Michael N Taylor]

I just got the Sigma II's in 1200, 8,000,& 13,000 and I was really surprised how fast you can sharpen with them. I also have a DMT coarse plate that I use to get the secondary and micro bevels first then with just a couple of minutes on the 1200 & 8000 you have a very sharp tool. I use the 13000 on the micro bevel and about a minute on the back to make it look like glass. This method gives me as sharp an edge as I need and makes it very easy to keep them touched up.

[Archie England]

+1 for Stu's Sigma power ceramic waterstones!!!!!

Though I prefer waterstones, I enjoy vintage oil stones. They're not as fast but certainly less messy. DMT diamond stones work, too; but I don't like the lack of feedback. For me, my Sigma, Chosera, and Bester stones are faster and provide much better feedback. My Chosera 1k is blazingly fast but is the messiest stone I use. The wear inconsistency and dust mess is why I don't like or use sandpaper; but, I never hesitate to use lower grits (below 120) when beneficial. My low grit waterstones--King Deluxe 300, Cerax 320, & Sigma 400--have all but eliminated use of sandpaper. Coarse India stones work well. But the go out flat, too.

All these "systems" work. It's just a matter of preference and repeatable results.