Superfine sharpening stone advice

[Daniel Rode]

I've asked similar questions before and read many posts on the subject, so please excuse the repetition. It's really important to me because the more consistently sharp I make my tools the better my results have been. I sharpen with a flat primary bevel + micro secondary bevel. Pretty common. I have some diamond stones fine, X-fine and X-X-fine. Depending on the condition of the edge when I go to sharpen, I start on the fine or occasionally directly on the X-X-fine for a touchup. Then I work the edge for 15-20 strokes on a home made strop to polish the edge. I take a few strokes on the back as well. I do this because the X-X-Fine stone is not fine enough.

Ideally, I'd raise a burr on a diamond stone around 1000 grit and then go to something like the 16k glass stone. Fast, repeatable and minimal mess sharpening. David Weaver suggested a while back that the 12k pro from Stu might be a better option as it's a thicker stone for a bit less money. I'll buy a coarse DMT diasharp or Atoma plate to flatten the stone. I need one anyway.

I'm a weekend warrior, so I'm not going to wear either stone out. Also, since I'm buying only one stone, a $20 difference in price doesn't make much difference.

Here's my question, I want to buy the best stone I can get for final polish for around $100. What stone do I buy?

[Andrew Hughes]

Hi Daniel,I use shapton stone and recommend the cream color stone,Here's a pic of my sharpening station and the stone I use the most.Cant remember what I paid but I think it was around 120.

[David Weaver]

The sigma power 13k stone is the finest inexpensive stone you'll find. It does its best work soaked, though, and I don't love that. It won't make the jump from a 15 micron stone (like the 800/1000 type stones) without the soak, at least not nicely. The glasstone is just a bit finer than the 12k pro, but with the 12k pro, you can be confident that you'll break it somehow or another before you go through it.

Atoma 400 to flatten any of them.

I don't love using any of them without gluing them to something. i sold my shaptons to someone on here, I can't even remember who now because I've sold so much stuff lately, but I really liked them with the bases I had put on them (they were offcuts of tropicals). I didn't love them as much before that trying to use them on top of the flimsy plastic cases they come with, and I didn't love using a buddy's 16 and 30k glasstones without them being affixed to anything.

At some point, you'll get your edges without the stone mattering at all. I am back now to using oilstones only, and often just a washita and a bare leather strop. There will be a point where you'll probably get a better edge off of the shapton with a palm stropping than you get by going to a loaded strop. For a loaded strop to really improve the edge off of one of those super fine stones, it has to be hard and clean. Otherwise, it will begin to change the geometry of an edge at the very edge.

Anyway, get whichever of them you'd like, it won't make much difference in the end.

[Bobby O'Neal]

My finishing stone is the Shapton 16k glass. I intended to get Stu's set but a set of Shaptons were given to me as a gift. I really do like the stones though and do not wish at all that I had something different. The 16k leaves a pretty remarkable edge.

[Ryan Mooney]

The sigma power 13k stone is the finest inexpensive stone you'll find. It does its best work soaked, though, and I don't love that. It won't make the jump from a 15 micron stone (like the 800/1000 type stones) without the soak, at least not nicely..

For carving tools I've been really liking the edge I get off of the sigma 13k dry as a touch up stone. Wet its surprisingly (amazingly) fast and leaves quite a nice edge but dry it puts a really nice polish on and I only need a few strokes on the strop to finish up. Its sort of a nice all around stone because its so fast wet you can jump to it without a lot of intermediate work.