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Thread: Which sharpening stone for around 500 grit

  1. #1
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    Which sharpening stone for around 500 grit

    I have Shapton Glass stones starting at 1,000 grit progressing to 16,000 grit. I am looking to add around 500 grit stone, mostly for sharpening knives. Some reviews indicate 500 grit Shapton Glass is pretty soft, so not sure about that. There is also 320 grit Shapton Korumaku stone. I like splash and go, slow wear and fast cutting from Shapton Glass stones. So, looking for something similar.

    Any suggestions?

  2. #2
    FWIW, I have a Shapton 500 and really like it. It doesnt seem too soft to me. I don't recall which "model" it is - it's just a 500 grit slab on top of clear glass.
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frederick Skelly View Post
    FWIW, I have a Shapton 500 and really like it. It doesnt seem too soft to me. I don't recall which "model" it is - it's just a 500 grit slab on top of clear glass.
    Good to hear you like yours. Sharpening is such a subjective topic, it is hard to understand someone’s review without context. I will keep it simple and go ahead with this stone.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Martin View Post
    I have Shapton Glass stones starting at 1,000 grit progressing to 16,000 grit. I am looking to add around 500 grit stone, mostly for sharpening knives. Some reviews indicate 500 grit Shapton Glass is pretty soft, so not sure about that. There is also 320 grit Shapton Korumaku stone. I like splash and go, slow wear and fast cutting from Shapton Glass stones. So, looking for something similar.

    Any suggestions?
    Personally, I do not recommend anything as low as 500 grit in a waterstone. They dish quickly at this level. I prefer to use a 600 grit diamond stone. What I find works extremely well - and incredibly cheap ($5-$10 each) - are the diamond lapidary disks on eBay. They are only a few mm thick, and take up no space at all in a kitchen drawer. I have them from 600 grit through 3000 grit.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  5. #5
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    I am looking to add around 500 grit stone, mostly for sharpening knives.
    To me 500 grit seems coarse for a knife.

    For my kitchen knives a DMT Extra Fine stone is used > https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/D...tone-P319.aspx

    This is mostly for a quick touch up between sharpening on my finer stones.

    It was mounted on a piece of mahogany:

    Mounted Diamond Stone.jpg

    A pocket was cut out in the mahogany and epoxy was used to hold the diamond stone. The lens was cold on a humid day so the lens fogged and went unnoticed until afterwards. That is the reason for the soft focus effect.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
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  6. #6
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    The Sigma Power, or Power Select II (I forget which it is) 400 stone is a really nice, and fast cutting stone. I go from it to 1,000. It cuts so fast that few strokes are needed on it, so I haven't noticed a dishing problem with it. I use water stones under a stream of water, so I don't know about splash and go. I don't remember ever using it with a knife.

    We do a lot more with chisels than simply working wood though, and working on old houses, they see a lot of dirt and grit. For my plane irons, I don't remember how many years it's been since they've visited any stone coarser than 6k.

  7. #7
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    Get a fine India stone. Dirt cheap and works with a couple of drops of mineral oil.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Martin View Post
    I have Shapton Glass stones starting at 1,000 grit progressing to 16,000 grit. I am looking to add around 500 grit stone, mostly for sharpening knives. Some reviews indicate 500 grit Shapton Glass is pretty soft, so not sure about that. There is also 320 grit Shapton Korumaku stone. I like splash and go, slow wear and fast cutting from Shapton Glass stones. So, looking for something similar.

    Any suggestions?
    Quote Originally Posted by Nicholas Lawrence View Post
    Get a fine India stone. Dirt cheap and works with a couple of drops of mineral oil.
    In my experience starting with an oilstone and moving to a water stone doesn't work too well.

    YMMV!!!.png

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Martin View Post
    ... I like splash and go, slow wear and fast cutting from Shapton Glass stones. ...
    Usually fast cutting goes with fast wear as the stone exposes fresh grit and sheds the worn particles. How you evaluate the tradeoff is very personal.

    I like the Suehiro Cerax 320 Waterstone for coarse rapid grinding. I've tried coarser, but they were too slow or too messy for me, and I've tried slower wearing and finer, but they were way too slow for me in comparison to the Cerax. Maybe it'll work well for you (or maybe your tastes are different than mine.)

    PS- I had/have a combo stone with a Cerax 280 side, that seems like it would be similar to the 320, but it was very different and I hated it. Again YMMV!

  10. #10
    For 500-grit and below, I either use sandpaper, india stones, or diamond plates.

    Truthfully, when I'm working out dings, the Worksharp is better than sliced bread. I typically run 80-120-220-400-600 when I'm cleaning up damage.

    Use whatever you want to refine the edge from there.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    In my experience starting with an oilstone and moving to a water stone doesn't work too well.
    jtk
    Because if somebody is polishing to 16k, an extra ten seconds to dip a knife blade in soapy water is just too much trouble.

    I guess my mileage does vary.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nicholas Lawrence View Post
    Because if somebody is polishing to 16k, an extra ten seconds to dip a knife blade in soapy water is just too much trouble.

    I guess my mileage does vary.
    With no running water in my shop it does make it a bit more work to start with oil and finish with water. Much simpler to avoid mixing media when they work better unmixed.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  13. #13
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    I ended up ordering a Shapton Glass 500 grit and also a Shapton Korumaku 320 grit to see how this series work compared to glass stones. Once I use them a bit, I will report back. These are not needed for plane blades and chisels as I hollow grind them on CBN first (thanks Derek for sharing this approach, works very well!). In addition to kitchen knives, I have some neglected pocket knives that would likely benefit from the coarse stones, at least initially. I just need to do a better job at maintaining them so there is no need to start out on the coarse side again.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    With no running water in my shop it does make it a bit more work to start with oil and finish with water. Much simpler to avoid mixing media when they work better unmixed.

    jtk

    I have the reverse situation when I sharpen knives in the kitchen.

    I use my oil stones, but am too lazy to get oil from the shop.

    Usually there is a small diamond stone, and you can work up a slurry with water + a diamond stone, on softer arks. This slurry mixes with water, surprisingly. I tend to use this when sharpening knives in the field as well.

    Alternatively, a bit of dishwashing soap and water may be used. Doesn't work as good as oil, but works well enough.

  15. #15
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    I use my oil stones, but am too lazy to get oil from the shop.
    Oilstones can be used with water and it won't bother the stone.

    A water stone doesn't do well if oil is used and it can have an unwanted effect on the water stone.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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