Anyone using Whet stones in their sharping?

S

snapshot2017

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Jan 28, 2017
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I am getting into using Whet Stones in my knife sharping, i would like to read of others who are also using these stones.
I have used Arkansas Stones and oil for years, but after reading and viewing videos how many Chefs use whet stones, i am starting to also use them.
 
Yes, I use to use the full set of stones (washita, soft and hard Arkansas) , but now I'm more using 240 to 1500 grit emory taped to paint paddles. Works great, of course "stropping" backwards from the edge. Use course/fine diamond hones for major blade reshaping.
Rich
 
Just a point of clarification any sharpening stone is a Whet stone: "whet" to sharpen by rubbing.
What I think you are referring to are water-stones. Either artificial or natural semi-porus stones that are more intended to use water rather than oil as the flushing agent/lubricant. Water-stone isn't a great term either since you can and should use water on stuff like diamond plates or shapton glass hones, but those are not really "water" stones. Saying japanese style stones (either natural or artificial) would also be a good way to differentiate between say a Norton water stone, King stone, Washita and a ceramic.
Either way, there is a lot of range to be found with water stones, in the straight razor world there is a lot of focus on both the carrier matrix of the stone and the abrasive, even to the point of the abrasive shape, and its characteristics as it breaks down. Many feel that certain stones produce better edges even though on paper the grit size should be the same. Very similar to how many knife sharpeners also look at carbide size and shape while hunting "perfect" edges.
 
If you mean Japanese Water Stones, I use King and Naniwa. Both are synthetics but I'm not up to investing a fortune in Naturals.
My Rough Stones (Arato) are 240 and 400, which I rarely use other than repairing chips and broken tips. My Mid Stiones (Nakato) are 1000, 1200, 3000. My Finishing Stones (Shiageto) are 6000 and 8000. I do use a Nagura to straighten them out.
 
KenHash said:
If you mean Japanese Water Stones, I use King and Naniwa. Both are synthetics but I'm not up to investing a fortune in Naturals.
My Rough Stones (Arato) are 240 and 400, which I rarely use other than repairing chips and broken tips. My Mid Stiones (Nakato) are 1000, 1200, 3000. My Finishing Stones (Shiageto) are 6000 and 8000. I do use a Nagura to straighten them out.
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Just thankful someone is answering my question, without giving me a stone
learning type lesson, as i was really wanting to find others doing their own sharping.
Question i wanted to ask is if i should get say a 400 grit stone, i have a King 1000/6000, but i have some really hard stainless steel knives that don't seem to take much sharping when using the 1000.
 
Well, if you want to get the right answers you have to ask the right questions. Whetstones are any form of bonded manual stone, whether synthetic or natural. So you're basically asking if anyone uses sharpening stones of any sort, as opposed to things like carbide scrapers, butchers' steels, strops, buffing wheels, files, or grinding belts. Is this truly what you mean to ask?
 
King stones run really soft in my experience as they are more intended for sharpening plane blades and wide chisels. I have a king 1k that I have cut into badly with a slip, didn't damage the AUS-8 blade much at all. With water stones, past 1k, my understanding is that pretty much all you are doing is polishing, so yes, if you want to be setting an edge, a 220, and or 400 might be a good place to start. Depends on the steel as well though, I'll let others speak to the performance of course water stones on stuff like s110v and the like. In my experience my 3V blades just giggle at my king 1k, don't even get much polishing.

When it comes to asking questions, give a little, get more. Without context its just another "what do you use" thread. What steels are you trying to sharpen with your 1/6k? What sort of edge profiles? Depending on the steel, a combo might be the best way to go, a diamond for final edge setting, then water stones for the polish.

Then there is the jig or free-hand question. What is your end goal? Fantastic polished edges, the best edge you can do free-hand, getting a feel for old tech? All these things are within the knowledge base, gotta just ask.
 
snapshot2017 said:
Just thankful someone is answering my question, without giving me a stone
learning type lesson, as i was really wanting to find others doing their own sharping.
Question i wanted to ask is if i should get say a 400 grit stone, i have a King 1000/6000, but i have some really hard stainless steel knives that don't seem to take much sharping when using the 1000.
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I understand exactly. Depending on the steel 1000 can sometimes take forever to get going. My personal preference is to start with 400 and work up. May people feel that 1000 is a good "touch up" grit. Anything below 400 is really for repair work or non-knife blades.
 
depending on the steels you are sharpening it may not matter the grit ... it may matter the actual stone material ...

for instance if you get into high vandium steels ... the newer "super steels" ... the stomes you have nentioned will not do much no matter what the grit ... you need to move to diamonds or CBN or stones that will actually sharpen these harder steels ...
 
gadgetgeek said:
King stones run really soft in my experience as they are more intended for sharpening plane blades and wide chisels. I have a king 1k that I have cut into badly with a slip, didn't damage the AUS-8 blade much at all. With water stones, past 1k, my understanding is that pretty much all you are doing is polishing, so yes, if you want to be setting an edge, a 220, and or 400 might be a good place to start. Depends on the steel as well though, I'll let others speak to the performance of course water stones on stuff like s110v and the like. In my experience my 3V blades just giggle at my king 1k, don't even get much polishing.

When it comes to asking questions, give a little, get more. Without context its just another "what do you use" thread. What steels are you trying to sharpen with your 1/6k? What sort of edge profiles? Depending on the steel, a combo might be the best way to go, a diamond for final edge setting, then water stones for the polish.

Then there is the jig or free-hand question. What is your end goal? Fantastic polished edges, the best edge you can do free-hand, getting a feel for old tech? All these things are within the knowledge base, gotta just ask.
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Thank you for taking the time to give me some useful information.
 
Don't know if this helps, but the whet stone I use is a DMT Diamond stone. It has two sides on this particular model One side is Coarse and the other is Fine. I wouldn't recommend the coarse side unless you are going to work on a damaged blade.
 
Diamonds are such a game changer, and many old resources really don't apply in a high RC, and diamond plate world. Even cheap diamonds will haul steel off like an amphetamine dosed squirrel, where old silicon carbide or aluminum oxide stones just glaze over and you need the patients of a zen abbot to get any results at all. DMT is the way to go if you have the funds to spend and have any knives in a steel that anyone ever called "super"
 
gadgetgeek said:
Diamonds are such a game changer, and many old resources really don't apply in a high RC, and diamond plate world. Even cheap diamonds will haul steel off like an amphetamine dosed squirrel, where old silicon carbide or aluminum oxide stones just glaze over and you need the patients of a zen abbot to get any results at all. DMT is the way to go if you have the funds to spend and have any knives in a steel that anyone ever called "super"
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Something wrong is going on if you've been glazing your stones. There are lots of aluminum oxide and silicon carbide stones that hog off metal with incredible speed.
 
FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades I just looked at your product line. You've got a couple of interesting options for roughing stones at a low price. Do you plan to make larger versions of these? To me 11" x 3" is probably ideal for a roughing stone and an "American Mutt" in that size would presumably still be affordable.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Something wrong is going on if you've been glazing your stones. There are lots of aluminum oxide and silicon carbide stones that hog off metal with incredible speed.
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I might have exaggerated. But you would probably agree that there are a lot of old stones out there that are not up to handling the higher end of steels.
Also me being totally wrong isn't something we should rule out.... ever.
 
If they're aluminum oxide or silicon carbide then they'll work fine on any steel, including high-vanadium steels, up to about 400 ANSI grit (~700 JIS). Vanadium carbides are only about 3µ in size, and when the abrasive grains are large enough they just gouge out the carbides along with the steel. If the stone is VERY hard then you can still glaze the stone if you're using anything short of oil or similarly lubricating fluid (glycerin, for instance) to reduce wear from friction, and high pressure, but usually glazing is a sign of using insufficient pressure to dislodge worn particles and/or not lubricating the stone sufficiently. If it happens only after a decent span of time, then just re-dress the surface to manually shed the worn surface grains. :)
 
One of the best sharping tools i bought was the Fallkiniven DC521 and i have had very good results on tough to sharpen steels.
The Fallkinven DC521
========
Sharpeners for Modern Hard Steels
We're pleased to be carrying these sharpening tools from the respected Swedish knife maker, Fallkniven. Their sharpening stones feature durable diamond and ceramic abrasives specifically designed for working with the hard steels found in today's top end knives.

Durable and Double Sided
The DC521 stone offers a generous 8-1/4" (210mm) x 2-1/4" (55mm) size, making it suitable for almost any knife. This bench stone is double sided, with diamond and ceramic surfaces that will sharpen well and maintain their flatness even when working with the premium steels found in many of today's top shelf knives. Both abrasive surfaces are to be used dry, with no oil or water. Upkeep of this stone is straight forward, with both the diamond and the ceramic sides requiring only an occasional cleaning with soap and water to keep them free of waste material and working optimally.

Diamond Side
The gold colored side of this stone is covered with 25 micron (about 600 grit) monocrystalline diamonds, then coated in titanium alumina nitride to make a fast cutting, durable sharpening surface. This diamond side is used to quickly restore the shape of your knife's edge.

Dark Ceramic Side
The dark gray side of the stone is a ceramic material composed of synthetic sapphires. Finer than the diamond surface, the ceramic side is used to refine the edge after shaping. Ceramic stones don't have abrasive particles in the traditional sense, so it isn't really practical to apply a grit number to them, but the feel of using the dark ceramic side is similar to using a hard Arkansas stone. It leaves a refined edge with a hint of tooth-iness. Unlike an Arkansas stone, however, the ceramic of this sharpener will cut super hard steels quickly and efficiently.

Made in Sweden
 
Sintered ceramics will wear on the surface layer with use and need the surface periodically refreshed to shed the worn grit, as they won't do so on their own. Lubrication of some kind is still recommended for use on sintered ceramics to reduce frictional wear so you can go longer without having to recondition the surface.
 
gadgetgeek said:
Just a point of clarification any sharpening stone is a Whet stone: "whet" to sharpen by rubbing.
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Oh thank goodness. I was lost there. Some how I have never seen that word in print before (whet with an "h" rather than just wet).
Thanks
I felt like some one who has just gotten off the subway and upon looking around is struck by the fact that suddenly everyone has three legs and two heads.
It wasn't like this yesterday.
It must be Thursday . . . I can never get the hang of Thursdays.
 
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