Apex matrix stones - which 2 first?

A

Armedcrab

Joined
Jul 28, 2024
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Hi friends,

Which two apex matrix stones should I buy first? I can’t buy them all quite yet, so curious which are the most optimal/useful to buy first.

The hardest steels I have are S110V and M390, currently just have the full range of standard stones & tapes up to 6000.

Thanks.
 
My advice is to get the 250 and 450 first, and to profile your knives with a 120-150 diamond plate before you move to the 250 Matrix.

My reasoning is that the higher grits of matrix stones polish extremely well, but it would be laborious to grind away 150 grit scratches with a 1k matrix. You should follow the intended grit progression for the best results.

So if you can't get the whole set now, just get the first two stones and you'll have great results with them and you can fill the rest of the set in later for higher polish.

In my experience the matrix stones have always cut extremely flat, and if my profiling stone hadn't quite ground the bevel down to an even plane before I moved on, then the 250 matrix stone would show it by missing low spots that I hadn't noticed before.

I have profiled with my 250 matrix before, and I just didn't think the stone was suited for it. I have the 80 matrix stone, and I found it to be so viscously aggressive and unpleasant to grind with that I discontinued using it. I know I could feel the rough face of the 80 stone catching on the edge.
 
Since you have some steels that need diamonds to sharpen them and don't have any yet, I agree with Dutch87. As we all know you have to establish a good edge with your coarsest stone before moving to anything finer. The 450 ending with light passes will leave a fine toothy edge. If you strop it with say 5 micron diamond for 3 or 4 passes you can get to a low 100s BESS score without much effort. The 950 is the first stone that really refines the edge, any stones after this the differences in edge refinement are not nearly as large.

I have sharpened with the 250 then stropped with some diamond and still got low 100s BESS scores, and 140s without stropping. My experience, with my sharpener, is that technique is more important than the grit of stones for lower BESS scores, to a point.
 
Are you thinning or working out chips? Do you want a toothy or a refined edge?

For me I would go 450 and 950 but I like more of a refined edge over toothy.
 
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