Best value in benchstones

I'm with David. For the price, a Norton SiC (coarse/fine combo) is an excellent value and good stone. Will cut almost any steel out there. And the Norton India (coarse/fine combo) is another excellent stone. The SiC (or Crystolon as it is called) stone will shed it's grit, which is good for exposing new sharp SiC grains, and cuts fast. But, over time it will dish and will need to be lapped flat.
The India stone is aluminum oxide with a hard binder. It doesn't cut as fast as a Crytolon, but it doesn't dish as fast, either. It stays flat for a long time, and the fine side will refine an edge apex pretty well, with enough "bite" in it to help in slicing cuts. For the price, those two stones are an excellent option for a $50 budget.

You might get addicted to sharpening, and then you'll want to upgrade your stone collection and nerd out like me! A full set of DMT DiaSharp 8" plates is expensive, but well worth the investment, and if used correctly will last the average person a lifetime. XC, C, F, and EF. They have an XXC and an UF, and even a MF (medium fine). If you wanted to cut it down to just 2, go with the XC and F.
 
MarkN86 said:
I have had good results with a Smith's Tri-Hone, but I'm looking to upgrade.
I only use water, not oil.
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Which Smith's Tri-Hone do you have? Diamond https://www.smithsproducts.com/6-diamond-tri-hone or https://www.smithsproducts.com/6-three-stone-sharpening-system? If the latest, the older version with 2 Arkansas stones or the current version with two synthetic stones and one Arkansas?
You are looking for stones up to 1.000 Grit. JIS, FEPA?

As you are staisfied with your Smith's sharpner: a much cheaper alternative to a coarse diamond stone could be a Smith's 8'' Dual Grit Combination Sharpening Stone. Most likely it won't last a lifetime but is a good start for dull knives.

Diamond stones are good where a coarse grit is needed. They will stay flat, don't need to be lapped.
Personally I never liked diamond stones that much. I don't know exactly, but sharpening doesn't feel good. They don't give me a good feedback. Feels like I never really know what I am doing.
I have a 25 micron diamond stone...that is about 500 JIS, I think. My knives never feel sharp after that stone. While a slightly finer 800 JIS (instead of the 500 grit diamond) already leaves a shaving sharpness on the same knives. It is a matter of preference.
 
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MarkN86 said:
I'm not completely restricted to under $50 but I just can't do 2-3 stones at $50 per stone at the moment. I do have the Smiths Tri-Hone and a rough grit no-name benchstone for the more tame lower carbide steels, so I think a good rough/smooth continuous diamond plate would probably be a good compliment to the stones I currently have. I do have some S30V and M390 in the stable and have been using regular alox stones on them as best I'm able, it's definitely a necessary upgrade from what has been said here. I intend to do more learning on grits and sharpeners as time goes on and buy more and better sharpeners.

I have no illusions that somehow a better bench stone will make me a better sharpener. It's all about stone maintenance, good technique, and as I've now learned using the correct abrasive.
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If you want to use better stones that are above 50 a peace but can't afford enough for a full set right off the bat start slow buy 1 or 2 a month,with modern PM steels like you have I have found that it's more important to have good low end grit stones more then anything else,I often use stone by Suehiro as a finishing stone such as the G8,I say get your lower grits first in diamonds if that's what you want then get your higher grits as you can afford them.
 
I'm pretty sure I'm already addicted to sharpening, I just bought the cheapest stones and never wanted to make a serious investment until now. Turns out if you have good knives you aren't doing yourself any favors without having a good sharpener, too.

As for the Tri-Hone I have the two synthetics with one arkansas version. I've done various soft kitchen knife steels, VG10, tons of 8Cr13MoV, 1095, my Carbon Mora, 420HC, even put an edge on S30V and M390 with it. I didn't realize why I was having trouble with the higher end steels until I was graciously informed by Wade about the carbides being the problem. Until this thread I didn't know that there were different ratings for grit, I assumed it was one universal measurement.

I never knew how much I didn't know. Time to dive into this rabbit hole, no going back now.
 
HeavyHanded said:
If OP is willing to go with oil, the Norton JUM3 or JUM4 would be a solid choice. If sticking expressly with water I'd go with Ultrasharp or Sharpal combination plate.
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This. I would've recommended Norton stones but refusing to use oil, well... I'd use oil with that Smith's if it were me. Heck, I'd probably use oil with the UltraSharps (which I really like).

I have a Baryonyx Manticore that is an excellent value and I'm sure FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades uses a number of his stones with water.
 
Eli Chaps said:
This. I would've recommended Norton stones but refusing to use oil, well... I'd use oil with that Smith's if it were me. Heck, I'd probably use oil with the UltraSharps (which I really like).

I have a Baryonyx Manticore that is an excellent value and I'm sure FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades uses a number of his stones with water.
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I use all of my stones with water, but they're oil-compatible as well. :)
 
Another stone that is a great value stone, is a SiC twin grit 2"X 8" stone, coarse / fine offered at Ace hardware. They are now hard to find.
But even a blind squirrel finds a acorn now and then. A Norton stone (maybe) and the coarse side is very coarse at 90 grit and the fine side
at 180 grit. So, a medium. For a sharpener like me these grits work fine. I like the edge coming off the medium stone. It cuts real agressive.
I think I paid 14$ for this stone. DM
 
Nordic Skater is offering free shipping right now, so the 10 inch two sided Zandstra Foss stone is $39 total, possibly less with coupon codes. I ordered one for myself.
 
Mr.Wizard said:
Nordic Skater is offering free shipping right now, so the 10 inch two sided Zandstra Foss stone is $39 total, possibly less with coupon codes. I ordered one for myself.
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It pairs up great with just about any medium, fine, or extrafine stone. I keep it in permanent water bath and use it with Arctic Fox, Norton 8k, Suehiro Rika G8, sometimes strop right off the "fine" side. It doesn't make the best stand alone edges but is a set-up powerhouse.
I have the Suzuki Ya 400 grit and its a great stone, but is so much easier to flip the Foss and keep going that it hardly ever gets used. Surface finish is about identical.
 
MarkN86 said:
There are a dizzying number of benchstones out there at all price ranges. I did a few searches and have come across some info on some really nice stones. I don't have the funds currently to go out and buy a set of the very best sharpening equipment, and I don't have time or money to buy stone after stone online and try them all out. I have had good results with a Smith's Tri-Hone, but I'm looking to upgrade.

I only use water, not oil. I'm looking for a set that can do really damaged blades and refine all the way up to 1000 grit without costing $50+ per stone.

I know it's all about sharpening skill, but I'm curious as to what has worked best and lasted well, and what was absolute junk and fell apart quickly.
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King Neo is the best place to start with the best range of edge finish on the widest range of steels and the best features for the money.
 
DeadboxHero DeadboxHero Where can those stones be purchased? Tools from Japan has closed shop unfortunately.

David Martin David Martin I believe it can be used with oil or water. They sell "Foss Honing Oil" but HeavyHanded uses water.

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I don't know; I'll be using water too. Isn't most honing oil basic mineral oil of the right weight? I haven't read of them using high pressure additives like tapping fluids for example.
 
MarkN86 said:
As for the Tri-Hone I have the two synthetics with one arkansas version.
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Those two synthetics should be quite coarse. Smith's rates them as 300 (coarse) and 800 (the medium stone). Both 300 and 800 will remove metal from your blade. For keeping your edge sharp they are too coarse, I think. It is better to keep a blade sharp than waiting until it is dull and needs a coarse stone.
And I think we are talking about JIS. Because the fine Arkansas is given as 1.000 Grit. That's more or less true (you never know exactly, because it is a natural stone) when rated in JIS. Therefore it would make sense if those two synthetics are given in JIS, too.
The progression from 800 to 1.000 isn't that huge. And 1.000 Grit not that fine. I would want something finer as a honing (finishing) stone. In the coarse section you are ok with your Tri-Hone. But in my opinion you need at least a finer stone. Or a strop with a good honing compound. Whatever you prefer.
1.000 Grit JIS are ~16 micron. Your finishing stone should be about 3.000 - 6.000 (5 - 2 micron).
That would be my suggestion. Instead of buying another coarse stone (nothing against diamonds or Norton). Maybe this is your first step?

MarkN86 said:
Until this thread I didn't know that there were different ratings for grit, I assumed it was one universal measurement.
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That was a lesson I had to learn, too. It is quite annoying (or maybe I should say frustrating) that often enough it is not clear what grit rating is used. JIS? FEPA? ANSI? CAMI? Quite confusing.
And keep in mind: There are two grit ratings called FEPA. FEPA F (stones, more or less) and FEPA P (sandpaper).
 
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Silicon carbide. You only mentioned going up to 1000 grit so there's no particular reason to spend more.
 
Whetstone is great but I switched to spyderco ceramic stone few years ago... I use medium all the time to all my knife....I dont have supersteel to play with and dont care much about scratching my knife using medium grid only... I do have fine and ultrafine too just dont use them regularly ...I think U can get very sharped and mirror edge by only using ultrafine stone ( they cut very slow to me... never try that )...must have stone imo is spyderco benchstone in medium grid...it can handle my brk3v too :thumbsup:
 
Another vote for the Baryonyx stones. I have the 8" Arctic fox and the 8" manticore. Some water with dishsoap as a lubricant and you are off to the races. Those two stones together get 90% of my work done on utility knives and kitchen knives. They also have the benefit of being able to do reprofiling work on harder steels because the grit is low enough that you are really just shaping the steel and you dont have to worry about carbide tear out yet. I would move to diamond after that Arctic fox which is at 400 grit but they are really versatile and should last several years. The manticore is just 15$ and the Arctic Fox is about 40$. For the price they are really great.
 
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