Hand sharpening

I

Ian Fifelski

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Oct 4, 2017
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I have been sharpening on my grizzly with pretty good results but for obvious reasons I would like to change my sharpening process. The grizzly runs at a very high speed, making it easy to overheat and gouge the blade.

What are my options for hand sharpening? I am currently looking at diamond stones and water stones,

There are many diamond stones out there and I figure you get what you pay for. I have seen diamond stones from $10 to $120. I am specifically looking at the DMT diasharp stones. They look really nice and I have heard good things about them, but they are expensive.

For water stones, I have also seen a large variation in pricing. I am leaning toward them because they are less expensive. Question: can you shape these stones on the grinder? I do a bunch of recurves and it would be great to have a slightly radiused stone. Do you pull or push on waterstones?


What do you think? What do you use for hand sharpening? I will be sharpening from about .005 inches thick.

Thanks
 
I use DMT diafolds (with a bit of water)
I start off with gray 120 grit, then black, blue, red, green and sometimes a 6000 grit waterstone to finish.

Diamond is faster then stone, but diamond does wear out
 
I use and like waterstone. Watch some you tube videos. I really like the ones by Murray Carter. Good, inexpensive stones can be gotten from Sharp Pebble so you can try it out without breaking the bank.
 
I've sharpened probably 75 knives (first edge, not re-sharpening) on an 8" EZ-Lap 'medium' (then higher diamond and strop). They last a LONG time. Not expensive when you think about it that way. You're buying a tool you will use for years.
 
If you are starting at .005, it will go quickly unless you are using crazy abrasion resistant steel. Grab something like a King or Norton combo water stone in 1000 and 4000-8000.
 
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I still wonder for sharpening recurves? I can imagine the diamond stones are perfectly flat and will make it tricky whereas the stones can be shaped a little?
 
I can attest to the dmt “stones”. I have them from extra course down to extra extra fine. They have worked well for me.
 
I use DMT bench stones with Spyderco bench stones. Both are fast and easy and low maintenance.

Have you read much about low grit sharpening? I have bought into it especially for high carbide steels. The nice thing is that it lowers your start up costs. If I had to limit myself to just a couple of stones I would go DMT blue with a spyderco brown. If I only had one it would it would be be the DMT blue. Combined with a strop it will produce a shaving sharp grabby edge very quickly on pretty much everything.
 
As a general rule, the larger the stones the better the edge. It is easier to get consistent angles that way.

I like 10"X4" and 8"X3" Duo-sharp DMT plates for fast and aggressive edges. They are very simple to use and last a long time. One plate will do for most folks uses (coarse/fine), but the two stone set covers extra-coarse, coarse, fine, and extra fine. The two plate set of 10" plates and base can be bought as a set from places like Sharpening Supplies for around $200 ... which is a great deal.
I use 8"/7" by 2.6/2.4" waterstones for finer and more polished edges. Waterstones are great, but require some skill and lots of maintenance to keep them right.
Get a base ( holder) for the plates/stones. The base for the DMT plates will also hold your waterstones.

Use clean water with a few drops of dish soap to keep the plates/stones wet. Change the water and rinse off EVERYTHING on each grit change, and when done with the stones for the day. Don't forget to wash your hands well when going up the grits, as fingernails and wet skin can easily carry stray grit.

If you get waterstones, you need to get a master flattening stone. Either use a extra coarse DMT plate or a Norton (or other) flattening stone. When done flattening the stones, wash and scrub them with bon-ami and a stiff brush - you don't want a stray coarse grit to get stuck on one and ruin your togi.

On that note, I see many people soaking their stones in a pond that is under the stone holder .... think about that! You are dumping the coarse grit and swarf from sharpening on your finer stones right below them. Soak the stones in separate tubs for best
 
I highly recommend an soft Arkansas stone. I've had mine for several years. No maintenance needed. The one I have gives a better edge than my 3000 grit water stone so I think it is something like 4000 grit? I bought my stone on a sharpening kit that costed something like 20€ so the price-value ratio is very good.
 
As long as you are sticking to simple steels or Cr carbides a King 1k 6k KDS combo waterstone will be great. The harder and bigger the carbides get the more you would love a diamond stone. some great reading comes from http://www.bohler-uddeholm.co.za/media/GRINDING-ENGLISH_000904.pdf
Diamond stones - you need to watch basically 2 things
  1. how was the cristal grown (monocristal, or multiple cores)
  2. and how the diamonds are attached to the base
waterstones -
  1. what carbides are in your steel, how big they are
  2. what people are saying about those specific stones (different lineups have drastically different mixtures/behaviours to supersteels)
If you have lots of money, just ignore all the above and buy yourself 1 of the three
  1. grinder with CBN + leather wheel
  2. Naniwa Chosera 800 + chosera 3000 (get the ones with bases, they last longer)
  3. DMT diamond stones (minimum 8 inch long, the bigger the better)
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IRC then Chromium oxide (the stuff on stropping leather) is about 3000 kp/mm2
 
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