Shapton Glass reprofiling/ which stones to buy

[Bladenoobie1]

Hi,

I wanted to replace the slight convex edge on my starbenza and in place, put a V-ground edge. Would a shapton glass 1k stone be sufficient enough to reprofile the edge? Should this not be sufficient would a 500 grit stone be low enough? I'm not looking to drastically change the edge angle, rather I want to keep the edge geometry as similar as possible. Also what kind of edge can I expect out of the 1k?

I've been freehanding on sandpaper and glass and using arkansas stones for my softer carbon steel knives. The sandpaper works okay, but occasionally the sandpaper rips and its frustrating to deal with. I looking to replace my sandpaper with 3 shapton glass stones that will let me reprofile, put a toothy edge on, and to polish/hone. I was thinking 500, 1k, 4k but I have no experience with waterstones.

Thanks,
Bladenoobie1

 

[fmendez]

I have a 500 Shapton glass and is fairly aggressive and the 1000 still leaves a toothy edge. Never used them to convex an edge and recently i was considering a lower grit Shapton glass but for now a diamond coarse and the 500 are fine for my uses.
I'm sure someone with more experience and insight willchime in. I mostly try to get my knives sharp to be in good working condition.

 

[Jason B.]

They are waterstones but a bit different, they are very hard and are usually preferred for harder metals like you need to sharpen. A 500, 1k, 4k would provide you with a very respectable stone set.

 

[bpeezer]

I reprofiled with a 1k Chosera stone once, it took a lot of time and work and was pretty hard on the stone too. Wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Jason B.]

I reprofiled with a 1k Chosera stone once, it took a lot of time and work and was pretty hard on the stone too. Wouldn't recommend it.

Yes, 1k stones are often misinterpreted as being the starting point. 1k is a medium stone meant to refine scratches from the grinding process. It's the stage also known as sharpening, which comes after grinding and before finishing.

 

[xuz]

I'm not sure if I'm getting this right.
Unless there are different versions, Sebenza are hollow ground knives.
Did someone reprofile your knife to convex grind?
(Or do you mean that the bleeding edge is convexed due to free hand sharpening?)

If the former, you'd need heavier duty stone than 1k or use diamond plate.
If latter, any 1k with steady hand or assist will put a v-grind edge in a few minutes.

Thanks and good luck.

 

[pwet]

sebenzas are hollow ground on the main grind. the edge is convex from the factory.

 

[Bladenoobie1]

sebenzas are hollow ground on the main grind. the edge is convex from the factory.

I know, I just want to put a V edge on the sebenza for ease of sharpening. When I come to it, I'll probably grab a 500, 1k, 4k set. Excited to replace my sandpaper and glass haha.

 

[yoda4561]

Just because two waterstones are at the same "grit" rating doesn't mean they cut at the same speed. The shaptons are among the fastest cutters for their respective grit ranges. I have used 1k for reprofiling, assuming the knife is fairly thin at the edge, which sebenzas are it will suffice, the 1k glass stone will leave a very aggressive edge, most would want to follow it up with a 3-5k stone. A 500 would be great for setting bevels or repairing minor damage. If you want faster I recommend hitting the belt sander or a cheap norton silicon carbide/crystolon stone or one of the big japanese coarse waterstone bricks.

 

[Bladenoobie1]

Finally pulled the trigger on the stones, hopefully they come in the next week or so. I will report back on my freehand experience with them. Should be a huge step from sandpaper.