Starting a whetstone collection

Ourorboros said:
Get a medium grit stone from a quality manufacturer and see how you feel about the results.
People use a progression - several stones - because it gets them to the result they want faster.
But you will tend to use a medium grit stone the most - especially with Western knives not being able to go finer.
Once you find a medium grit stone you like, the logic of your progression tends to work itself out from there. That's part of why I had a long post on why I chose the stones I use, so you can see the thinking behind it.
The disadvantage of having so many choices is brain lock. The good part is that you can choose from more than half a dozen different lines and not be wrong.
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1000 grit Shapton glass a good medium grit? That's what I've been eyeing but you guys seem to use primarily courses stones so it made me question it
 
Yes, 800-2000 grit are considered medium. Anything above is fine, or a polishing stone.
320-500 are coarse. Anything below extra coarse.
The extra coarse is to set new bevels or chip repair.

I don't always start with a coarse stone, that depends on the edge and how much time I want to put into it at the moment. A 500 apexes quickly, while giving me more leeway than a 220 and being easier to polish out.
Each range has it's uses, which is why waterstones are often recommended in runs of stones.
 
Wurger190 said:
I have a King 1000/6000 wetstone which did a great job with my CTS XHP Code 4 knife.
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Matt Hendricks has some good videos on using wet stones, check his channel out. After going to his channel, click on the "Videos" tab for all his videos on water stone sharpening.
 
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I did what you’re thinking of doing. Bought Japanese waterstones, diamond plates, naturals, in all possible grits. Over time of course. After all that expense and experience I found the right combination for me was the following: an 8” course diamond plate for reprofiling (400), a 6” Dan’s “Hard Arkansas” for regular edge maintenance (roughly 1000), and a 6” Dan’s “Translucent” for whenever I want to polish an edge. The 6” stones are good for kitchen and pocket knives, 8” if only for kitchen and 4” if only for pockets. Those are my three essentials. And even at that, the Hard Arkansas get 80% of the use. Everything else is nice to have and fun to explore, but unnecessary. That’s just my opinion and experience though. Your mileage may vary.
 
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It depends on what you want the sharpening experience to be for you. Diamond plates cut very fast with very poor feedback. They’re good for reprofiling an edge when you have a lot of cutting to do, like removing deep nicks in a blade. No lube required though many people like windex or a light honing oil. Shapton glass is good, slower cutting greater feedback. It’s very personal. For me sharpening is fun and slow and zen. I would recommend you try a soft Arkansas stone. They require light oil, cut slow but not too slow, and give great feedback. Rough rule of thumb, use about 1000 grit or soft Arkansas for most resharpening, and then 3000 to 5000 if you like a polished edge. Many people like to use a leather strop with green stropping compound, but I use a translucent Arkansas most of the time instead. Just my opinion, but after trying about everything there is.
 
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