Anybody use waterstones?

[Hemingway]

I saw a video of Ray Mears using waterstones in various grits the other day and it seemed to be a good system I'd like to try.

Anyone have any experience with them?

 

[tyler34]

I have a pretty vast experience with waterstones. I use them almost everyday from REALLY coarse to 30,000 grit fine.

 

[tyler34]

tell you what I like way more than waterstones for ease of use is the flat syderco stones because they need no water.

Buy Spyderco Bench Stone Set, 2"x 8" at Woodcraft.com

 

[Andre46996]

Never have used them. My dad swears by them. I remember last time I was at their place for dinner dad was using a knife I would have tossed 20 years ago it has been sharpened so many times it is starting to look like a filet knife.

He has taken some of the cheap Chinese junk knives I have bought over the years as beater knives and made them so sharp you could shave with them. They don't hold an edge long but man can he sharpen a knife.

 

[redneckmedic]

I have a pretty vast experience with waterstones. I use them almost everyday from REALLY coarse to 30,000 grit fine.

How many freak'n knives do you have

 

[tyler34]

How many freak'n knives do you have

a few but I get 2-3 boxes or packages a week of them so...

 

[hidesert]

I still use the old style water stones for our neck knives at work. They always come through when needed. I have all the fancy angle stones and such at home but I work with what is provided.

 

[Hemingway]

tell you what I like way more than waterstones for ease of use is the flat syderco stones because they need no water.

Buy Spyderco Bench Stone Set, 2"x 8" at Woodcraft.com

Tyler, those seem to max out at 2000 grit at the high end, is that right? I was looking for something a bit finer.

What do you think about this set:

Water Stone Kit

 

[tyler34]

Tyler, those seem to max out at 2000 grit at the high end, is that right? I was looking for something a bit finer.

What do you think about this set:

Water Stone Kit

yes but they take no water so you can take them anywhere, plus search around and plenty of people can whittle hairs after using these stones. but if you want finer then yeah that set looks fine.

 

[Jay]

Just wondering..... I was a tool maker for many years, and had occasion to sharpen many different tools for many different applications. I sharpen my own tools/knives/axes, using a variety of files, stones, (natural, diamond, and ceramic). That being said, I'm a far cry from an expert on much of anything, but is there a "standard" for sharpness, or is the sharpness of anything pretty much subjective, as in "yep, that's perfect" ?

 

[tyler34]

Just wondering..... I was a tool maker for many years, and had occasion to sharpen many different tools for many different applications. I sharpen my own tools/knives/axes, using a variety of files, stones, (natural, diamond, and ceramic). That being said, I'm a far cry from an expert on much of anything, but is there a "standard" for sharpness, or is the sharpness of anything pretty much subjective, as in "yep, that's perfect" ?

there are standards but they are mostly a singular persons therefore not really standard. . any "real" standard usually involves a microscope. my standard is tyler sharp and has been looked at under a microscope, but only for checking burrs.

 

[tyler34]

then you also have things like Welcome to BladeSports International Inc. but that encompasses a lot more than just sharpness.

 

[Jay]

my standard is tyler sharp

That works for me. Thanks

 

[Hemingway]

I like to be able to EASILY shave the hair on my arm or leg without any slicing motion. I like it when I can get the blade to shave just from the weight of the knife scraping against my hair. The hair sort of just pops or leaps off when it gets cut at this sharpness.

That's my ideal. Unfortunately, some grinds/metals I can't get that sharp. Thus, my quest for something better than what I have.

 

[tyler34]

2000 grit will easily do that. once you get in the 1000's and above your basically polishing the bevel you set.

 

[451_Detonics]

I have gone to the Spyderco Tri Angle set almost exclusively. For most of my knives just a few passes at the end of the day followed by a stropping returns them to hair whittling sharpness if they were used much during the day. I do use the steels if an edge is chipped or a bevel needs worked. I also have some Arkansas stone so that so hard they are translucent, these work well for smoothing and polishing rough edges.

 

[Hemingway]

Bringing this up again--After some more research, I've decided to give these waterstones a shot.

A local store sells Norton and King brands. Which is better (if anyone has an opinion?)

 

[mjelder]

My father swears by them as well. They take some practice to get good with though.

 

[Zoub]

tell you what I like way more than waterstones for ease of use is the flat syderco stones because they need no water.

Buy Spyderco Bench Stone Set, 2"x 8" at Woodcraft.com

In terms of larger stones, I have only used wet stones all my life, but that set looks like a winner. A good way to start a young person so they never need wet stones.

There are issues after using stones for a long time in terms of wear and tear, uneven surfaces and of course the mess. Traveling with them is a bit of a pain. I keep a dedicated kit for knife travel on fishing and hunting trips.

Great suggestion on that kit. I want one!