Originally Posted by
Jim Koepke
My finest stone used to be a 4K King. It was pretty good. My sharpening improved with an 8K Norton. I am not suggesting that either of those stones are superior to other stones available.
I use a honing guide and a micro bevel. I'm confident I can sharpen effectively at this point. My question is how fine do I need/want to go. With sandpaper on glass, I can easily get down below 1 micron and into the realm of truly scary sharp. But sandpaper on glass is fiddly to work with. The 3M PSA should help, the jury is still out on that one. It's also not cheap. As far as I'm concerned, sandpaper is not a long term solution for me.
However, I think somewhere around 5 microns/8k is enough. For stones, I have a 800/4k combo water stone and a fine/extra-fine Duo sharp. I don't like either setup and neither goes far enough. I like the Duo sharp better that the water stones but I dislike the patterned mesh and extra-fine is 9 micron. I'd like to get finer.
I like the ezlap diamond plates. They are not too expensive, a good size and have no pattern, need to lapping. However, the finest is still only 9 micron.
Do I just stop at 9 micron and either use a strop. Sellers does just that.
As I recall from Chris Schwarz sharpening video, he uses a 1k and 4k and 8k shapton. Thats roughly 15, 4 and 2 micron. Sounds great. However, those 3 stones, a holder and a lapping plate? around $700!
I can get a set of Norton 3x8 double sided stones and a lapping stone for $140. That gives me 220, 1k, 4k, and 8k but I'm concerned about the quality and durability.
Too many questions, too few clear answers.
-- Dan Rode
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle