What are your go-to sharpening stones?

[Christopher Charles]

8" hollow grind, 1000, ~5000, ~12000 shapton pros (and 400 Atoma for flattening) from Stu. upgraded from Norton primarily to get to spray and go. Works great, haven't thought about changing the set up since i got it. Im not sure about skipping the middle grit, could probably get away with.

Good luck,
C

[Reinis Kanders]

I like spydercos medium and uf or oilstones washita to translucent.

Spydercos are great because they work well dry so I can just grab them and be done in literally two minutes for a plane iron without any cleanup, chisels are faster. PMV steel if it is too dull sometimes takes too long on spyderco, if I think that will be the case I use washita that I keep scuffed up.

I have also been experimenting with big ass 10x3 black arkansas charged with 1 micron diamond.

In general I try to not use more then two stones and strop, anything more just makes it more likely that something will get messed up.

[Dave Cullen]

I have a soft (grey) Arkansas and a hard (white) that have served me well for 30 years. My tools are carbon steel though.

[les winter]

I use the india and translucent arkansas for my A2 LN irons and chisels. I gave the trans a treatment with a coarse diamond stone. It cuts fast so long as the micro bevel is micro. I use simple green and water on the india and the trans. Seems to work fine with no oil residue on me or my tools.

[Brian Holcombe]

I use all of my stones, depending on the material

For A2/01 - Chosera 1k, 3k then sigma 13k

For Japanese white or blue steel Chosera 1k, 3k, Snow white (8k) then Shinden suita.

For diamond plates I currently have 400 DMT, it's being relegated to rough work and replaced with Atoma 400 (for stones 1-8k) and Atoma 1200 for my finish stones. Also atoma 140x for roughing work.

I also expect to receive a Nakayama Asagi for very fine work such as finish planing and fine paring. This is the equivalent of 30,000 grit.

I'll add that I've been very surprised by how much I enjoy natural stones. Unlike synthetics they do not get a soak before use, so I dont need to keep a tray of water on hand for them, they stay flat so I need to lap every 2 seconds and they offer excellent feedback to the sharpener. My major complaint with finishing on a stone like the snow white was the slurry, and finishing on the sigma 13k is that it's soft and catches the edge more than I would prefer when freehanding.

I'm actually looking to replace my middle stones eventually with one natural stone, and that should relegate my use of stones that require soaking to new-grinds and re-grinds but completely out of the regular maintenance program.

[John Schtrumpf]

I free hand sharpen full single bevel.

DMT X-coarse for flattening my water stones.

400 Imanishi to remove metal quickly when the edge is worn.

3k Sigma Power Select II, quickly gets a fine scratch pattern, where I start for a touchup sharpening.

8k Imanishi to hone / polish.

Strop with LV green compound edge polish.

Plain strop.

I also have coarser stones and diamond plate for fixing / establishing a bevel with the Veritas MK II honing guide.

[Evan Ryan]

Slow speed grinder, 1k shapton pro, 5k ceramic shapton, 8k shapton pro, strop
i also have a dia flat lapping plate and a dmt extra coarse plate.

i bought the shaptons after reading threads here on the creek, and so far they've given me my best edges.

I did a lot of rust hunting to build my basic hand tool collection, and during that time I used the sandpaper scary sharp method. My edges were very nice with scary sharp.
At an amazing estate sale I picked up an almost new set of diamond stones, but the set was stolen before I got to do a lot of sharpening done with that set up.
Once the diamond stones were gone I tried using old norton oil stones and other various oil stones that I picked up rust hunting. This method was not easy. The stones were not very large and I never identified their hardness, so I broke down and bought the brand new shaptons.

[Tony Shea]

I've tried so many damn methods it scares me to think about the money I've spent. I started off using something similar to scary sharp basically using wet/dry sandpaper. This method worked fine but I just got sick of changing out my paper and also lusted for something nicer, we all do. I decided to try out the Naniwa Super Stones because I could afford them at the time. This really got me loving the water stone method and did great for me. I ended up moving and decided to buy some oil stones because it was not easy for me to have a place for water in my make ship unheated shop. I thought oil stones were the answer in the unheated shop and happily honed away with this method for a small period of time. But after gradually building up my collection of LN and LV chisels, planes, etc., I really struggled getting a sufficient edge in a reasonable amount of time. But I made due until I ended up moving to where I am now and have been for the last 5 years or so. I now have a sink near by and decided to upgrade my water stone collection to something other than my soft Super Stones. I picked up 1000, 5000 shaptons and a 10000 Sigma. I loved this setup and used it for 2 years or so. I began to dislike my Sigma the more and more I used it and finally decided it was too soft for a fine finishing stone. I finally broke down and bought the Shapton 12000 to replace it and have never looked back. This is my final sharpening stone setup for all my flat blades and I am happy as hell with them. So to anyone looking at some water stones just save your money on all that other stuff and try out the Shapton Pro's, I will guarantee you that you'll love them.

For all my curved blades I use diamond stones and oil stones. Do gross metal removal with the diamond stones and finish with oil stones. This is where oil stones really shine because of their hardness.

Oh and I always hollow grind with my 6" full speed grinder, none of this slow speed stuff that is all the rage these days. I want to get the grinding done as fast as possible and with the right wheel there is no need for a slow speed grinder. The coarser the wheel you can get the better and dress it often.

I used to keep my water stones flat with a DMT dia sharp XC/C until I wore it out. Now I use and love my Atom 140.

[Daniel Rode]

FWIW, I use an 8" white Norton wheel. I like the flatter shape of an 8" wheel, but I doubt it matters much. My grinder can run as slow as 2000 RPM. So the edge is moving approximately as fast as a normal speed 6" wheel (feet per second rather than RPM). The hollow grind was a game changer for me. It's so fast and it makes maintaining the secondary bevel dead simple.

Chisels and flat plane irons are easy. I still struggle to create a smooth curve on cambered irons. Mostly I grind them flat and work the edges on the stone by applying pressure to the corners.

[Charles Bjorgen]

Like so many here I've spent a small fortune on sharpening stones. If rejuvenating a vintage chisel or plane iron I will create a hollow grind on my old Tormek. Depending on my mood I will then finish on the Tools from Japan three-stone Sigma set. I might also go to my oil stones. However, if just doing a quick touch up, I find myself going to the Spyderco medium and ultra-fine stones. The Spydercos are so quick and easy to use they are becoming my favorites.

I keep a set of oil stones in the kitchen for knives. Those are a two-sided Arkansas soft and hard plus a blue translucent for finishing.

[Robert Engel]

I still struggle to create a smooth curve on cambered irons. Mostly I grind them flat and work the edges on the stone by applying pressure to the corners.

Glad I'm not the only one!!

One of my hold backs is I'm scared I'll ruin the blade.
Just picked up a #4 Wood River and I've got a couple blades to experiment with.
You would think somebody has come up with a jig for grinding a camber on a plane iron.......

[Archie England]

I've tried so many damn methods it scares me to think about the money I've spent. ...

Can I ever relate!

I prefer Choseras for the 1000, 3000 levels but am amazed at how well the Bestor 1200 and Sigma 1200 perform, as well. If I'm doing kitchen knives, the Bestor 1200 is the only stone to use (imo). The Sigmas 6000, 10k, and 13k are my go to polishing stones. For endgrain or swirly grain or burl, I use the 10k (softer) or 13k (super hard); for everything else, the Cho 3k or the Sigma 6k is the final stone.

For establishing or regrinding bevels, I have grinders or low grit water stones--and use whatever fits the mood or the need.

I tried sandpaper on a heavy substrate but never liked it (though I'm not knocking it). Just like I love/hate a Suehiro Rika 5k, which is way too soft, dishes way to quickly, and uses up at an incredible speed; but, it will work a blade from the 2k to 5k range and produces a beautiful edge. I really like my oil stones, too; but they are significantly slower and don't handler A2 nearly as well.

And, finally, add the weird factor--I enjoy sharpening, probably too much. But I'm having fun.

[Daniel Rode]

And, finally, add the weird factor--I enjoy sharpening, probably too much. But I'm having fun.

I can't say I enjoy sharpening but I do like the results. I've become proficient enough that I no longer dread sharpening, so that's an improvement

[David B. Morris]

You would think somebody has come up with a jig for grinding a camber on a plane iron.......

LV makes a cambered roller for their MKII jig.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Choseras are my go-to stones now, but I want to be clear that I am a chronic sharpaholic who needs therapy, and this is not what everyone needs in order to get their tools "sharp enough." (that was hard to say, by the way) When asked for advice, I tell people to evaluate how much they are into woodworking. If they are dead serious, then I say go for something higher end- Shapton Glass are a great lower-dollar but higher-end stone. I have a full set and love them. I kind of swap back and forth between those and the Choseras because the Shaptons are more splash and go. (I used to think the Choseras were splash and go, but they do prefer being soaked briefly.) If they are not real serious, or not sure, then I say get some Nortons. They do just fine, except I very much dislike the 220- very slow cutting, and leaves a very inconsistent scratch pattern. If really serious then I say get Shapton Pro's or Choseras. **Not the only good stones, but those are what I have the most experience with.

I have a full set of DMT diamond stones, thanks mostly to an eBay find. I primarily use them to set bevels and reapair really bad edges. I use a Dia-Flat to flatten my waterstones, and I also use a 1500 diamond stone to dress the finer stones like the Chosera 10k and Shapton 15k.

I use a Tormek primarily for sharpening gouges, scissors, and planer (the electronic kind) blades. I do also use it to sharpen knives when friends bring me a lot of them to sharpen, and depending on how good of a friend they are, I will finish on a Chosera 5k and if they are really good friends a 10k. For my own knives I mostly use the Choseras because I enjoy shaprening knives on waterstones.

I want to make a comment about "skipping grits," but this is not for the sake of argument; rather it is for the sake of clarification. Yes, as I believe Prashun said, you can skip grits, like going from 1k to 5k, but there is a small consequence, and that is time spent and wear on the stones. You will be wearing your expensive stone faster, and spending a lot more time to properly remove the scratches from a 1k. I have so many times seen where people go from a 1k to a 5k or 8k and say it works just fine, but when I look at the edge, there are clearly scratches left over from the 1k. Sure, it is a mirror polish, but they did not get all the scratches out. THIS IS NOT A BIG DEAL!!! I want to be clear with that. However, even leaving some of the scratches, I can tell you they took longer overall and used more of their expensive finer stone than if they had gone, for instance, 1k, 3k, 5k, 8k, which is a good progression.

I'm going to say it again- this isn't a huge deal, and if strapped for cash you can do this, but it is not ideal- that's all I'm saying. It is more ideal to progress through the grits.

I have actually been intending to do some videos because I own all the Chosera grits, most of the Shapton Pro, and all the Norton. I want to be clear again here- this is only because I enjoy sharpening and nobody should ever buy all the grits unless they have a problem like me! I don't expect folks to understand it, but like with the Chosera 600 and 800 I wanted to see for myself what the difference was, and I found an insane deal on both, so I bought both. It is a weird fascination that started as a child when my grandfather taught us to sharpen our pocket knives. I just like to sharpen things, and I like to experiment with different methods. Actually the main reason I have not shot a video is I did not want people to think I was gloating over the stones I own. The internet can be like that. I actually would do the video so people can AVOID buying the wrong stone and better choose the grit they need.

If interested, comment and I will get off my butt and do the video, but it will take time because what I want to do is flatten some iron backs with each stone so you can more clearly see the scratch pattern on the metal, and compare each one side by side.