Recommendation on Inexpensive Sharpening Stones

[Steve Eure]

I am currently sharpening my chisels and plane irons with a cheap 4 grit diamond set that goes from 200-600. I am not satisfied by no means with the outcome. I have a Veritas MK II honing guide. What would be your recommendations on a few stones that won't break the bank. I'm a novice, so getting to an edge that will shave would be nice but not necessary.

I've watched videos until I'm blue in the face, with everyone having a different opinion of what is practical. There is such a wide variety of stones and grits and it gets confusing.

Can you help?
Thanks.

[Lee Schierer]

You'll get lots of answers, but here is what I did:

The least expensive method I know of is to use the Scary Sharp method. This method uses a piece of plate glass or stone counter top. You go to the automotive store and buy half sheets of wet/dry sandpaper in grits of 220, 320, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 or higher. You glue these sheets in sequence to your flat surface with 3M spray adhesive. Once you have all the sheets in place you use your honing jig and sharpen on each sheet until you initially get a perfect beveled edge on your iron and then on each successive sheet until the scratch marks from the previous sheets are no longer visible. You'll get the same results as using stones for a whole lot less cost. When a sheet wears out you replace it with a new sheet. I think I spent less than $20 on my set up. I was given a piece of 3/8" glass for my base.

[Jim Koepke]

Steve,

Some of this depends on your blades. If you are using A2 blades then you will likely want water stones. I am not sure if PMv-11 will hone on oilstones.

As Lee mentions, the scary sharp method using abrasive sheets is inexpensive to start out on. As you get going the cost of replacement sheets will tend to nickel and dime you to no end. Not all auto supply stores carry the finer grits or any abrasive sheets. It is mostly carried by those who have customers who do auto painting and restorations.

Not sure what breaking the bank might be considered. Stew at Tools From Japan has a set of which many speak well:

http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/...oducts_id=1667

It is currently at about $220. If my stones needed replacement this set would surely be at the top of my shopping list.

Otherwise my current stones might be replaced as they are, a 1000, 4000 & 8000. Two of them are Norton and one of them is a King. Surely there will be some who will denounce them as being terrible, but they work for me.

What also works is my oilstone set up. My shop doesn't have heat so for a few months out of the year if something needs to be sharpened it is going to be sharpened on oilstones. There are a few disagreements on these as well.

Some will say you only need two stones. My preference is for at least three. There may be no problem jumping from 1000 to 8000. For me it seem there is less work or wear on the 8000 if there is a 4000 in between.

jtk

[Bill Houghton]

If your area has much in the way of yard/estate sales, you may be able to pick up some oilstones with just a little searching. The price will be right.

[andy bessette]

Get a couple water stones.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Lie Nielsen was selling the Norton 1000/8000 combination stone with an inexpensive honing guide a few years ago as the "starter" sharpening set. I think it came with a few pieces of sandpaper to flatten the stones.

You already have a much better guide. The 1000/8000 stone will run you about $75 on Amazon. With a stick of green compound and a flat board, you can get many, many years of really good edges for about $85. It will handle O1 and A2 for sure. I believe it would also handle PMV-11, but I don't own any, so don't personally know that to be true.

The sandpaper method Lee described certainly works, and is how I started out, but is more expensive in the long run. That 1000/8000 stone is more upfront, but will last a long time.

[Normand Leblanc]

I am not sure if PMv-11 will hone on oilstones.

I use oil stones all the time with a decent result on PM-V11. I can't get as sharp as O-1 or A-2 but close and my PM chisels are doing most of chiseling work.

[Tom Stenzel]

Another factor is time. If you spend more money on stones you can save some time.

Since I only have vintage and O-1 steel to sharpen I get by with oilstones I picked up over the years. Others wouldn't accept the time it takes for me to sharpen. I'm obviously OK with it. I find sharpening the relaxing part of the job. For others it's a necessary evil. It's your call on that.

If you want to save money you could go with the Spyderco type ceramic stones. If I were starting over now I probably would go that route. Again it's sure not the quickest way to a sharp edge.

-Tom

[ken hatch]

The stones you need depends on the iron you sharpen. If you sharpen only thin blade O1 a course and fine oil stone and a strop is the perfect set up. If you want cheap go with the India stones, if you can afford a little more drop the fine India and add a natural hard or translucent Ark stone. For thick O1 irons with out a grinder you need a course diamond with the oil stones.

For PM-11 and A2 the oil stones can be very slow and water stones are a better match if, and this is a big if, you can stand the mess and hassle of using water stones. Just about any of the name brand water stones will give a good edge. With water stones you will need to have a way to keep them flat. As with oil stones a course diamond stone is handy to have.

There is no free lunch, each system has advantages and drawbacks. Pick your iron then choose your stones. I've shed all PM-11 and A2 iron in my shop so a set of two (course and fine) oil stones works great, for someone with a mix of iron my set of stones would not be optimum.

ken

[Joe A Faulkner]

Checkout the Norton starter kit with two combination stones, and a flattening stone. The kit goes for $150 and includes a 220/1000 combo stone and 4000/8000 stone. If you source the kit from Peach Tree they include a plastic tray with a non-skid mat and an instructional DVD. You will also want to throw in a Nagura stone for dressing the 8,000 grit waterstone. As far as I can tell this kit is about the most economical way you can go to bring 4,000 and 8,000 grit stones into your shop. You might also want to consider a leather strop and some honing compound. These stones will last for several years and allow you to put a nice sharp edge on your chisels and plane irons.

[Jim Koepke]

Steve, I was going to say a bit more but life interrupted.

There are also things to consider such as if you rehabilitate a lot of old tools or if you are working with mostly newer tools.

Then there are questions about if you have a grinder or other powered system for establishing a bevel.

One also must consider if their sharpening set up will need to accommodate things like shovels, axes and other tools.

Sometimes my twist drill bits are sharpened free hand. This isn't so good on water stones.

Do you have carving tools? Then you may want to get some slip stones. Carving tools can also be rough on water stones.

jtk

[ken hatch]

Steve,

I'll add one more video to watch. Richard Maguire at the English Woodworker has just started a series of sharpening videos. Richard is a very good teacher and a hoot to watch. I have to add, one of the reasons I've enjoyed the videos is he confirms the way I learned to sharpen. It is simple, fast and easy. I've explored most other systems and always come back to using oil stones and a strop to get a very good working edge on O1 iron.

Cheap, fast and easy, what's not to like.

ken

[Chris Hachet]

Steve,

I'll add one more video to watch. Richard Maguire at the English Woodworker has just started a series of sharpening videos. Richard is a very good teacher and a hoot to watch. I have to add, one of the reasons I've enjoyed the videos is he confirms the way I learned to sharpen. It is simple, fast and easy. I've explored most other systems and always come back to using oil stones and a strop to get a very good working edge on O1 iron.

Cheap, fast and easy, what's not to like.

ken

Good to know, I find him to be one of the best guys on the internet in terms of being practical and helpful.

[bridger berdel]

The stones you need depends on the iron you sharpen. If you sharpen only thin blade O1 a course and fine oil stone and a strop is the perfect set up. If you want cheap go with the India stones, if you can afford a little more drop the fine India and add a natural hard or translucent Ark stone. For thick O1 irons with out a grinder you need a course diamond with the oil stones.

For PM-11 and A2 the oil stones can be very slow and water stones are a better match if, and this is a big if, you can stand the mess and hassle of using water stones. Just about any of the name brand water stones will give a good edge. With water stones you will need to have a way to keep them flat. As with oil stones a course diamond stone is handy to have.

There is no free lunch, each system has advantages and drawbacks. Pick your iron then choose your stones. I've shed all PM-11 and A2 iron in my shop so a set of two (course and fine) oil stones works great, for someone with a mix of iron my set of stones would not be optimum.

ken

Ken, I've seen your sharpening bench. If you've thinned it down to a couple of oilstones I'll be very surprised. ...

[michael langman]

The Norton combination bench stone with a coarse side and a fine side, 2 x8 inches in size for about 25.00 and a bottle of Norton honing oil will have you cutting through wood for many years.