Should I get a larger water stone? A strop?

[Jeff Myer]

First off I am completely new to woodworking and sharpening. I have been lurking around here for some time and have now done enough to start to have some questions.

I have a small collection of hand tools that all are in need of sharpening including chisels and planes. So i went out and bought an eclipse style jig and have used it with some success on oil stones that I already had. Having read much online and in Leonard Lee's complete guide to sharpening, I went out and bought a King Combination 1000-6000 water stone. I am hoping to take my sharpening to the next level.

Anyway, the stone I have is about 2" wide which is fine for all of my chisels and my block plane irons. I am a little concerned about my larger plane irons however. Those that are about 2" wide themselves and wider. My initial thought was that I could hone the entire edge by taking alternating passes; first favoring one side of the iron then the other. My other thought is to hone the entire width across the stone which would significantly shorten the length of the stone available in each pass.

Since I have not yet opened the stone, I could return it and get a wider stone. It looks like a wider stone would be about twice the price and I would rather not spend the extra money if I can "get away" with using the 2" wide stone. So my question is what would you all recommend? Keep the 2" stone and work around the width limitation or bite the bullet for the wider stone. Keep in mind that I am aware of the scary sharp method and for whatever reason I really want to go the water stone route.

Lastly, I think that I will need to do some stropping after final honing. What do you all recommend for a low budget stropping system? I have that any scrap leather can be utilized as well as opinions that very specific leather be used. I understand the need for the appropriate compound so I am more interested in the strop itself.

I look forward to you input.

[Mike Cutler]

Jeff.
First off Welcome to SawmillCreek.

I personaly think that yes, you need a wider water stone, you'll also need more of them. I have 800/1200/4000/8000 stones, and I know I'd like to bridge the gap between the 1200 and the 4000. The gap between 1000 and 6000 is pretty wide.
In addition to the stone(s) remember that you need some way to keep the stone surface flat. I use sandpaper on a piece of tempered glass
I prefer waterstones also, but I do like the sandpaper method for the initial work.
As for stropping. See if you can pick up an old leather girth strap off eBay. it's the compound that does the work.

Once again. Welcome to Sawmill Creek. I'm sure you'll get a lot of info on the subject.

[Matt Bickford]

angle the iron on the stone while you are sharpening. You absolutely do not need a wider stone. (You may like one, but you don't need one.) Also, sharpening at an angle helps me keep the bevel on the stone

[Joel Goodman]

Yes to a larger stone -- especially when using a honing guide. If you use the micro bevel approach -- that is using a very slightly higher honing angle (2 degrees) for your finest grit you can jump from 1000 right to 8000 as you are only polishing 1/8 of an inch or so. I have had good luck with the Norton 8000. For the 1000 I used a Norton but I have switched to a DMT diamond stone as it is faster and never needs flattening, but the Norton 1000 was fine.

[Ken Werner]

Jeff, welcome to the creek. Ask a question, get lots of differing answers. Reading L. Lee's book is a great start, but I'd urge you to find someone near you who can show you what really sharp is, and how to get there. I'd say focus on that before you figure out what kind of strop to get. FWIW, I go to 8,000 on a Norton waterstone, and have not seen any improvement in the edge when I strop. [Maybe it's my technique.]

Best wishes.
Ken

[Tom Saurer]

I'm not a sharpening expert, but you don't need a wider stone. I have stones that are less then 2 inches wide and I easily sharpen large plane blades on it. As mentioned before you simply need to angle the blade so that it fits on the stone. This done easiest when sharpening free hand. Bob Smalser wrote an excellent tutorial, that you can search for on this site, that shows how to do this.

[Corvin Alstot]

I think you would like a larger stone than a 2" width especially if you can
return it. I use the DMT Diamond plates for initial blade prepand than
switch to the Norton 1000, 4000, and 8000.

The Norton stone require flattening often, but I like this system better
than Scary sharp and the results are similar.

[Dale Osowski]

If you side sharpen freehand you can use the stone you have. I use this technique for all my blades. The plane pictured has a 4.75" blade and I use a 3" wide stone.

Dale

[Michael Fross]

Hello Jeff welcome to the creek, and especially our little neander corner of it.

In my opinion, if you plan on using a honing guide then you'll need a wider stone. If not, you'll be able to angle the blade and move it up and down the stone without issue.

I personally have tried both methods and find that I prefer the honing guide. While freehand does work, I like to know the angles of my irons and blades and I just find I get better results. But then again, you might have a better feel for it than I do.

Lastly, there are a lot of opinions on the number of and the grits of needed for water stones. I personally use a 1000 / 4000 / 8000 Norton set. The 4000/8000 are a combination stone. Charlesworth says that you only need two stones, other will say more. I think the 4000/8000 would do you well when you tools are in shape and you need to sharpen. The reason I also have the 1000 (and a DMT medium) is for removing nicks and rehabbing old tools.

Feel free to ask lots of questions here. There are no silly questions and I've never seen a better bunch of experts so freely giving their advice. I learn something from just about every thread I read.

Michael