Want recommendations to replace my 1,000 grit water stone

[David Weaver]

I read an article about super fine stones which said the " grit " rating was not apples to apples..

It's definitely not, and even if it was a discussion of particle sizes in microns that were the same, different particles leave different impressions on the edge of a tool.

[Chris Griggs]

It's definitely not, and even if it was a discussion of particle sizes in microns that were the same, different particles leave different impressions on the edge of a tool.

and even if all that was the same, the hardness/softness of different binder impacts how easily "fresh" particles come up vs. how easy it is to let them wear a little and produce a finer edge.

Its really tough to compare stones on paper....

[David Weaver]

Curiosity is the main reason I would consider one, but a strop charged with iron oxide is equal to a 30k grit, so is there really any advantage?

If the strop is soft, then the stone might seem a bit more keen. If the strop is fairly hard (but not steel), then the resulting edge should be very similar, and the give on a fairly hard strop might make it so that it's a better edge.

But if you do a good job on the 1 micron stones a level below, you'll notice nothing or very nearly nothing. You can pretty easily notice $300 though!

Most of the razor sharpeners finish with powders because they just seem to do a better job than stones do for smoothness and keenness of a shave.

[Stuart Tierney]

I read an article about super fine stones which said the " grit " rating was not apples to apples..

Where? Got a link?


No, I'm not going to suggest anything for Tony here.


Stu.

(Tony, google 'waterstone testing'. It might help with your decision. )

[David Weaver]

Somewhere, Tony's point about not soaking stones became lost in the weeds.

add the Ezelap 81F3 to the discussion. It's about $44 shipped from amazon. A little more expensive than it was a couple of months ago, but still a worthy consideration as a medium stone.