Looking to get my 1st sharpening stones

[Nicholas Lawrence]

It's like getting married, only more expensive.

And equally pleasurable.

I left this out on purpose to not frighten you away, but I have now entered the Arkansas oil stone phase. I already own a large black and a large soft is on the way. I'm retired so it's OK. If anyone even mentions J-Nats, run the other way.

Not for the first time, I am glad I married my wife and not somebody else’s....

On a serious note though, the oilstones work better for HCS and O1. If you want to get into Lie Nielsen stuff it is all A2, and you probably want the diamonds or waterstones of some type.

[Tom M King]

There are a number of different ways to get to the same sharp edge. It seems like no sub topic of woodworking brings a rise to egos, and chest thumping, than sharpening. The reason I said earlier to get your hands on the different systems is because what works for one, may, or may not work for you. If you go down any of the forks in the road, there will end up being some amount of money spent that you may wish you had done differently later, as you get experience.

I have been sharpening wood cutting edges for 60 years now, and have developed a system that works for me, and my helpers. I would not suggest to anyone that is the one system that is "right". Before getting to my system now, I have spent decades with oil stones, with jigs, and without jigs. With waterstones, there are soft ones, hard ones, and ones of each that cut at different rates. Small differences in stone construction matter if you are using a jig, or sharpening by hand.

You will do yourself a favor if you can find some place, like maybe a club, to try out the different systems, and pick the method that looks like it will work best for you, at least to start with. Don't just simply take anyone's advice off an internet forums.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

You will do yourself a favor if you can find some place, like maybe a club, to try out the different systems, and pick the method that looks like it will work best for you, at least to start with. Don't just simply take anyone's advice off an internet forums.

This is good advice.

[Jack Frederick]

Given the need to flatten stones vs not having to deal with it on Diamonds and just starting out, I think I would just go diamond with maybe and 8000 or so finishing stone. I have a drawer full of stones but most often find myself going to the 1/2" float glass and up to 4000 grit paper. I know it is flat. I have the LV jig and have had good results with it, but I think if starting out I'd spring for the Lie Nielsen. The previous posters have vastly more experience than me. The glass and paper will be your cheapest entry and will allow you to "get your hand" in. You can drop some serious cash on this, topic so, slow and steady is probably the best way in. I'm scared to death at the idea of hollow grinding and can't see springing for a Tormek. I've been making some good progress on my current project, but based upon my experience yesterday I am going to patiently sharpen planes and chisels today. You know when you get it right. The converse is also true

[Doug Dawson]

I’m looking at getting some sharpening stones and looking for recommendations on what to get .....I’m not familiar with the process yet will look around YouTube bit figured I could get some suggestions from the wood brethren here.... I have some cheaper chisels to start on and a older Stanley plane as well, will get some better ones from Lie Nielsen in the future.....

Shapton all the way. It's the new black. If you go on amazon, you can get the japanese versions for half the price of local, so they're not all that expensive.

For chisels, you will also find a WorkSharp 3000 very helpful. Good enough. Flattening/honing the chisel backs, OTOH, is a different story (no way to do this all that well on the WorkSharp, IMO, stones or scarySharp is the only way, too easy to mess up otherwise.)

[George Yetka]

I started with the DMT line and quickly moved away as it left a scratchy finish. From there I went to the scary sharp method and quickly moved away from that because i felt like it took alot to move to a mirror finish. I arrived at the Naniwa Chosera Whetstones. They work amazingly well, they are quick and stay flat for a good amount of time and then I reflatten with a DMT Diaflat. I have 1000,3000,5000 and am saving for the 10,000 I finish up on a strop.

I do have the veritas mark II set for chisels and plane blades. I used it for the first 30 sharpenings and then just for the first one of the day to relearn angles.

[Jake Hillestad]

Simple route - 400 grit Atoma, Spyderco Medium, Spyderco Ultra Fine

You really cant mess up the stones, they will sharpen any steel out there, and you could be all in for well under $200

[Derek Cohen]

Spyderco ceramic stones are good ... but they do need some prep first, such as flattening with a diamond stone. Once this is done, they remain flat for a very, very long time. They are narrower than most other stones. Mine are 2"x8". So they are better for freehand sharpening, where you can use them sideways. Further, the UF does benefit from a further polish on green compound (I use it scribbled on hardwood). Do not use dry. They clog up. Use with a spritz of soapy water.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Robert Hazelwood]

Since you have older tools, you'll likely need to do more work (remove more material) to get them flat and in a condition where they can be honed. Most sharpening discussions center around finer stones that you would use day to day on tools that are already set up properly and only require minimal work to restore the edge. For the heavier work you'll likely need to do, nothing beats PSA sandpaper on a flat surface. Use 80 grit for really heavy work, and 220 for less severe. A 20 ft roll of each will last a long time.

I mention this because when I started I had a lot of tools needing work done, and it seemed like the biggest money pit was trying to find a good fast coarse stone. I was disappointed by coarse diamond and water stones. The Crystolon oil stone is good but goes out of flat like a waterstone and is a bear to re-flatten. Other oil stones are too slow. But a fresh sheet of PSA sandpaper will cut extremely fast. So I would rely on that for all coarse work, and only fool with stones for medium and fine work that you do on a regular basis.

For day to day sharpening pretty much everything works well enough. Remember that good geometry trumps grit rating, so don't get caught up in superfine stones when you start. You should be able to get a serviceable edge out of a very pedestrian stone if you shape the edge correctly and remove the burr. I've tried everything and currently use oil stones. But synthetic waterstones are better at polishing broad areas, so I use them when I get a new blade to polish the backs. If forced to make a recommendation, I would probably recommend splash and go waterstones (like shapton or sigma) in 1000 and 8000 grit, and a 220 grit diamond plate to flatten them.

[Terry Kelly]

Thanks for all the replies,I knew I would get some awesome insight here.....