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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2010 18:32:56 GMT
Alright, I've been looking for some whetstones for a while (trying to ditch that accusharp ) and I'm not sure where I should buy some from or what I should get. This set on amazon.co.uk caught my eye, but I'm wondering if it's overly-expensive and/or overkill for my purposes? I was also considering the tri-hone set here which seems a much more reasonable price, but I'm not sure what the grit values on each of them are. 4 1/4" sounds kinda small, too. Of course I'm sure there's probably something that would work well, but I haven't really found it. The fact that I live in the UK may not help things. I'd really appreciate any help. Thanks. -Blaze
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2010 22:19:58 GMT
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on Aug 12, 2010 4:07:56 GMT
I got a set of soft and hard Arkansas stones from ebay US which I am happy with. They give a nice smooth and sharp edge. The soft is more agressive, the hard is more of a hone to smooth and tidy it all up. I got the set for about $40 I think?
Arkansas is a type of ultra fine natural sedimentry stone. Do some ebay searches on them. I found they were good value $ wise compared to japanese or ceramic stones.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2010 15:25:13 GMT
Actually that's damn near perfect. Still more expensive than I would have hoped, but I guess that's just something I should have expected. The fact that they just need to be soaked in water rather than have oil applied to them makes things simpler, too. Debating whether I should get the combination or single versions, but it looks like combination would be much better value for money... do those Norton stones wear out quickly, or have you had no problems with them? I got a set of soft and hard Arkansas stones I'm probably very wrong (I'm just going by what I heard elsewhere), but aren't true arkansas stones meant to be 'extinct' due to being completely mined out?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2010 15:13:20 GMT
Actually that's damn near perfect. Still more expensive than I would have hoped, but I guess that's just something I should have expected. The fact that they just need to be soaked in water rather than have oil applied to them makes things simpler, too. Debating whether I should get the combination or single versions, but it looks like combination would be much better value for money... do those Norton stones wear out quickly, or have you had no problems with them? I got a set of soft and hard Arkansas stones I'm probably very wrong (I'm just going by what I heard elsewhere), but aren't true arkansas stones meant to be 'extinct' due to being completely mined out? Arkansas stones are still around but... like a lot of the Japanese stones the good stuff has been used up mostly. To get good high quality Arkansas stones with consistent grit, you will pay a lot of money. You can get less expensive ones, but they will have more grit inconsistencies in them. The Norton stones are nice with good consistent grits, and the lower number grits do wear faster than the higher grit ones, but that is true for most any stone. Water stones in general will wear faster than oil stones. One thing I like to do with my stones is cut 2 inches off the ends, creating a 6 inch long main stone and a smaller 2 by 3 inch pocket/hand sized stone. I then can use the smaller stones as quick touch up stones after some cutting practice for example, without making a giant production of it with big stones. As for if you should do combo or single it is really up to you. A single stone will last longer, but the combo's tend to be easier for the convince of having two grits available. My suggestion if these are your first water stones go with combos. Later you might want to collect various single grit stones to use.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2010 15:48:28 GMT
Alright, thanks ineffableone. The pointer about splitting them to make a small 'touch-up' stone sounds like a great idea as well.
Karma coming to both of you for the help!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2010 21:36:45 GMT
Glad to help, it is difficult to know what to get and where often times. Oh btw, you might look into high grit automotive sandpaper too for inexpensive choices for additions to your wet stones. You can find some very high grit sand paper either at an automotive store, or online.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2010 15:09:55 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2010 22:31:52 GMT
Yes Shapton has some good stones too. I love their ceramic/glass stones but sadly can't afford to buy a set. Definitely another good company for stones. Their professional series water stones claims to have more grit than other stones. Not sure about this claim but it is what they say. That might be the beltgrinder effect you had
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2010 12:44:52 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2010 4:43:31 GMT
Personally I have to admit I do like these kits but what are you really getting? It is mostly a bunch of stuff to go along with your sharpening stones to give the feel of a more traditional sharpening. So what are you actually getting for water stones? double sided whetstone (7 x 2 3/8 x 5/8'') -dark side whetstone: Rough Grain Whetstone #400 made for removing large chips and imperfections of the sword -Bright side is made out of Medium Grain Whetstone #1000 made for most typical, everyday damage Norton 220/1000 combo stone 8" x 3" x 1" $36.99 www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Norton-Combination-Water-Stones-P28C4.aspxThe Messermeister 400/1000 combo stone 8" x 3" x 1" $30.95 www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=290701So the Masahiro kit is a slightly smaller stone, with a wood bucket and sharpening platform/storage container. It is only a little more $ for the Masahiro kit. So would it work for your Hanwei Bamboo, sure it would work fine. Do you need it? No, you could just as easily spend that money on a combo stone without the case and bucket. However it is not really a bad deal so if you like the little extras for the Masahiro kit, then go for it. Oh forgot to mention though 1000 grit is not really the highest grit you want. As the kit explained it is considered medium. To get your sword up to a nice polished look your going to want to go up to at least a 3-4000 grit. The stones at these grits tend to be more expensive and can run from $60-$100 quite often. A lot of people go for high grit sandpaper instead of stones. You can find the higher grit paper at automotive stores but not at places like Lowes or Home Depot. Good luck.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2010 21:26:40 GMT
actually the masahiro kit comes with 2 whetstones, a combo 400/1000 grit and a 3000grit if I am not mistaken. Look at (1) and (2) below it.
Looks like a pretty nice kit, I've been looking at some of these also.
Theres also a kit similar to this one on Swordnarmory for 46 dollars has two whetstones (grit isnt given you'd have to email them) and a sword maintenance kit.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2010 9:40:59 GMT
Well,
I decided to go for stones only.
I bought a 1000 & 4000 grit.
Wondering if the 400 grit is absolutely necessary... ?
regards
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Post by chrisperoni on Sept 30, 2010 12:31:37 GMT
Wondering if the 400 grit is absolutely necessary... ? regards might be- you have to be able to bring the depth of polish down to the level of any scratches you're trying to remove, then use progressively higher grits to bring back up the finish
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2010 19:12:26 GMT
actually the masahiro kit comes with 2 whetstones, a combo 400/1000 grit and a 3000grit if I am not mistaken. Look at (1) and (2) below it. Looks like a pretty nice kit, I've been looking at some of these also. Theres also a kit similar to this one on Swordnarmory for 46 dollars has two whetstones (grit isnt given you'd have to email them) and a sword maintenance kit. Yep your right, I don't know how I missed that. I must have been half asleep. LOL. For two stones and the kit, it is not a bad deal. I do like these kits, but I prefer the larger stones. I tend to like to cut the ends off them so I have a couple pocket sized stones I can carry easily and hone up any dulling scratches or damage in the field without having large stones to lug around.
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