Sharpening Knives/Katanas with Stones.
Feb 8, 2023 22:45:50 GMT
Post by larason2 on Feb 8, 2023 22:45:50 GMT
I bought some of these sharpening stones:
www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/sharpening/stones/112163-shapton-1000x-orange-ha-no-kuromaku-ceramic-stone?item=61M0104
I got the one pictured, 1000 grit, also 2000 grit, 5000 and 8000. I also got a Norton Truing stone to save on sandpaper! I was inspired by this video from Pueblo Forge (which you've probably all seen):
My previous method for sharpening was an ancient wet wheel machine I was given by my mother (who got it from my grandfather). It could put a pretty sharp blade on a kitchen knife, but I found that wouldn't last long, and a lot of angles were tricky to do, and the result didn't usually look good. Part of me wanted to buy a full line of good quality Japanese stones, but I quickly found it was going to be too expensive! I probably could have found authentic equivalents around the same price, but I wasn't sure I was going to find the right grits, and I didn't want to buy more than 4 stones. I don't think togishi's use Shapton stones, but I would think they are probably used in Japan for industrial style sharpening (or maybe just to export for suckers like me!).
Anyway, I'm very pleased with them for sharpening kitchen knives. I use an approach where the knife/edge is perpendicular to the length of the stone, and I find that gives the edge a slight convexity. I used the 5000 and 8000 stones wet, as that is what the manufacturer recommended, but I didn't let them soak long. The edge polishes up nicely. They didn't end up tomato sharp (maybe because of my technique!), but they are finger sharp, and they still cut extremely well. So far I have found they remained cutting sharp better and longer than the old way. The knife's edge also looks a hundred times better. I have steel and ceramic honing rods, but I rarely use them, since I find the knives cut acceptably without them, I'm worried I'm going to reprofile the edge since they are so hard, and my technique with them is bad. Of course, the knives I've done so far are all stainless. I have a Japanese carbon steel knife, but I'm not brave enough to try out sharpening it yet!
The plan is still to get authentic natural stones, and a wider range some day, but this is what I have for now. My question is what do you guys think of these stones? Am I a sucker? Any tips on technique, or after sharpening the knives, did I get what you would expect? I've seen some videos on the SBG sharpening page everyone gets referred to, but it looks like there are a lot of different possible techniques.
Next, my Ronin Katana Dojo Pro and Wakizashi came pretty sharp, and I'm pretty happy with them, but I'm a compulsive tinkerer. Part of me would like to try putting an edge with a small amount of niku on it, like the knives. Would this wreck the geometry, or do you think it's worth a try? Also, I've read elsewhere in this forum Japanese stones don't really work on monosteel, but perhaps these would because they're ceramic? If you guys know any resources that explain why stones and monosteel don't mix, I'd like to read them. If I were to sharpen my swords, I'd try to keep the same angle, and not roll it too much! I haven't actually cut with them yet (plan is for the spring), but I would try cutting with them first, then try adjusting the shape/polishing, and see what the difference is. It would restrain my tinkering spirit if you think I'll wreck the geometry though!
If I were to get 4 natural stones to replace the grits I have, which ones would you recommend? Where do you get them from? I know about bisui, kaisei, chunagura, and komanagura, Hato, Jito as on the Japanese Sword Guide. Looks like bisui starts around 1000-3000 grit, and you can get nagura stones up to 8000 grit, however when you order them you don't always know the grit. The prices are a bit much to just order and hope for the best! I've seen websites like naturalwhetstones.com, hitohira, dictum, Namikawa Heibei, and tomonagura.com. It's a bit much to sort through!
Thanks!
www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/sharpening/stones/112163-shapton-1000x-orange-ha-no-kuromaku-ceramic-stone?item=61M0104
I got the one pictured, 1000 grit, also 2000 grit, 5000 and 8000. I also got a Norton Truing stone to save on sandpaper! I was inspired by this video from Pueblo Forge (which you've probably all seen):
My previous method for sharpening was an ancient wet wheel machine I was given by my mother (who got it from my grandfather). It could put a pretty sharp blade on a kitchen knife, but I found that wouldn't last long, and a lot of angles were tricky to do, and the result didn't usually look good. Part of me wanted to buy a full line of good quality Japanese stones, but I quickly found it was going to be too expensive! I probably could have found authentic equivalents around the same price, but I wasn't sure I was going to find the right grits, and I didn't want to buy more than 4 stones. I don't think togishi's use Shapton stones, but I would think they are probably used in Japan for industrial style sharpening (or maybe just to export for suckers like me!).
Anyway, I'm very pleased with them for sharpening kitchen knives. I use an approach where the knife/edge is perpendicular to the length of the stone, and I find that gives the edge a slight convexity. I used the 5000 and 8000 stones wet, as that is what the manufacturer recommended, but I didn't let them soak long. The edge polishes up nicely. They didn't end up tomato sharp (maybe because of my technique!), but they are finger sharp, and they still cut extremely well. So far I have found they remained cutting sharp better and longer than the old way. The knife's edge also looks a hundred times better. I have steel and ceramic honing rods, but I rarely use them, since I find the knives cut acceptably without them, I'm worried I'm going to reprofile the edge since they are so hard, and my technique with them is bad. Of course, the knives I've done so far are all stainless. I have a Japanese carbon steel knife, but I'm not brave enough to try out sharpening it yet!
The plan is still to get authentic natural stones, and a wider range some day, but this is what I have for now. My question is what do you guys think of these stones? Am I a sucker? Any tips on technique, or after sharpening the knives, did I get what you would expect? I've seen some videos on the SBG sharpening page everyone gets referred to, but it looks like there are a lot of different possible techniques.
Next, my Ronin Katana Dojo Pro and Wakizashi came pretty sharp, and I'm pretty happy with them, but I'm a compulsive tinkerer. Part of me would like to try putting an edge with a small amount of niku on it, like the knives. Would this wreck the geometry, or do you think it's worth a try? Also, I've read elsewhere in this forum Japanese stones don't really work on monosteel, but perhaps these would because they're ceramic? If you guys know any resources that explain why stones and monosteel don't mix, I'd like to read them. If I were to sharpen my swords, I'd try to keep the same angle, and not roll it too much! I haven't actually cut with them yet (plan is for the spring), but I would try cutting with them first, then try adjusting the shape/polishing, and see what the difference is. It would restrain my tinkering spirit if you think I'll wreck the geometry though!
If I were to get 4 natural stones to replace the grits I have, which ones would you recommend? Where do you get them from? I know about bisui, kaisei, chunagura, and komanagura, Hato, Jito as on the Japanese Sword Guide. Looks like bisui starts around 1000-3000 grit, and you can get nagura stones up to 8000 grit, however when you order them you don't always know the grit. The prices are a bit much to just order and hope for the best! I've seen websites like naturalwhetstones.com, hitohira, dictum, Namikawa Heibei, and tomonagura.com. It's a bit much to sort through!
Thanks!