Sharpening purchases

[zootroy]

I am going to invest in some sharpening tools this weekend. I only have a set of chisels and a rabbit plane at the moment, but I plan on getting more hand tools. I was planning on picking up the Veritas Mk II guide and a wetstone. A friend of mine mentioned diamond stones. I'm not sure what to get.

Question:
Wetstones or Diamond?
What Grits?
Am I asking the right questions?

I would like to keep it around $50.00 for the stone(s) if possible.

Thanks in advance,
Jason

[Slik Geek]

One simple question, likely many conflicting responses

Jason,

You are likely to get a number of conflicting opinions on this topic!

I'm not a well seasoned sharpening expert, but I have some experiences to share that may be useful.

Wetstones or Diamond?
I've only used a DMT diamond sharpening "stick", no diamond "stones", so I can't give a direct comparison. My progression through sharpening was:
Scary sharp (silicon carbide sandpaper on a thick, polished granite tile with water as a lubricant), then silicon carbide and aluminum oxide grits on a granite slab with water as a lubricant, and now: whetstones.

I started with silicon carbide sandpaper because of its low investment cost and accolades on the resulting sharpness. I liked the results, but it seemed like I was using up sandpaper mighty fast. I had a bunch of new chisels and a few plane irons to sharpen and I feared bankruptcy before I was finished buying sandpaper. It just seemed like the sandpaper wore out very quickly.

To maintain a similar technique, and save money, I purchased various grits and used them in a slurry on the granite tile. This did appear to be more cost effective, but sharpening didn't seem to progress as quickly as I thought it should. The black silicon carbide grit made a big mess too.

What Grits?
After reading many adherent's testimonies to whetstones, I bought three styles (800, 1200 and 6000 grits, I believe - I'm not home right now). I've used them ever since. They are a bit messy, but not that bad. They cut pretty fast. Keeping the stones flat is easier than I anticipated. I just frequently rub them against each other, rotating them, with frequent dips under faucet water. That seems to work fine. The "dishing" of the stones was what initially kept me from buying them. Now, I consider it no big deal, a minor inconvenience.

The reason that I didn't go for diamond stones was two-fold: they cost more initially, and they wear out, perhaps faster than claimed by the manufacturer. (The whetstones are regenerated constantly, so they never dull, they just slowly get thinner).

Two ways that you can save money on the stones is to buy combination stones (two grits on opposite sides) and buy smaller dimension stones. I opted for neither: I wanted them to last a long time (thicker=last longer) and wanted a wide surface to accomodate a plane iron and still allow some movement over the stone to spread out the wear. You may want to consider finding a way to increase your budget so you can buy stones that you'll be happy with for 10 years or more.

I use the Veritas Mk II guide. I like it. I used a cheap guide initially. The small roller allowed the guide to rock from side to side (I guess I have sloppy technique?), so I ended up with a cambered edge on wide chisels. The Mk II solved that problem. Just be sure to crank down tightly on narrow chisels so they don't shift during sharpening and cause a skew on the blade edge.

Sorry so wordy, hope this helps.

[Slik Geek]

Grit confirmation - and clarification

I just got home and confirmed that I have 800, 1,200 and 6,000 grits. One thing that I neglected to mention is that for now, you could probably get by without the finest grit - saving that for a later enhancement to your sharpening kit. Some might recommend that a 4,000 grit would be better than a 6,000 grit. I chose the 6,000 grit because my dealer only carried that variety. My stones are "Splex" brand and "Suehiro", both made in Japan.

[drumpriest]

You can sharpen with just about anything that is abrasive. Water stones, Oil stones, diamond stones, sandpaper, they all work. The questions are really more about expense over time, and keeping them true.

Sand paper systems reference plate glass, which stays flat, the downside is that you constantly replace the sandpaper as it wears out. These systems typically use oil for lubrication.

Water stones sharpen quicker than oil stones. The downside to using water stones is that as you use them, the stones themselves stop being flat, and you need to true them for sharpening larger blades. This is typically done with sandpaper referencing off of a flat surface. Water and oil stones can last a long time.

Diamond stones are fairly new in the world of sharpening, they work well, stay flat, use water as coolant/lubrication. The downside here is that they can be expensive unless you find a good sale.

I personally use diamond stones at the moment, but have no issues with the others either, it's a personal choice.

[ChrisD]

I bought a couple of Japanese waterstones about three years ago when I was starting out. I have not used them since I learned this method:

http://www.shavings.net/SCARY.HTM

[wassaw998]

The scary sharp method uses a lot of paper, and the stuff I have is not that cheep. After messing around a bit getting a plane in shape, I'd have to figure that the scary sharp method is not the most economical way to go, albeit up front it is less costly. I am sort of on the same edge as to where to go from here. Water Stones, Arkansas Stones, India Stones, ...Diamond stones. I see Rockler has a durosharp diamond set on sale. Also, when using the MK II on any of the above methods, it is correct that the unit rolls on the medium, right ? I was a bit concerned the first time I used my MKII about rolling it on the sandpaper and scratching up the roller but that seemed like the only way to do it.

[maxparot]

I tried scary sharp. Like was mentioned it uses a very large quantity of sandpaper. I have a bunch of stones 1 coarse diamond. a aluminum oxide combination oilstone, a white ceramic stone and a combination waterstone. I use them all. using one type doesn't exclude using the others. Just going from the coarsest grit needed to the finest. The glass plate and 220 grit sandpaper still come in handy for flattening the stones.