Stone Advice

Basically I am getting to the point where my XXC coarse DMT is worn to the point where it's no longer time effective to use. I sharpen my own knife (time isn't such an issue here) but I also sharpen for some chefs and at a farmers market, which gets me a little pocket money :cool2:, but these knives need at a minimum some significant burr formation to remove the fatigued steel, and often bevel setting, tip and chip repairs etc.

So I am looking for a waterstone to replace it, as I am tired of the feeling that every pass I make on the DMT is not only reducing its life, but its cutting speed. For a stone to fill the roll, it should not have a cutting speed of less than that of a broken-in XXC DMT and minimal dishing, if that's possible. What I have found is the Sigma power ceramic stone 120 grit from Stu, which looks quite good, and very cheap. The only other stones I have found would be one of the very coarse ******** stones from the plum or bamboo lines. I am not interested in forum politics, and if one of those stones would fill the roll the best, please recommend it.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, I am looking for one or more finishing stones. I guess you could say that I'm chasing a mirror edge, but I know that will only end in disappointment. Being able to achieve a nice kasumi finish off these stones is also quite important to me. My green brick tends to put a dull finish on any part of a wide flat bevel, with only minor for the metal hardness, and only polishing on the hamaguri edge. My original plan was for a Kitayama 8k, but on Dave's advice, I am considering getting an 8k SS to use beforehand. However, after a bit of browsing, I found that I could get the 8k & 10k Super Stones, or the Sigma power ceramic stone 8k & Kitayama 8k, or the Sigma power ceramic stone 10k by its self, or any combination of these :dazed: which is a bit much for me to decide upon, basing my opinions mostly on forum posts from 2009...

Also, I can't afford chosera's at the moment.
Thanks for any advice.

I am no expert but the bester 1200 and Suehiro Rika 5k are very popular here...and the beston 400(or was it 500). I am sure the experts will chime in

The nice thing about the superstones is that you can buy them in half thickness on a base to have a go at them. I have a half thickness 8k an I probably will never wear it out. That said, I don't love it, I find it v. Easy to gouge, and a little bit slow. It leaves a bright finish, and works best soaked for a few minutes.

Have you tried cleaning your DMT? Bar Keepers Friend and a stiff brush does a good job.

Pensacola Tiger said:

Have you tried cleaning your DMT? Bar Keepers Friend and a stiff brush does a good job.

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It's not loaded, the diamonds are just incredibly worn down. Two thirds of the surface is smooth, and there are some patches at the ends which are less worn.

Agreed. I have recently just about killed my DMT doing the same thing for local chefs. Bevel setting and tip repair seem to be a necessity, and I'll second that the DMT is very effective at it. I'm going to keep it for fine stone flattening, where I don't want scratches left, and deal with the sticking.

Curious to see other's recommendations.

Is no one able to help me out with the higher grit stone choices?

I sharpen knives for some locals here who think it's perfectly acceptable to cut product on a flat top; needless to say, it usually takes a fair amount of work to establish a burr. I've always found my Beston 500 to be up to the job.

Gesshin...high or low grits.

http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/gesshin-1/gesshin-toishi.html

Seem like the Sigma Power Select II stones will be the quickest non-diamond stones to remove metal, but they supposedly wear down faster due to the lack of binder (not sure how much faster, but Stu could answer)

My XXC is still going strong because I only use for flattening and building mud, but my DMT Coarse is almost smooth as glass now, so I know how you feel.

I use a Shapton Pro 220 for most of my coarse grinding and have been pretty happy with it. Cuts relatively quickly, dishes very slowly, builds up mud and has decent feedback for such a coarse stone. Just picked up an XC for any of the really heavy lifting going forward.

You need to use a light touch with the diamond stones. To heavy a hand breaks the diamonds off. Like many tools, you need to let the tool do the work.

I've ruined a dmt xxc by grinding too hard. It still works, but it shouldn't have worn as quick as it did, now I'm using for flattening only. Defintitely learnt that one the hard way.

Hey mate, not sure if budget is a worry or not but (NZer here) you might want to consider shipping costs when it comes to stones: in my experience depending where you buy shipping might amount to same price as the stone itself...

ChiliPepper said:

Hey mate, not sure if budget is a worry or not but (NZer here) you might want to consider shipping costs when it comes to stones: in my experience depending where you buy shipping might amount to same price as the stone itself...

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Ordering from Stu at toolsfromjapan I can get quite reasonable shipping, especially buying multiple stones at once.

Yeah, I am probably guilty of "leaden hand ruins the plate" on this one. Would the light tough also apply to flattening stones as well?