Stone advice, upgrade or add

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joetbn

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Hi everybody. Right now I have a King 1K/6K as my only freehand stone, I don't really trust myself yet freehanding with under 1K and use my edge pro to set bevels on knives that need more work. I sometimes follow the 6K king with boron carbide on balsa. My question is, if I were to spend $50-$80 on my next stone should I replace one side of the king with a Rika 5K, or add a higher grit stone like a Takenoko 8K or Kitayama 8K?
 
Hiromoto AS gyuto (soon to be thinned & re-handled by Dave :biggrin: ), Tojiro DP nakiri, Fujiwara carbon Sujihiki, CCK 1303,
 
As the 1k side of the King combo will melt away rather quickly, maybe the bester 1.2k would be a good move...

Going passed 5 or 6k with stropping isn't very practical for your line up, IMHO....
 
I remember a post by Dave saying - in my own crappy words - to start on a relatively coarse stone with the Hiromoto AS. It was then a reason for me to buy a Chosera 400.
Since, my AS edges are the strongest in the world. Will have to do with the tungsten carbides, I guess.
 
The other side of the "I don't trust myself with a coarse stone" logic is that a coarse stone will set bevels in far fewer strokes. If you're thinking of moving beyond touch-ups to real blade maintenance, you'll want to add one. I use a Beston 500, but check out the Chosera and the Gesshin 400 as well. Look at it this way: you can use the DP nakiri to practice sharpening since it's a flat profile and not too expensive to replace. Once you're comfortable on that, take the coarse stone to the others!
 
Use rather use your carbon sujihiki for practice; no hard deburring as with Tojiro's VG-10 core. Don't hesitate to remove some steel: the original edge is weak due to the factory buffering. The Fujiwara offers a good opportunity to get used to work on a asymmetric edge.
 
Since your Hiromoto will be thinned by Dave,you have couple more carbons & a VG-10.Your King combo. will sharpen up those carbons to a very functional edge.Since Martell is working on your Hiro. I would spend the coin on his sharpening DVD.You will learn how to thin yourself & maintain the reprofile he puts on your knife.

Any of your knives would be good for practicing your freehand skills.As you master the techniques in Dave's DVD then you may want to upgrade your stones,A little freehand skill goes a long way,much more than buying alot of stones.
 
Thanks for all the great replies so far. Salty, I think I'll take your advice and spend the money on Dave's DVD first. As far as a lower grit stone, part of me still likes the measured, precise bevels I can set on the edge pro. So I have been taking all my knives when new or when nicked to the EP so I can put on a nice clean say 12 or 15 degree angle depending on the knife. I have been able to follow the bevel I set on the EP while freehanding on higher grit stones. I'm reluctant to give up that precision.
 
eventually when the shoulders get thick enough you'll have to thin it out anyway. you'll have to learn sooner or later.

=D
 
The money is in the coarsest stone you use, always. The rest really doesn't matter all that much. If you like keen edges, harder stones are better. If you want better consistency in your edge, use a somewhat softer stone. Since you are bevel setting with the Edgepro, I'd suggest going with a Bester, Sigma Select II or a Gesshin 2k. For a splash n go, I'd recommend a Gesshin 1k or possibly a Chosera 1k.
 
Ok, I'm ordering Dave's DVD and a Beston 500. I'll keep using the King 1K/6K and that will be my 3 stone progression until either one side of the King wears out, then I will probably go Bester 1200 and Rika 5K. For now the King is fine. I'm going to start setting bevels and thinning by hand now, here we go. Thanks for all the advice.
 
Follow up. I just got the newly back in stock Martell dvd, and have watched Jon's videos as well several times. Also got a Bester 1200 and a Rika 5K stone. What a difference, with some technique improvement thanks to two great video teachers :thankyou333:(much more improvement to come with practice I'm sure) and wider, faster cutting, better feeling stones than the King combo, I'm pretty happy with the results I'm getting so far. :happy1: I feel no need to go past 5K and a newspaper strop unless I want to make one of those silly "look I can shave my face with a kitchen knife" youtube videos. :crazy: I also don't feel the need for a coarser stone yet, though I'm sure I will soon. Maybe the Bester 500 when it's back in stock or the gesshin 400. Thoughts?
 
gesshin 400 is pretty darn good from what i've read. but bester 500 is bang for the buck =D
 
Follow up. I just got the newly back in stock Martell dvd, and have watched Jon's videos as well several times. Also got a Bester 1200 and a Rika 5K stone. What a difference, with some technique improvement thanks to two great video teachers :thankyou333:(much more improvement to come with practice I'm sure) and wider, faster cutting, better feeling stones than the King combo, I'm pretty happy with the results I'm getting so far. :happy1: I feel no need to go past 5K and a newspaper strop unless I want to make one of those silly "look I can shave my face with a kitchen knife" youtube videos. :crazy: I also don't feel the need for a coarser stone yet, though I'm sure I will soon. Maybe the Bester 500 when it's back in stock or the gesshin 400. Thoughts?

Congratulations!
 

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