Which waterstone creates a polished bevel and toothy edge?

[Davidl]

I will be using the stones on White paper steel and want a knife that has a bit of bite in it.

So far I'm thinking of getting a sigma select II 1200 (permasoak) plus a splash n go or quick soak stone (2-3 mins) in the 3-5k range. I hear that DMT EF would be what I'm looking for and others say to avoid using diamonds on White paper steel. Is there a water stone that would be similar but not as aggressive to create a polished bevel and a toothy type edge. What would you recommend?

 

[ikyjr23]

I'm not super experienced with sharpening by any means and new to the forum but I have an 8k kitayama finishing stone and I love it

 

[EdipisReks]

That'll be up to you and your skill.

 

[Davidl]

Are there stones in the 5k range that better polished the metal but the actual apex is toothy (like a 3k) so that it can be a more aggressive cut.

does using green compound remove all toothless and the answer is to not use compound or to not go as high in grit. that wont give me a more polished knife yet keep the apex toothy in theory.

I plan to get a knife that I will cut leather with to have a toothy edge. Later I plan to get kitchen knifes and use the same stones on them too.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

If you want a polished bevel but a toothy apex have you considered putting on a "micro-bevel" with a coarser grit than you use for polishing?

 

[ThEoRy]

What kind of knife determines the level of finish I provide for my edges. Different edges for different tasks and all.

 

[Mrmnms]

Maybe I'm missing something. I thought my DMT xf plates were like 1000-1200 k. No mirror off that on anything I've done.

 

[psfred]

Try stropping on chromium oxide after a fairly coarse finishing stone (2-3K) and only make enough passes to get the bevel to shine. With care you will not remove enough metal to polish the apex -- to use light pressure, you don't want to roll the edge over.

This is what I do with soft stainless, and it seems to work well, especially using my synthetic blue aoto. I suspect the aoto does not pull the carbides out of the stainless, leaving a more robust edge.

White #1 can take a very fine and screamingly sharp edge, you won't need toothyness to cut food. Leather, on the other hand, is quite abrasive (it's loaded with fine silica) and a toothy edge makes sense. It won't stay sharp long, though, I'd think more like AEB-L or one of the powdered metal steels rather than carbon steel for leather.

Peter

 

[turbochef422]

I like the finish and bite off the big green brick.

 

[Davidl]

microbevel and light stropping are good ideas.

Yes, I think EEF is closer to a polished knife after stropping not ef.

Im interested in the green brick as the second stone after sigma II 1200 looks to be a good match both perm soaking stones. Sigma I read can do HSS as a bonus, green brink I'm unsure.

I never seen professional leatherworkers use more than one stone just a single medium stone and compound strop done lightly like psfred suggests.

In your opinion does the actual polish of the edge not the apex make a difference in slicing through objects and pull cutting like you would on a cutting board with leather or are they too similar to detect.

 

[turbochef422]

Sorry didn't see you'd be cutting leather as I have no experience with that.

 

[Jpox]

I thinned a kato with a beston 500,gave it a nice big burr on both sides and went straight to an Ohira (6-8k) for removing/straightening the burr - that has been the most toothy experience for me, the knife actually felt serrated and the bevel looked smooth due the Ohira (the Ohira being to fine to actually erase the coarse 500 burrgrind). So I would simply say, take your kitchenknives from your most coarse to the finest and see what happens
Although for general kitchenuse a 3 stone setup would be nice, something like 300-600/1000-2-3000. I have a shapton pro 2k that leaves a very nice bite and polished bevel at the same time (perfect as durable edge in a kitchen).
Regarding leather; I like having a refined edge as possible to cut leather. I use my Japanese woodworking knife (kiridashi/kogatana) for that and it gets sharpend up to nakayama level and a few passes on bare leather. As soon as the knife losses bite you feel it on the leather because it is so dense and strong a material - on the other hand, a fresh fully sharpend knife goes through leather like butter
Hope this helps...

 

[Davidl]

thanks