120, 220, 320? Yes? No? Depends?

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As usual, you guys steered me right on my 8k thread so here come another question.

I want to be a little more conscious of some more routine to semi-routine thinning. Meaning, maybe not every time I sharpen I do a little but also not waiting too long. I also like playing with grinds and often smooth shoulders pretty. All types of construction from mono carbon to stainless clad to iron clad to mono stainless.

Up till now, I've mainly turned to my Crystolon, India, and/or sandpaper and it gets the job done but I like using oil with my Nortons and sandpaper wears out pretty fast. So I'm kicking around a water stone option in the lower grits.

Specifically something from the Shapton Kuromaku line as they have pretty attractive pricing. It isn't the pricing in and of itself that I like but more the idea of these stones not being used a ton and also likely grinding away pretty readily. But maybe this line in these low grits aren't that good?

I feel like a 120 is unnecessary and if I need something that aggressive I'll grab another option. 220 I'm feeling sorta the same and leaning towards just getting a 320.

Thoughts?
 
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I have a 120 and 220 and they are what you would expect. The 120 takes some work to remove scratches and is for major work. The 220 is a good for moderate thinning and is useful. I go from that to SG500. For lighter work and maintenance the 320 might be the ticket but I don’t have one. The 320 would also be easier to use to cleanup from the 120 and 220. It takes a bit of time on the 500 to cleanup the lower grits.
 
Justinv said:
I have a 120 and 220 and they are what you would expect. The 120 takes some work to remove scratches and is for major work. The 220 is a good for moderate thinning and is useful. I go from that to SG500. For lighter work and maintenance the 320 might be the ticket but I don’t have one. The 320 would also be easier to use to cleanup from the 120 and 220. It takes a bit of time on the 500 to cleanup the lower grits.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have a SG500 that I very much like so that's valuable information for me.
 
Not a Shapton, but what do you think of the Suehiro LD 180?
 
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I've had the SP220 and SG220 side by side - don't own the SP220 anymore. Keeping the glass 4ever.

Didn't care for the SG320, that's when I bought the SG220. Don't own the SG320 anymore. Not tried the SP320.

Never been below the 220 of any stone. The SG220 will turn a saber into a foil.
 
I have the SP 220. Doesn't load or glaze. Is pretty fast. No maintiance needed apart from the occasional flattening. Is slower than a fresh Norton India course but faster as soon as the initial bite of the Norton is gone. Works fine on stainless and carbons up to 66 rockwell.
Haven't tried the 120 version but hear its quite different.
 
SP320 is good for sharpening where its major drawbacks don't show much. Especially good for cheaper steels but good for all anyhow. That being said you get a more behaved S&G for sharpening with SG320.

SP320 for light maintenance works okay, but there it gets kicked about by the SG320 anyhow big time - again because the SG is much more behaved. However if really dedicated for maintenance the SG will burn out fast.

From there it depends what you really need. Of course if you want to get out of oil altogether and dream of speedy stones like those you already got, no #320 in this world is going to make you happy. Sigma 240 seems a very minimum - suggestion to seal that one otherwise it's forever a PITA. I've not tried SP220 or SP120 but since you can almost get both for the price of a Sigma, and from where you stand at, I'd grab a SP220 for starters and see where it lands me at.
 
If you want the coarsest possible stone to be fast, behaved, and almost S&G (depending on how you like it a short soak can help) without crazy dishing and a really tidy, easy to follow-up scratch pattern, it's difficult to beat a Nanohone 200.
 
ModRQC said:
If you want the coarsest possible stone to be fast, behaved, and almost S&G (depending on how you like it a short soak can help) without crazy dishing and a really tidy, easy to follow-up scratch pattern, it's difficult to beat a Nanohone 200.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I have been really happy with my Nano Hone 200. My NH200 is getting pretty thin, so I am planning on ordering the Suehiro Debado MD-20 soon and comparing it to the NH200.
 
120, 220, 320? Yes? No? Depends?


You have Crystolons, Indias, and a SG500, right...?

Then the answer is 'no' - you do not need anything else. Only disappointment will you encounter. Buy more stones you should not.
 
cotedupy said:
120, 220, 320? Yes? No? Depends?


You have Crystolons, Indias, and a SG500, right...?

Then the answer is 'no' - you do not need anything else. Only disappointment will you encounter. Buy more stones you should not.
Click to expand...


Hello Pot. I'm Kettle. 😁

You didn't lecture me when I bought that new Soft Ark the other day. :p
 
cotedupy said:
Then the answer is 'no' - you do not need anything else.
Click to expand...
"You do not need anything else" - come on, this statement is frighteningly realistic and extremely anti-hobby!

If we go here in the forum according to what you really need...then everyone here would only have 2-4 stones and for the kitchen only 2-4 knives.

And in addition, some people here would have to sell a lot of stones - you and me, for example. As a result, the market would collapse...for stones and knives...that's kind of an end-time scenario...
 
I picked up an SG220 recently specifically for thinning - not maintenance thinning but purposeful thinning. I haven’t used it yet but here was my thought process.

From prior reviews/comments the SG220 seems to load and dish less than the 120, while the 320 didn’t sound much faster than the SG500. If anything lower than the SG220 is needed then sandpaper seemed to be recommended, but personally at that point I’d probably just send it off to a pro or I guess there’s my India stone. I forget why I picked the SG220 over the SP220 but presumably there was a reason or maybe it was just a coin flip.
 
If you're feeling spicy you can go Glass 500 to SP8k or SP12k as well. Sounds like non-sense but isn't, it's outstanding actually, toothy and mean but completely manageable and you get quite good retention out of it. Just don't spend 20 minutes on the 8k or 12k and you'll be fine.
 
SolidSnake03 said:
If you're feeling spicy you can go Glass 500 to SP8k or SP12k as well. Sounds like non-sense but isn't, it's outstanding actually, toothy and mean but completely manageable and you get quite good retention out of it. Just don't spend 20 minutes on the 8k or 12k and you'll be fine.
Click to expand...
I've done 120 -> 10k before. Super toothy, yet refined.
 
Cliff said:
SP120 is finicky, great sometimes but not others. I have had great results with the Debado 180. It's expensive but I think worth it. It's quite fast, leaves a manageable scratch pattern, and has decent feel for such a coarse stone.
Click to expand...
Agreed! The 120 is either super fast or feels like using rough glass.
 
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