Thanks HHC,
No, other than honing I haven't done any sharpening. My father in law recently purchased whetstones to start maintaining his knifes and chisels as well as a strop. I've got access to these but will have to purchase my own so I can spend time practicing.
Now, there's about eight million directions you can go so I'll just give you my personal starting recommendations/options:
First, get an Atoma 140 grit diamond stone for flattening your sharpening stones. You're going to scoff at this because it seems like a lot of money just to flatten stones but believe me (and the majority of the forum) it is worth it. Flattening your stones is necessary, this is not optional for doing good work. There's lots of options out there for flattening like silicon-carbon stones, cheap diamonds, and really expensive stuff.
The cheap SiC flatteners will also dish and then they themselves need to be flattened. They're also often smaller than you sharpening stone. The cheap diamonds will wear out quickly, ultimately costing you more in the long run. You don't need the expensive stuff. Yes, you can flatten on sandpaper or the sidewalk or all manner of other methods but believe me, after you do that, you're not going to want to keep doing that.
If your FIL didn't get a flattening stone, and you're going to borrow his for a while, consider getting him one as a gift/stone rent.
Second, consider one of the many stone holder designs. I like this one:
https://www.bestsharpeningstones.co...name=Diamond Sharpening Stones&product_id=151
But here again you have options for clamp styles, sink bridges, etc. This recommendation is more optional than the flattening plate. You can use a block of wood pretty effectively. You just need to get the stone up in the air for knuckle clearance.
Okay, so those are constants for all the following recommendations:
Let me preface this by saying all my recommendations are going to be splash and go vs. soaking stones. I think SnG stones are very attractive for many reasons, especially starting out.
1. King NEO 800 ST-2: This is a good mid-grit stone that should be able to handle some rougher work but has a good reputation for a clean finished edge too. And it comes with it's own holder.
https://mtckitchen.com/king-neo-800-knife-sharpening-stone-st-2/
EDIT: I just noticed this stone is on clearance. At $26 this is really hard to pass up!
EDIT EDIT: I just discovered they want $17+ in shipping so that makes it less attractive.
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2. Shapton Pro (Kuromaku) or Glass 1000: Again, another extremely popular choice for starting out. Good mid-grit stone for covering a lot of tasks.
https://www.bestsharpeningstones.co...name=Shapton Sharpening Stones&product_id=115
https://www.bestsharpeningstones.com/category_details.php?category_id=61
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My personal favorite recommendation...
3. Get both a Shapton Glass 500 and 2000: The SG500 is a forum favorite for handling a ton of tasks and bringing back all but the most abused edges. I go to this stone a lot. Then the 2k gives an excellent, fully serviceable edge for the kitchen. I can honestly get by without going an higher for the majority of my knives if I needed to. This pair will cover a ton of work and last you a good long time.
While it will be somewhat still influenced, you can strop on most anything. I use cardboard a lot.
I recommend not concerning yourself with higher grits for some time. A lot of people are big fans of high grit finishes in the kitchen but I'm not really among them. But even more, you'll get more use out of plugging in lower grit stone in the future for repairs, thinning, etc. Adding in a 220 and 320 down the road will serve you well.
Again, all of that is my personal preference and as I said, you can get a ton of different opinions. The Sharpening Station sub-forum is full of great folks eager to share their thoughts and experience. Don't hesitate to dive in and ask.
