S30v and water stones

[KenHash]

Does anyone have experience or opinion on whether S30v can be sharpened on my Naniwa and Kings that I use for carbon steels/VG10?
Or do I need to purchase Shapton Glass or Naniwa Diamond for this steel?
Thanks VM.

 

[Qapla']

Which Naniwas? From what I read, the Chosera/Pro/Arata's will work pretty well, though not as well as stones specialized for PM-steels. (I vaguely remember reading a big comparison online; I'll have to dig it up.)

 

[M1k3]

It can be done. Going to be quite slow going though. S30V is right about the limit for traditional sharpening stones. Diamond or CBN will definitely speed things up.

You could go with JKI, Venev, DMD resinoid stones. Or diamond plates, which aren't as nice feeling and the edges can be so-so, depending on the brand of plate.

 

[KenHash]

Chosera. Thank you for the responses.

 

[DHunter86]

Choseras will work, albeit not as quick as for less abrasion resistant steels. You can really feel the difference in cutting speed. I used mine for a Spyderco S30V pocket knife I have.

 

[spaceconvoy]

I don't have direct experience yet, but I was just researching Norton Crystolon stones and a few people specifically recommended them for S30V steel. Maybe that doesn't count as a 'water stone' but I hear you can wash out the oil and use them with soapy water. I'll see once my order arrives early next week.

 

[M1k3]

Suehiro has a 100 grit SiC stone. Sigma has the 240 and 1k in SiC. Gritomatic carries quite a few options also.

 

[M1k3]

P.S. Crystolon, especially the coarse one, feels like scraping metal on death.

 

[Barmoley]

King neo 800 will do it well. Your stones will do it too, but slower.

 

[kayman67]

Chosera should work. But you need to do the work with 400 or 600 and have some patience.

 

[VICTOR J CREAZZI]

I don't have direct experience yet, but I was just researching Norton Crystolon stones and a few people specifically recommended them for S30V steel. Maybe that doesn't count as a 'water stone' but I hear you can wash out the oil and use them with soapy water. I'll see once my order arrives early next week.

Off topic, but I use my Crystolons with water and propylene glycol.

 

[SolidSnake03]

For me if you have tough to sharpen steels the Sigma Power Select ii are second to none in terms of just eating any steel when it comes to more traditional water stones. Gritomatic Silicone Carbide also are absolutely monsters for harder to sharpen stuff. They arguably feel worse to me than the Sigma Power ii but are cheaper so it's a bit of a toss up. Both work on everything I've ever tried including Maxamet without a problem.

I purposely left out diamond plates and other stuff like that since the OP said waterstones.

 

[Matus]

Chosera was renamed to Naniwa Professional (and lost 5mm thickness in the process)

 

[kayman67]

For me if you have tough to sharpen steels the Sigma Power Select ii are second to none in terms of just eating any steel when it comes to more traditional water stones. Gritomatic Silicone Carbide also are absolutely monsters for harder to sharpen stuff. They arguably feel worse to me than the Sigma Power ii but are cheaper so it's a bit of a toss up. Both work on everything I've ever tried including Maxamet without a problem.

I purposely left out diamond plates and other stuff like that since the OP said waterstones.

Agree. Sigma 2 stones seem to be too good for such a low rate of popularity.

 

[Evan Estern]

My Shapton Pro "stones" seem to work well on S30V and harder steels.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

I don't have direct experience yet, but I was just researching Norton Crystolon stones and a few people specifically recommended them for S30V steel. Maybe that doesn't count as a 'water stone' but I hear you can wash out the oil and use them with soapy water. I'll see once my order arrives early next week.

It can be done but I do not recommend it. You'll never get the refined edge off a Crystolon as you will a diamond. The vanadium carbides in S30V and related steels are harder than SiC. Under around 400-600 grit, it is less noticeable but diamonds will still be superior. As a rule of thumb, at 4% vanadium carbide, diamonds are the best.

I love Crystolon stones and would recommend sticking with oil. They'll clog much faster with soapy water.

 

[KenHash]

Thanks to everyone for responses. Decided to go with diamond. Will how that fares.

 

[HSS]

I have used Marble 1000 to sharpen S 90V knife .Spending about half hour while using Cerax 1000 ,spending 1.5 hours.