Sharpening **** stainless

[Vaughan]

So my SO has been telling friends and family I am an obsessive knife sharpener and inevitably a lot of them have asked if I can touch up their knives.

I am very much a novice and have really only just started on my sharpening journey. I own a Chosera 800 and a Course DMT Dia-Flat.

I can say with a fair degree of certainty that the knives I’ll be sent, if I agree to assist, will be of the cheap stainless variety.

I guess what I’d like to know is whether you guys think it would be worth buying an additional stone (knowing full well that buying more sharpening equipment is always endorsed here) or whether I could get by with what I already have without the process being frustratingly inefficient.

I anticipate the knives will be fairly blunt with rolled and dinged edges being commonplace.

I understand soft basic stainless is a PITA to sharpen so will probably not try for anything much more than setting a new robust bevel.

Part of me thinks the Course DMT could do the bulk of the work but since I came across the forum I have seen members cautioning against doing so and as a result I had recently decided to relegate it to stone flattening duties only.

Thanks in advance

 

[Jovidah]

I actually think lower grit chosera stones are great for cheap stainless. I don't own the 800, but both my 400 and 1000 tackle it quite well.
Just...don't bother trying to take it to higher grits.

 

[Vaughan]

I use the 800 on my Vic to good effect but it’s pretty frequently maintained so no heavy duty metal removal. Wasn’t sure if it may even be a bit fine for some of the cheaper SS given it’s finish is often placed more in the 1200+ zone

 

[mengwong]

Life begins at 220

 

[Vaughan]

Life begins at 220

Any glowing recommendations?

 

[mengwong]

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/...lacement-stones-synthetics.66874/post-1027080
You can reset them with whatever 220 you get and finish on your existing Chosera 800. If you are feeling $$$ get a Shapton Glass 500 or Chosera 400 to bridge between 220 and 800 but you don’t really need it for edges; it’s just … another toy. Or, bigger picture, a barometer of your relationship

But nobody ever regretted getting an SG500

 

[mengwong]

See also this thread

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/starting-stones-shapton.64004/post-979186

 

[mengwong]

Btw, you should chuck a family size box of waterproof bandages in your shopping cart, and send out three or four of them with every knife you sharpen. And make sure the people you’re “helping” have basic knife skills. I’m sitting at about a 30% post-sharpening injury rate right now and feeling a bit vexed about it.

 

[ian]

Yea, you'll start to hate your life very quickly if you sharpen other people's knives just on a Chosera 800. I use that for finish sharpening on client knives. If you're planning to do more than a couple at a time, I'd definitely get something very coarse, e.g. in the 200-300 range. @mengwong's advice is good.

 

[Vaughan]

Btw, you should chuck a family size box of waterproof bandages in your shopping cart, and send out three or four of them with every knife you sharpen. And make sure the people you’re “helping” have basic knife skills. I’m sitting at about a 30% post-sharpening injury rate right now and feeling a bit vexed about it.

Yes I expect a blood toll will be the coin of the realm for my “free” sharpening service

 

[ethompson]

400 grit diamond stone + loaded strop has made my adventures in sharpening suboptimal steel much more enjoyable.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Norton Crytolon medium and India fine work well here.

Or I'd go with an Ultra Sharp diamond combo. Probably the 300/1200.

 

[user 37848]

1x30 belt sander stone

 

[M1k3]

Venev 100/240. You know they're going to be dull as ****.

Diamond stone + cheap stainless = Konami cheat code

 

[Up_dog128]

Norton Crytolon medium and India fine work well here.

Or I'd go with an Ultra Sharp diamond combo. Probably the 300/1200.

I used this ultrasharp combo professionally for awhile, and it certainly works quickly. But soft stainless grabs diamonds and rips them of the plates very quickly.

The nanohone diamond stones are the least aggressive diamonds that I've used (I've heard they were designed for polishing), but the 200 is still fast enough to creating an edge very quickly. Something about that fact and the soft resin they're made of means that I've been able to really effectively deburr even on the 200 micron stone, which makes for a really fun, nasty edge. If you like a really coarse edge, it's a cool, fast, one stone solution for stainless. I'm really wanting to get they're 100 or 50 micron to try out the edge that leaves.

And you're right, many of the knives your getting will have been abused, and will also want for a thinning. Shapton glass 220 is an great stone for this, much harder than the shapton pro 220 and much faster than the chosera 400, ime. And the sg500 is just a phenomenal stone. If i could only have one synthetic stone that'd be the one

 

[Rangen]

400 grit diamond stone + loaded strop has made my adventures in sharpening suboptimal steel much more enjoyable.

Yes, this is the way: Coarse diamonds, not a plate, but a resin-bonded or vitrified stone. I am not sure why diamond stones are so much more effective on soft stainless, but they are. Takes about 80% of the annoyance out of sharpening them.

Venev is good, but you want to pay attention to the difference in the grit system they use, which is different from the JIS system used by Japanese stones.

400 grit, which is a good grit for soft stainless, is about 35 microns. Venev 240, at 40-50 microns, would be a good choice.

 

[Honerabi]

Arkansas bench stones, soft & hard, 12"x3"x1".

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

+1 for the Shapton Glass 220 and 500
Meng’s right they’re pretty good at cheap stainless. They’re usually the ones I take in the car when visiting family and “they ask about how my hobby is going”

 

[cotedupy]

Now this is an interesting q., and one that I was going to do a thread about at some point, but you've beaten me to it! I've been sharpening a lot of cheap stainless this year, and it's changed quite a few things I do and the way I think about this kind of knife. Some random thoughts...


Certainly you will want a low grit stone (or sandpaper) if taking even small chips out of cheap stainless. A Crystolon or India Coarse n Fine is always a good investment.

You don't need to finish the edge lower than posher knives. Cheap stainless will take a high grit edge just fine, what it won't do often is take a low angle.

By far the most important thing though is: cheap stainless (in fact most stainless apart from the really good stuff) doesn't like to be finished/deburred edge-leading. Not one little bit. You want to end with repeated, light-pressure trailing strokes and then strop hard.

 

[Desert Rat]

If the friends and family plan includes outdoorsman a cheap set of diamond stones will serve you well also.

I have been doing it at hunting camp for years and had to start bring a diamond sharpener.

 

[Desert Rat]

Btw, you should chuck a family size box of waterproof bandages in your shopping cart, and send out three or four of them with every knife you sharpen. And make sure the people you’re “helping” have basic knife skills. I’m sitting at about a 30% post-sharpening injury rate right now and feeling a bit vexed about it.

A good friend won't let me touch his knifes after stitches in his leg, he waits until game is down in the field and then he hands his knife to me.

My mom doesn't use a cutting board, instead cutting everything in her hands, she requires almost sharp.

 

[Vaughan]

Thanks you all for the suggestions. Got a few options to consider but no doubt a new course stone is on the cards in the near future.

Another question for you and one I’ve considered now and then. If one of these heathens wants a sharpening outfit recommendation what would you advise? Keeping in mind they are unlikely to progress past typical cheap SS and likely will want a simple and cheap 1 tool solution.

I know here and elsewhere a 1000 grit stone is often the recommendation for those starting out but part of me thinks that is with the assumption that the person is likely to buy more stones and more compliant steels and is not necessarily optimised for the cheap SS.

Methinks maybe something a little more course and then getting them to strop on a makeshift strop could be a good solution.

Curious to hear what the more enlightened think though.

 

[Rangen]

By far the most important thing though is: cheap stainless (in fact most stainless apart from the really good stuff) doesn't like to be finished/deburred edge-leading. Not one little bit. You want to end with repeated, light-pressure trailing strokes and then strop hard.

Very interesting, and not so different from @ethompson's approach of using a loaded strop. I will have to experiment with this. The coarse diamond stones I use with cheap stainless do abrade the persistent, sticky burr with edge-leading strokes, but it does take some persistence, and I'd enjoy a faster path.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Thanks you all for the suggestions. Got a few options to consider but no doubt a new course stone is on the cards in the near future.

Another question for you and one I’ve considered now and then. If one of these heathens wants a sharpening outfit recommendation what would you advise? Keeping in mind they are unlikely to progress past typical cheap SS and likely will want a simple and cheap 1 tool solution.

I know here and elsewhere a 1000 grit stone is often the recommendation for those starting out but part of me thinks that is with the assumption that the person is likely to buy more stones and more compliant steels and is not necessarily optimised for the cheap SS.

Methinks maybe something a little more course and then getting them to strop on a makeshift strop could be a good solution.

Curious to hear what the more enlightened think though.

https://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-K...ocphy=9033786&hvtargid=pla-1209962028379&th=1
I've gifted and recommended these many times and everyone has loved them. One of my friends got the Ken Onion version and he sets up a "bring me your blades" event for his neighbors each summer where he does knives, hatchets, and mower blades.

There is a slight learning curve, especially to the timing but far less of one than other methods and it will produce pratty good edges given the fare.

 

[NickMinton]

For a short time, I did personal knife sharpening here in Philadelphia using stones. I thought I would be getting Jiros and 9’s and other amazing pieces.

What I got were monstrosities of 3 beveled sandwich shop knives that needed large amounts of thinning and reprofiling.

My Atoma 140 and 400 became my best friends and bloody fingers became the norm

I didn’t last long and knowing what i know today, if you’re gonna do this as a side gig, invest in a belt grinder to do all the heavy lifting

 

[Vaughan]

https://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-K...ocphy=9033786&hvtargid=pla-1209962028379&th=1
I've gifted and recommended these many times and everyone has loved them. One of my friends got the Ken Onion version and he sets up a "bring me your blades" event for his neighbors each summer where he does knives, hatchets, and mower blades.

There is a slight learning curve, especially to the timing but far less of one than other methods and it will produce pratty good edges given the fare.

I can see this being good for rough tasks like mower blades etc but I worry due to the cutting speed they are likely to end making some pretty horrifying modifications to their knife edges.

 

[Vaughan]

For a short time, I did personal knife sharpening here in Philadelphia using stones. I thought I would be getting Jiros and 9’s and other amazing pieces.

What I got were monstrosities of 3 beveled sandwich shop knives that needed large amounts of thinning and reprofiling.

My Atoma 140 and 400 became my best friends and bloody fingers became the norm

I didn’t last long and knowing what i know today, if you’re gonna do this as a side gig, invest in a belt grinder to do all the heavy lifting

At this stage it’s just a handful of friends so I don’t think I’d have the volume to warrant a belt grinder. They look fun though and I might end up there one day purely on my own accord.

I always find it funny when someone comes around and starts using one of our knives and comments how sharp it is. Well, until I later see them using it to cut up brownies straight on the induction cooktop… My partner got some enjoyment seeing the anguish on my face when I saw that (she has been educated). A smile might have briefly passed my lips when they later nicked themself with it’s heel.

My knives are a long way off paper towel sharp and still pretty thick BTE so it’s a good reminder as to where the average person is at with their standards and cutting practices.

 

[NickMinton]

At this stage it’s just a handful of friends so I don’t think I’d have the volume to warrant a belt grinder. They look fun though and I might end up there one day purely on my own accord.

I always find it funny when someone comes around and starts using one of our knives and comments how sharp it is. Well, until I later see them using it to cut up brownies straight on the induction cooktop… My partner got some enjoyment watching my anguish seeing that (she had been educated). A smile might have passed my lips when they later nicked themself on the heel.

My knives are long way off paper towel sharp and still pretty thick BTE so it’s a good reminder as to where the average person is at with their standards and cutting practices.

Yeah, it’s a tough call of when to invest in power tools. I was doing 5-10 knives a week for beer money / kids college account but that was still 2-3 hours most nights.

Wife didn’t like it and quickly reminded me that I could make more money doing 2-3hrs of OT as a nurse

 

[Vaughan]

Yeah, it’s a tough call of when to invest in power tools. I was doing 5-10 knives a week for beer money / kids college account but that was still 2-3 hours most nights.

Wife didn’t like it and quickly reminded me that I could make more money doing 2-3hrs of OT as a nurse

But it wouldn’t be as therapeutic… for you…right?

 

[NickMinton]

But it wouldn’t be as therapeutic… for you…right?

My fingertips also agreed with my wife. Decided to keep my sharpening to myself and 3 close friends.

Turns out that people with enough knowledge and experience to buy $400+ Japanese knives also have stones and the experience to sharpen too