Texas Sharpener

[COMBORICO]

I've been sharpening for five years or so now. I started out on Bester 1200, like many others. I used that stone for years to no avail. I wasn't able to cut paper for like two or three years -- crazy, I know. I had watched videos like crazy, but I never could sharpen. Finally, a video by youtube user **************, was able to get me going.

I then got a Norton 250. I think I got it because I was having no progress with 1k.

After three years or so, I got a second stone, a Kitiyama 8k. I was amazed what it did with a few passes on my knives.

Then I got into razors. And subsequently a natural stone, a Imperia La Rocca. I'm a big fan of youtube user Dr. Matt and Keith V Johnson.

Last month, I got my first King Stones, a 250 and 1k.

That's about it for now.

-Clint

 

[daveb]

Welcome.

My first stones were the Bestor 1200 and Rika 5K. Liked them but I bought some more and sold them. Remembered that I liked them and bought them again. Many stones later they're still used on "Other Peoples" knives and my Germans (don't use much, don't sharpen much) when I want to use soakers.

 

[M1k3]

Welcome!

 

[Gjackson98]

Welcome Clint!

 

[Benuser]

Welcome aboard!

 

[kayman67]

Bester 1200 is like many stones in one and kinda difficult for a beginner.
Just soak it not for too long and you get a mid coarse behavior. It will be a lot faster than 1200 would suggest. This makes burr a possible problem. Also, its particles, with the right (wrong) pressure tend to eat the edge away. So 2 downs really hard to get when this is the first stone you ever touched. Changing the way you "move" around the stone, might make them less problematic, but you still don't understand what's what. Those two are not specific to this stone or this stone alone.

As a side note, there are some charismatic people out there, but with a bit of a tunnel vision. This can be somewhat damaging when you start.

 

[COMBORICO]

Kayman, I am glad you dived into this topic. I will share now my thoughts on the Bester. Bare in mind that I only have experience with teh Shapton 1k and King 1k for comparison.

King vs Bester
Much better feedback from the Bester. The Bester requires heavy pressure. Bester doesn't have the annoying mud issue. You are correct about not oversoaking the stone, or it will perform worse. I've even had it perform worse after using because it became water-logged.

Shapton is better in almost every way EXCEPT that it loads quickly, at least with my technique. But I simply prefer stones that wear quickly. I'm not a fan of the Shapton glass stones. If all I did was hone razors, they'd be awesome.

 

[kayman67]

I really like honing razors. What stone/progression do you enjoy using most?

 

[COMBORICO]

Kayman, I'm not too familiar with how grit progression affects sharpness. All I've ever done was what stones I have. Usually 1k to 8k to natural stone (rated grit I don't remember).