Not Q: Wetstones.

[DerHusker]

Sunday I saw an Amazon Daily Deal on a Wetstone (1000/6000) for knife sharpening. I went ahead and got one as well as a 3000/8000 stone. I received them today and tried them out. Here is the 1000/6000 stone.

It came with this nice holder.


Here is the stone soaking,

Here is the 3000/8000 stone soaking. Can you see the bubbles as it absorbs the water?

It came with this rubber gasket

that makes it fit in the holder that came with the other stone.

Tried them out on this cheap knife that was in bad shape.


First the 1000 side. then the 3000 and lastly the 6000. Here is the result. (I still need to work on the tip)


I'll continue to practice on my cheap knives to get better and then move on to my better knives. All in all I'm pretty happy with these.

[cowgirl]

Looks like a nice one. Thanks for the post!

[ronbrad62]

Very cool. It's nice to see someone sharpening a knife the "old fashioned" way instead of the latest gadget.

[WHS88]

Looks good. From my woodworking days, I always flattened my stones before using them and then after every handful of uses. Doesn't take too long to do and can make a huge difference.

[WhitesideJC]

Thanks for sharing! Did you find any helpful resources to guide you along the way? I have a stone, and I've been intimidated to use it. I think I just need to go with your guidance of start with the cheaper knives and work my way up!

[WHS88]

Originally Posted by WhitesideJC

Thanks for sharing! Did you find any helpful resources to guide you along the way? I have a stone, and I've been intimidated to use it. I think I just need to go with your guidance of start with the cheaper knives and work my way up!

There are some great YouTube videos on sharpening knives on stones. The key is to take your time with slow steady strokes across the stone holding a constant angle. Starting with a cheaper knife is a good idea. That being said, unless you do something crazy, you can fix any issues you may create.

[McSpazatron]

Originally Posted by WHS88

Looks good. From my woodworking days, I always flattened my stones before using them and then after every handful of uses. Doesn't take too long to do and can make a huge difference.

Ive always wanted to learn sharpenig this way. Ive got an old stone that Ive messed around with, but its badly curved. What method do you recomend to flatten the stone?

[WHS88]

Originally Posted by McSpazatron

Ive always wanted to learn sharpenig this way. Ive got an old stone that Ive messed around with, but its badly curved. What method do you recomend to flatten the stone?

I use a piece of 1/2" thick glass and wet dry sandpaper. You can either use self adhesive sandpaper or spray regular sandpaper with a little adhesive before applying to the glass. The glass is your flat surface and the sandpaper is used as the abrasive to flatten your stone. Grit of sandpaper depends on condition of stone. Usually start with 100 or 150 and then go to 400. If you do this process every few uses, it doesn't take much to flatten the stones. If all you sharpen are knives you probably don't need to do this as often. However, when doing chisels, lathe turning tools and other tools, you tend to gouge your stones a little worse.

[Shagdog]

Very cool, Jeff. I'm a big fan of hand sharpening. The 1000 side is going to see the most action, the others are mostly just polishing..

Here's a great video..

How to Sharpen Global Knives with Mino Tsuchida - YouTube

[Big George's BBQ]

Nice I would be afraid I wound not hold it at the right angle

[NickTheGreat]

Wow. I wish I knew how to sharpen knives better. I mentioned this at Thanksgiving one year and all the men told me this must be genetic!

[cholloway]

Using a good steel (realigning the edge) on your knives at each use will reduce the need for sharpening (removing metal) as often.
At least, that's been my experience.

[Doog]

I have some good stones and used to hand sharpen all my knifes.
Then along came Work Sharp. To easy and fast.

[WHS88]

Originally Posted by cholloway

Using a good steel (realigning the edge) on your knives at each use will reduce the need for sharpening (removing metal) as often.
At least, that's been my experience.

I agree 100% with this. I give my knives a few swipes every time I wash them before they go back in the block. They don't hit the stone more than two or three times a year.