Sharpening stone(s) for a relative newbie?

[Road Tripper]

I'm looking to build my freehand sharpening skills. I have a Sharpmaker and a KME system, so have sharpened my knives with "assistance."

To start with freehand, I've sharpened a couple of knives on the Worksharp Guided Field Sharpener. I've had good results, but find the stones a little narrow, and the unit a little wobbly on the tabletop.

I know this question's been asked before, but I didn't find a recent thread. Any suggestions for a stone (or set) to start me off? I'm giving some thought to the Spyderco medium ceramic stone. Eventually, I'd like to be able to get to a near-mirror finish (at least once in a while). My most "super" steel at the moment is M4.

Thanks much!

[jmj3esq]

A set of DMT 8" diamond plates is where I started. I have 400, 800, 1200, 3000. I threw in the towel on freehanding, though. I got them sharp, but not scary sharp. I bought a KME and am a happy camper.

[olywa]

Can't go wrong with the Spyderco Medium and Fine benchstones. The Ultrafine gets a little pricey though. Some diamond emulsion on a strop may get you the finished edge you want.

[Steeltoez83]

I really like the king neo stone. Amazon has em for 42 bucks when I just checked. The Silicon Carbide is harder than ceramic stones so it shapes more carbide types. Comes with a stand already so no need to purchase that separately. It's a splash and go stone, but I'd recommend putting some oil on the stone so it's able to remain splash and go. Like every 15 sharpenings or so. The 800 grit has a good blend of bite and polish on nearly every steel I've thrown at it.

[Sharp Guy]

Keep in mind, other stones will be better for reprofiling but for freehand touch ups you can mount the Sharpmaker triangle stones in the underside of the base and use those

[BIGSTRETCH]

I like the Baryonyx American Mutt as a quick work stone for reprofiling and chip repair. The aforementioned King Neo is good suggestion for the next stone in a progression. Steeltoez83 has some good videos on youtube about that. I've actually taken to using the oil trick he covered in one of his vids on that stone. I like to saturate the surface of the Mutt, Neo and some other stones with mineral oil before each use, then as I sharpen, I spray a mixture of water and a little dish soap on the stone to keep it lubricated.

The woodturners wonders 600/1000 CBN abraisive plate is the most affordable CBN option around. It's another good option as a middle stone in the progression.

To get near polish, you'll need to venture into 4k-5k grit JIS territory as a finishing stone and keep a tight (maybe 3-4 stone) progression to get there. Check out the grit/abrasive size conversion chart on the Gritomatic site. The Spyderco Medium is ~ 2k if I'm not mistaken, it burnishes but doesn't really create a mirror like polish. The fine and Super Fine stones will get you there eventually, but they're slow cutters. I'd look for something diamond or cbn as a finishing stone if you're sharpening a steel with 2%+ vanadium.

For less wear resistant steels, there are many great options out there. Suehiro Cerax line of stones are very affordable if you shop around and come in a wide range of abrasive sizes. The Suehiro G8 is an 8K Silicon Carbide stone, which is the same abrasive type as the King Neo but in a much finer grit size. It should give you that mirror.

A killer progression for mirror might be a Mutt>King Neo>Spyderco Medium>Suehiro G8. I haven't tried it myself yet, but will soon.

[HolySteel]

Can't go wrong with the Spyderco Medium and Fine benchstones. The Ultrafine gets a little pricey though. Some diamond emulsion on a strop may get you the finished edge you want.

What he said. I have an Ultrafine and have never felt the need to use it. I also strop with diamond emulsion and find it superior to the black and green bars, although they are fine.

I recommend to also get an orange diamond stone for the more difficult blades - the Spydie stones are very slow.

[Ramonade]

It all depends on how much investment you want to make in the sotne journey but if you're not quite ready yet to go from the work sharp guided field sharpener to "regular" stones, the Work Sharp Benchstone sharpener is basically the same thing but bigger !

[JD Spydo]

Can't go wrong with the Spyderco Medium and Fine benchstones. The Ultrafine gets a little pricey though. Some diamond emulsion on a strop may get you the finished edge you want.

A complete set of Spyderco's 302 Benchstones would be excellent. But I also believe everyone should own and learn to use a Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker.

If you want to go to another higher level of freehand sharpening and gain better skills using benchstones then there is a book I highly recommend to all beginners as well as anyone wanting to improve their skills. The book is entitled "The Razor Edge Book Of Sharpening" written by John Juranitch. You can buy it off of the website razoredgesystems.com.

If you do get a Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker then by all means buy all the extra stones you can buy with it available from Spyderco and their dealers.

[HolySteel]

A complete set of Spyderco's 302 Benchstones would be excellent. But I also believe everyone should own and learn to use a Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker.

If you want to go to another higher level of freehand sharpening and gain better skills using benchstones then there is a book I highly recommend to all beginners as well as anyone wanting to improve their skills. The book is entitled "The Razor Edge Book Of Sharpening" written by John Juranitch. You can buy it off of the website razoredgesystems.com.

If you do get a Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker then by all means buy all the extra stones you can buy with it available from Spyderco and their dealers.

I bought one during the Summer Sale, but the Spydie stones have worked so well that I still have not used it. It's so easy to just pull out the stones and get the job done.

But...looking forward to it - maybe today? - and will probably wonder why I didn't use it earlier.

[Deadboxhero]

King Neo ST-2 Waterstone 800 grit

[Kaparaman]

I'll second the recommendations for the King stone. I hope you're a patient person (and have cheap practice knives) because it's going to take a lot of practice getting good. If you haven't subscribed to BBB's channel on youtube I would highly recommend it. He has a wealth of interesting info including on stones. He posted to this thread if you want his link, or just search BBB on youtube.

[vivi]

Hard to go wrong with these. Four diamond stones for $12:

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-sided-d ... 92867.html

Great for reprofiling. Also great for giving knives a really toothy edge.

[Road Tripper]

OP here ... thanks for all the suggestions!