Thread: Japanese Water Stones?

I have been looking around for a suitable stone / stones & I wondered is there anything special to look for, or to avoid? Some of the stones listed as razor honing stones are 800 grit which seems very coarse to me & some are a lot more expensive than:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-S...ones-23399.htm

Would these stones be suitable?



Paul

I don't have much experience on str8 sharpening / honing, but I do on gravers for wathmarkers lathe turning. The steel I use for watchmaking is much harder than most of the str8 ones.

The stones you point out are man-made stones, I normally use natural stones or diamond sharpener / polishing.

The tools I normally use are a bit expensive but are excellent quality and will last for a very long time. Perhaps it is too god for str8s, but as I said I have not experience on it.

Any way, going back to the sharpening natural stones / diamond.

In the UK you have a company called Eternal Tools, who sell all kind of diamond based tools for horology and jewelery, and I think should be as good for str8.

In diamond paste for the strop they go up to 25.000 grit ! for mirror polishing.
http://www.eternaltools.com/viewprod...?txtRangeID=36

Normally I also use the credit card diamod sharpener 1200 grit

http://www.eternaltools.com/viewprod...2D+Credit+Card

Grit To Micron Conversion
American Standard Grit / Micron Size
25,000 ....................... 1/4
14,000 ....................... 1
8,000 ........................ 3
3,000......................... 6
1,800 ........................ 8
1,200 ........................ 14
600........................... 25
300 .......................... 45
230 .......................... 60
170 .......................... 90

For natural stones I use (natural stones are not measure in grit, but they come to be aprox.)
Arkansas soft (150 -300 grit)
Arkansas hard (400 - 550 grit)
Arkansas black (8000 - 10.000 grit)
Arkansas translucent it seems to be about the black one, but much more expensive.

you can get all those at eBay from a user called jpfarm4.

Japanese stones, I only have one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200103007495&ssPageNam e=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX_Stores&refitem=20016 0744264&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item& refwidgettype=osi_widget

This one is very nice and goes from 3.000 to 12.000 grit. You star with 3.000 grit and as you hone the surface gets smoother and goes up to 12.000 grit. It is a good finishing stone.

While the Arkansas are oil stones, the Japanese is water ONLY if you use it with oil you ruin it!.

It is a bit expensive, but if you follow the auctions of this guy he set up some good prices from time to time, is a matter of waiting.


Well, say it again, I don't know in str8, but in watchmaking grinding / honing is an art, it take a lot of time a patience to do it.

I am sure some one with experience with str8 will come out and say if those stones /diamonds are of any good for the str8. I did use it with mine and it works but ....

regards,
Ro

I'd be wary of buying cheap, no-name, man-made stones. I've found that some of the compressed ceramic stones give off way too much slurry, in fact, they virtually disintegrate whilst you are using them!

Go for a trusted brand: Shapton have a great reputation for making a good, hard, fine stone. They are considerably more expensive than that which you have listed though; if cost is an issue, look for a King stone, they are good stones at a very reasonable price.

i have a set of shapton stones (1500, 5000, 8000) and i sold my 12000 shapton to fund a coticule. i haven't had them for too long but the preliminary results have been great. i've tried the norton and i like the shaptons better. they are quite costly though...

The difference in price of these two stones is massive are they the same type?

http://www.executive-shaving.co.uk/s...e-jtk6000b.php

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-K...ones-22468.htm


Paul

They're not quite the same. Get the king 1000/6000. £10-15 is about right for it.


£50 is a bit of a scandalous price gouging attempt i'm afraid, shame on you executive shaving.

Is the King ok? I don't expect something that's £15 to last a lifetime, but would I also need a finer stone?



Paul

the King 1k/6k is a good value stone. It's a little soft, so you may need to lap it more often than a more expensive stone (easily done), but it's still fine enough to give a really good edge.

If you want to go finer, a pasted strop would be a logical next step or you could fork out for a coticule - but that'll probably stretch the budget! You can, however, go from the 6k to plain strop and get a decent result, just needs a few more passes on the strop.

Thanks,


Paul

did you have a look at these ones?
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-K...ones-20288.htm
or even
http://www.classichandtools.com/cgi-...d895#aNW_2d895