Waterstone (Norton) Livespan?

I read references to the fact, and it stands to reason, that the 4000/8000 stone is basically a lifetime investment. What makes all of this very hard for me is that I still love and have a compulsion to sharpen knives. Hunting knives, kitchen knives, pockets, hatchets, scissors...you name it.

How long will a 220/1000 grit last if I spend a lot of time rebeveling knives on the 220 and required that it be "fairly" flat most of the time. (Honestly, there ares some times where I would take a file to to them if they were soft enough. I actually HAVE on some that were soft enough. You'd be surprised what you can do with file...it was the biggest teacher I had on the subject of "pressure" in honing)

I hear they cut fast, and assume they wear fast at the lower grits. How does the 220 compare with a D8C or D8X on cutting speed?

Does anyone know if the waterstone cut well on the "upper-crust" of the harndness scales? I know one knife I have is D2 at 61-62 Rockwell. The sandpaper I use on a lot of other knives gets laughed at, and the file I mentioned earlier runs away with its tail between its legs.

Basically trying to decide if I should put the diamond hones on the wait list and get the 220/1000-4000/8000-Lap Stone kit .....OR....just get a 4000/8000 and a D8C to pull double duty as a rebeveler and lapping stone.

There you go, fire away!

....and Thank You

i to have this dilemma. you see i am a blade addict and all that i have must be sharp. have worn many stones in half. which has left me thinking that getting the DMT for lapping and bevel setting is a great idea. and in my opinion probably the most cost effective for people such as ourselves. so I would say get the DMT and the 4000/8000

after powering through miles of threads, that's the consensus I've come to. DMT 8E and Norton 4/8

Get a 4000/8000 and the D8C.
The norton should last you a loooooong time. I think Lynn can hone 1500 razors on one before on of the sides is worn out.

The D8C leaves a much smoother honing surface, and it stays flat forever. The Norton flattening stone dishes out noticably after a while, even with casual use.

The D8C is a bit coarse for rebeveling, unless you have to remove significant damage. But you can still use it as a flat surface by putting a sheet of 1000 grit wet / dry sandpaper on top of it.
By the same token: the 220 grit of norton is next to useless for razors imo. It wears out so fast that the bevels are rounded significantly by the time you are done. If you have to hone at that coarse level, you are much bettter of with the D8C.

The norton 1000 is also a nice stone for rebeveling. It's what I use. If you foresee a lot of that, you can buy a single grit 1000, which will last a very long time.
I have a 1000/4000 stone which is also more useful then you'd think.
I do bevel resetting on the 1000, then initial honing on the 4000. When it passes the TNT I switch to either the 4000 /8000 or my japanese stones for final honing.

The 1000/4000 allows me to do all rough work on one stone, so it's only this stone that needs lapping every time. Plus I can work on 1 stone for a long time, which is more convenient then switching between stones.

I have the big continueous DMT Dia Sharp plates as my lapping and aggressive cutting tools. I use them for knives, and in better times for tools. Fabulous for breadknifing or grinding new bevels. That’s where the bucks went and would definitely go that way again for my low grit stones. I have a Norton 4000/8000. Only real regret I have is not getting them separate – a 4000 and an 8000. Twice the stone for not twice the price, and I would not have to be flipping them over or worry about grit wash over between the two. Only other suggestion is going all Shapton. Everybody seems to love them. I’m seeing packages in the $240 range. While expensive, they are reputed to be truly lifetime investments in quality and in stone longevity.

Having 2 separate stones is indeed cheaper than 2 times the price of a combination stone.
but unless you start a honing business, you're unlike to wear out the combination stone in your lifetime, so that point is a bit moot.

Grit wash can perhaps be a legitimate concern, but I've never had a problem with it. By the time I start using the 4000 / 8000, I don't need metal removal anymore, so honing is not an intense procedure and very little grit comes loose. Also a splash of water will wash away anything.