Your preferred stone progression

[jbart65]

I’ve looked at pages and pages of threads, but it doesn’t look like anyone has recently asked what users’ preferred stone lineup is. I am curious to know what your go-to 3-4 synthetic stone lineup is.

For the past two years I’ve done a Kotetsu (Suehiro) 800, Kotetsu 2000 and Suehiro Cerax 6000. Strop on 1 micron loaded balsa. Rarely do I have to drop below 800, but when I do, it’s a SG 500 or Cerax 320.

Before that I used a Shapton Pro 320, 1000/2000 and 5000.

[Drewski]

Naniwa Chosera 400, 1000, 3000/5000
Probably the most boring progression around but this is still my first set of stones and I am still improving so haven't felt the itch to experiment yet.

[bruin]

Chosera 600, Chosera 2000, Chubo 6000, CKTG bovine strop with 1 micron diamond paste, .5, then bare. I also have a Chubo 1000/4000 combo stone but I don’t really like the feel of either so I haven’t been using it. Depending on the knife and how much action it’s seen since I last sharpened it sometimes I skip the 600 (if it’s already fairly sharp) or the 6000 (if I want a toothier edge). Thinking about getting a lower grit stone, but I’ve been doing better and better with my current set up so I’m in no rush.

Curious to see all the different responses. Wondering especially about users with bigger collections of stones and what their preferences are for sharpening different steels, different task knives, etc

[Ourorboros]

Shapton Glass 500
Kohetsu 2000 (sub a Shapton Pro 2000 if I'm not soaking)
Suehiro Debado 6000
Depending.

[nevrknow]

Close to your setup. The K 800 and 2k but finish on an aono aoto. A few blades I take to a meara and yag but for my main blades I stop earlier on the aoto. I keep looking at all the other stones I have and say time to put them on the classifieds. Then again, I’m no polisher, just an edge user.

[Cigarguy]

For knives 1000, 3000 then 0.5 micron leather strop. On a really dull start with blade 400 or 200. A knife with good steel, planer blades and chisels gets 5000, 8000 then strop. Overriding factor is sharpness for intended usage and purpose.

[STPepper9]

SG 500 or King 800, SG 2000, SG 6000

[lsboogy]

For years I had just a 1K and an 8K stone and could keep my knives sharp. I learned it in Japan in the early 80's at a knife store and was quite pleased with the results. i also got a nice collection of Japanese naturals and some other stones over the tpyears, but I mostly stuck to the 1K/8K.

The thing to realize is there is probably no single progression for all knives. I did a couple of my sister's wusthof blades this morning using a 220/1200 and they are about as sharp as I like for German steel (one is a pre WWII Trident slicing knife). Gummy stainless need a more open stone than fine grained hard steels. For an AS knife at 63 HRC I would use different stones - the 220 Nubatama to remove any chips, a 1Kred brick or 1200 Nubatama for initial set, a 2K green brick, and a 6K Nubatama for final finish. Strop on various stuff till happy, and then keep a strop loaded with 0.5 micron for edge retention

[Radar53]

Most of my sharpening is also done on that wonderful pair the K800 & K2k. I bookend those two central stones with a Nubatama Bamboo 150 and at the other end a Cerax 6k plus Snow White 8k. In between I have a softer combo Cerax 1k - 3k and I also have a SG500 coming in for Christmas.

As per isboogy I can choose pretty much any progression to suit any situation or knife. Usually I prefer a finer finish, but currently I'm playing around with 2 or 3k finishes for kitchen stuff.

If push came to shove and the knife wasn't too munted, I could easily get by with the the K800 & K2k. I find these stones are pretty amazing, finish better than their grit number would suggest and tick just about all the boxes.

[jbart65]

For years I had just a 1K and an 8K stone and could keep my knives sharp. I learned it in Japan in the early 80's at a knife store and was quite pleased with the results. i also got a nice collection of Japanese naturals and some other stones over the tpyears, but I mostly stuck to the 1K/8K.

The thing to realize is there is probably no single progression for all knives. I did a couple of my sister's wusthof blades this morning using a 220/1200 and they are about as sharp as I like for German steel (one is a pre WWII Trident slicing knife). Gummy stainless need a more open stone than fine grained hard steels. For an AS knife at 63 HRC I would use different stones - the 220 Nubatama to remove any chips, a 1Kred brick or 1200 Nubatama for initial set, a 2K green brick, and a 6K Nubatama for final finish. Strop on various stuff till happy, and then keep a strop loaded with 0.5 micron for edge retention

Yeah, I use different combos of stones for other people's knives. But I usually stick to the trio of stones I listed above for my own stuff. That's what I am really interested in. Unlike you I don't have enough stones to vary depending on the particular steel. But I'm getting there! (-:

[Kit Craft]

Shapton pro 1k and 2k. That is all I keep around my prep station for synthetics these days.

[cliff]

I've still got the Imanishi 1k/6k, which I appreciate now more than I did when I was learning. (The softer 6k side is great for single bevels.) I've gotten a Chosera 3k to go in between; I'll finish my honesuki there. I've got a super-stone 10K, which comes out on occasion, and an Ohira Tomae, which I love. I have s Shapton Glass 320 for thinning and giving the occasional full progression.

[nakneker]

My favorite synthetic stone line up changes a lot but the stones that have seen the most use are the SG 500, king hyper 1k, Shaptons pro 2k, Chosera 3k, Cerax 6k.

[Peter Nowlan]

Nano Hone 200
SG 500
Chosera 1,000
Finishing Stone (2k-9k)
Strop

(Keep in mind that most knives I see looked like they were dragged behind a car for 20 minutes)

[jbart65]

I often wonder, Peter, what motivates a person to finally seek to have a knife sharpened that has been figuratively dragged behind a car for 20 minutes. I can't get most of my neighbors to give me their knives to sharpen even though I know they are dull. Some use cheapo pull-through sharpeners, others use none at all.

[lsboogy]

I often wonder, Peter, what motivates a person to finally seek to have a knife sharpened that has been figuratively dragged behind a car for 20 minutes. I can't get most of my neighbors to give me their knives to sharpen even though I know they are dull. Some use cheapo pull-through sharpeners, others use none at all.

As my kids moved out, the neighbors started to come over and eat on a more regular basis and some like to cook. I told some of them to bring a knife (my neighbor to the South started it) and then try some of mine - I now sharpen knives for a half dozen neighbors, and most of my family (kids/cousins/siblings etc). It just takes a spark

[nakneker]

(Keep in mind that most knives I see looked like they were dragged behind a car for 20 minutes)

I can only imagine. Never tried the Nano Hone....makes me want to.

[Peter Nowlan]

Jeffry it’s just like Isboogy said, it just takes a spark. In my case I got lucky and a big kitchen supply store started using my services, it became a drop off point. That was 10 years ago and the word spread, I got in the paper, radio and TV. The spark spread. Otherwise we would still be in the dark ages in terms of getting knives sharpened. Even now I’m sure that for every knife I sharpen there’s a thousand that will not be sharpened.

[tonycast]

I go 500-1000-3000-8000 on shapton glass stones. I had some other stones before, but my zdp-189 knife was always a huge pain before. Love these stones

[Random]

I guess I’m old-fashioned; King 1k/6k then leather.