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Okay, I'm guessing you have an a7C II Sony Mirrorless Venus Optics Laowa ... But that's the most I could figure out. Curious to know which exactly you're using though. Thanks!
You've done your job so well that the Kuromaku 1000 is out of stock in a lot of retailers (and Amazon) at the moment. As a matter of interest what do you think of it's brother, the 1500 K0707 stone. How does it stack up against the 1000?
06:32 Man you are THE ONLY ONE who actually explains what that little stone was for. I have this Naniwa stone and to this day, I could never find any piece of advice on how to use this "cleaning" stone. Thank you !
For more information, it is a nagura stone, or "dressing stone". The one included with the naniwa diamond stone is pretty unique compared to others. Its bar shaped instead of rectangular/square shaped, but it serves the same purpose, cleaning, unclogging and "dressing" the stone. Naguras have another use, thought this could be categorized as another "dressing" stone, and that is to produce slurry. You want to build slurry during sharpening, but harder stones don't form it very quickly. In these cases you would buy a companion stone, that can be rubbed against the stones face to build some mud/slurry Back in the day of Japanese natural stones, it was common for them to be sold in pairs, many stones came with a nagura, of which both were cut from a single mother stone slab. That way both the nagura and stone itself had identical properties
@@williamw7134dressing stones are also used to produce slurry with the Belgian coticule stones. In a similar way, you can have the little stone from the same slab, or from a different one for some variation in properties and use.
Hey Alex, I believe that you carry the knife sharpening realm on youtube. It might not be in popularity but when it comes to quality content, you never seem to disappoint. This video though, might be your best work on how to get into sharpening stones right from the beginning. Thank you so much for all you do!
I'm not currently in the market for stones but I always learn something on this channel. The photography on here sets the bar for other, similar channels. It's awesome.
I’m so addicted to watching these videos and chasing those sweet hair whittling edges we all love. Something about making stuff that sharp is soothing to my mind
Santa brought me a cheap Aluminum Oxide sharpening kit. I mean REALLY cheap - $37. It's my first use of whetstones to sharpen knives. Results were great. Edges are razor sharp. To reduce the mess, I made a holder/jig that fits over my sink. I can rinse the stone easily and often to reduce the slurry. I might upgrade some day, but for now this is a good "starter" set. Tom Loves DIY
Try the resin bonded stone with oil instead of water, it drastically reduces loading and makes cleaning a breeze. Camelia oil is my favorite since it is food safe, it does not gum up and has the best cleaning properties of all oils I tested so far. But cheap babyoil will do the trick to a lesser degree as well.
Based on your recommendation, I now have a growing Kuromaku collection -- 320, 1000, 2000 and 5000. Also have added a couple of diamond stones and a strop. Thanks for your videos!
I tried those crappy white/blue stones and had no luck. Switched to Sharpal 162N Diamond and after following your guide was able to get great edges. Thanks!
Hi alex, i recently started sharpening a few month ago using those cheap aluminium oxide stone and it is exactly as u said, it felt very wet, slurry and sharpening result is inconsistent. Thanks to you,I just ordered shapton kuromaku 1000 grit just now ! 40 dollar is really expensive though but your content is transparent and the result really shown. (Bear in mind currency exhange in my country is 4x US dollar)
Another good instructional video, as I came to expect from you by now. For people who can't afford a nice sharpening stone I'd like add that scythe sharpening stones may be significantly cheaper at the exact same quality and, in my experience, the shape difference doesn't impact knife sharpening technique or results. So you may want to check this out before ordering some soft piece of crap instead.
I love how far your channel has come over the years I have been watching. What a fun journey it has been, and can't wait to see just how far you go. You should be proud of what you have done.
I wonder why you keep putting so much effort in this topic. I bought, as of your recommendation, the only sharpening stone you need in your life. The dmt dia-sharp fine. And i had to get stitches 3 times since purchase, so just recommend that and show why. That did the trick for me. Good job! And good luck!
These are some of the best sharpening videos I have seen on UA-cam (and as you know, there’s a lot of of them). Love the images that you’re able to create of the knife edges. Thank you!
A few hopefully hints here. First, I use a lot of diamond matrix stones. Veneve, Columbia Gorge, naniwa, and soon the new offering from Hapstone for the fixed angle sharpening systems. 1. Yes the diamond matrix stones do load (with the Columbia Gorge being the worst in this regard), but it is avoidable. Use a real sharpening fluid made for diamond stones. Notice I did not say oil! No oil!!! Trend makes a diamond stone fluid that is superb for diamond matrix stones. When the stone starts to look loaded, simply put a few drops of the fluid on the stone and rub it with your finger. The loading will disappear immediately. No need for a cleaning stone. I only use the cleaning stone for refreshing the surface when it becomes too slick form much use. 2. Use diamond martic stones for high Vanadium or very high HRc blades. Soft blades damage both diamond plates and matrix stones by causing the soft steel to imbed the diamonds in it's own matrix. (The matrix of the steel itself). which pulls diamonds out of the surface of the stone. 3. Lastly, different steels want different grits for best performance. If you are using high vanadium carbide steels try a corser grit such as the Naniwa 600 or the 400F from Venev (which is actually by our grit standards a 800 grit). It helps to know how different manufactures grade the grit size. Best chart I've seen to compare is on the Grit O Matic site. High Vanadium, due to the nature of the carbides is the most aggressive and hold the edge the longest sharpened with these lower grits due to the vanadium carbides being exposed more on the edge. Very lightly strop the edge with only one or two passes with a 3 down to 1 micron diamond emulsion or saste on the strop. Ann more destroys the very nature of the protruding carbides. Now here is a trick that really supercharges the performance of High Vanadium Carbide Steels. Sharpen one side of the blade with a coarse diamond stone. Say 250 to 400. The other side, I prefer the face side for looks, with a high grit. I usually use a Veneve 800f grit which by our standards is actually in the realm of a 2000 grit. This can double the cutting longevity of the edge and is unreal in aggressiveness. to the point that care must be used around the edge. Simply accidently brushing bast in to the bench will instantly bite deeply. Again, finish with only one to two passes on a good strop this time with 1 micron. This only removes any final burr. Do NOT polish the edge. It will destroy what the edge is capable of. The only thing that irks me about the naniwa diamond matrix stones is that they come with a cleaning stone made of very coarse and loosely bonded silicon carbide. However, ho supplier can find how to get the exact grit stone with the same loose bonding for replacement! GRRRRR!!!!!i KnifeMaker/Retired after 47 years in the shop.
This comment serves as a great representation of the UA-cam comments section, as a whole. It contains information that varies from wildly untrue, to excellent. Also, using "our" in this context on the internet is really dumb. Who, exactly, are "we?"
@@CNYKnifeNut the most used grit rating are JIS grit charts,Japanese and P for European and to day now used in the U.S. Hence "the our" as they are the most used internationally for knife professional users/sharpeners. The most accurate is Micron. Grit O Matic has a conversion chart showing the different companies variances in grit nomenclature. Hope you find this a little less stupid! ;
You come to the same conclusion as me. I have one 600 grids diamond stone and one 1000 and 6000 grids double side king water stone. They covered all my need for knife sharping.
I got a small set of Shapton stones for Christmas after failing to get good results for years with that crappy Amazon stone. I was scared to screw up my Takamura that I got a few months ago and I'm happy to report that the Shaptons deliver on the hype. It was by far the easiest, quickest, and most effective sharpening I've ever done. I'm definitely not getting much out of the 8000 (came in a pack with the 1000) right now but the 320 and 1000 did more than enough to restore that knife's laser status. Not a sharp as out of the box of course but I doubt I would ever be able to match the masters.
Great Videos ! Thanks for the advice mate. Just Invested in a 1000 Shapton Kuromaku from your link and a strop. Being an idiot I've been using a pull through sharpener for years and wrecked good knives. Looking forward to getting a good edge finally.
I've been using one of those cheap stones since I started sharpening about two years ago. I could always get a decent edge on my knives up until the last few months. Can't wait to see what happens with my new shapton
that's just another level, you'll see how easy and fast it will become besides becoming much more sharper, i was sharpening with cheap ones too and now I have a king, which is a good whetstone but not so great as shaptons
I think it is always the same issue when digging into new hobbies and areas. People don't want to spend too much money in the beginning, so they buy th crappy stuff, they realize it does not work out as expected, then they quit without ever getting in contact with the good stuff. I've seen this throughout many different hobbies.
Nice, I like the resin bonded diamond, thanks for giving an introduction to the different kind of stones. I started with such a stone that needs to soak 10 minutes before use, but... they are a total mess, interrupts my workflow and often need flattening due to being soft. I personally use Naniwa prof. stones series I think they are 60-70 dollars a pop. up to about 3000 then they start to take off in price. perhaps comparable to the Shapton ceramic stones (also marketed as splash and go). I think it really depend what you do, I work mostly with vintage tools, so I don't need the super top diamond stones that can do magnacut steels/super steels and carbides,.
Always appreciate your videos. Thanks! Been using inexpensive diamond stones for a couple of years now. I finally bought a 6 inch fine / super fine double sided DMT stone based on one of your videos showcasing DMT. Love it!
Got one of the cheap crappy ones, and honestly it is fine for my purposes, my kitchen knives are sharper and way less scratched than with a pull through knife sharpener. But is a little annoying to work with, so when that one is worked through i will consider the other ones mentioned in your video
I’ve always had one of these pull through sharpeners, and I had a gut feeling it was making my knife worse but I never really knew it was really just a shitty sharpener. Somehow I got recommended your vid where you go in detail about these and confirmed my suspicions. Just ordered the shapton kuromago 1000, thanks to you, never thought I’d say something like this but I’m really looking forward to sharpening my knife 😂
I personally do a lot of stone sharpening. It is mostly a hobby, but I am looking forward to one time earning some money on the side with it. What I want from a stone: fast cutting, even scratch pattern, doesn't dish too fast, doesn't burnish too fast, easy to flatten. And I very much prefer splash and go over soaking. And as good as diamond plates appear on paper, I have not been impressed with any, that I was able to test. After testing way to many stones I eventually settled with the shapton Pro (or kuromaku) stones and got myself a 4-pice set (120, 320, 1500, 5000). The 1500 is the best stone I ever used. Cuts extremly fast, almost no burnishing or dishing, very nice scratch pattern. I love it and for my ktichen knives I only use this one stone. The 120 cuts extremly fast, but burnishes very fast too, the 320 dishes very fast and need long flattening all the time. I do a lot of knife repairs or geometry changes, that why these two stones see so much use.
How can you not love this guy an😢 appreciate him?? I'm so glad I found your channel!! What do you suggest for a katana? I have 2 both sharp but I'd like to get a much better edge on em. And they're entry level. I might grab a one under a hundo to get some technique but I think going the stone way is best for a katana. I'm still flirting with the WS ken onion with attachment for it 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️ idk appreciate your input and advice 🙏🏻
I remember many years back when I could only afford a very cheap stone. It was not very good. I eventually got my hands on a Norton two grit stone. That one from memory seemed pretty good. I had a partner back then who was a chef and I'd often do her knives for her. Ummm, I'd often use a steel to finish and edge off, even with my non kitchen knives. That doesn't seem to be the done thing though. It did get them sharp though.
the reason it is not now a done thing is that on higher end higher hardness knives, all a steel can do is align the burr. When properly sharpened, there is NO Burr. Sadly, a Steel will develop a burr quickly and feel sharper. Sadly the burr is removed in use almost immediately. It works for traditional butcher knives used by actual butchers for a few reasons. The burr is not quickly removed by meat which is a very soft substance and secondly, a working butcher does not have the time to do a proper sharpening while actually working and a quick burr will suffice for them as the blade still acts as a sharp blade in the soft meat substrate. Traditional butcher knives are relatively soft by today's standards. On purpose to be able to be steeled quickly. Modern steels, particurallyhigh HRc and or high Vanadium steels will destroy a butchers steel in shorty order. I once made a high vanadium content blade for a local butcher and he was livid. The high HRc + Vanadium blade chopped gouges out of his steel that had been passed down from his Grandfather-Father, and to him. It was ruined! KnifeMaker
I really appreciate your beginner level stuff and being mindful of budget. Also your expressions when you're pantomiming are awesome. Thank you for these great videos.
Instead of removing a tiny amount of the surface of the naniwa resin bonded diamond stone, a cleaning agent like Bar Keeper's friend can remove the loading of the stone without any material being removed. Because you should be able to sharpen tons of knives before this stone needs any resurfacing
Yes it does work well, however if lubing your diamond matrix stone with a proper diamond lube such as the Trend diamond lapping fluid, there is no loading in the first place. Well worth the investment and the stones will last much longer. I tested this liquid for Grit O Matic and gave my finding about a year ago. They did not put the info out there, Probably because they had just begun carrying the then new Gunny fluid, which I tested next to the Trend. There was not comparison), but I was ask about it again just last week and will be tested by Chris at Grit O Matic shortly. knifeMaker
After trying different stones, if I had to start from scratch, I would get a DMT XXC for heavy repairs and lapping my waterstones, a Shapton 220 glass for thinning/minor repairs when needed, a Shapton Kuromaku 1000 for general maintenance, and a Shapton Kuromaku 2000 to finish or touch ups. I keep things sharp so the 1000 and 2000 are my go to stones most of the time.
To add, I have had good results with the Shapton glass 320, so that can be used in place of a Shapton Glass 220 in any line up, although I like both stones.
@@trueloveeditorial7239 They 'feel' sharp, for instance my voyager cold steel opening knife, over used to open up packages/boxes and so on, I bring the edges back on a Shap 1000 or my old JNS 300, hone ever so slightly on my 2000 or 5000, test by push cutting paper and I get it back to cutting tape, cardboard. Have no idea if I have achieved a type of optimal sharpness, but I can use it for the tasks I need it do.
My choice. and what I have it Shapton Glass and Shapton Kuromaku Pro line. As far as the Glass series, I have a 500, 1000, 3000, 8000, 30,000. The pro line I have 1000, 5000, 8000, 12000. Then I have some other decent stones in between those grits, and they are King Deluxe sires 300, 800, 1200, King KDS (not the lesser KW65 model, which is still decent) 1000/6000 combo which are actually amazing, the S-45P 4000 as well. All good stuff. My strop is a 0.5 Micron Jende Nanocloth with the diamond paste @ 0.5 Micron.
We wanna see a video where you put up the Korumaku vs a Naniwa pro or Chosera whetstone, not the diamond you already have. They are also splash n Go´s. Great vid.
I could really do with a comparison between the two, as I'm quite badly stuck in between getting the Korumaku or the Naniwa pro. Id also love to know which grits I should get on the Korumaku and which grits I should get on the Naniwa pro if I only were to have two stones
I would be glad to give my 2 cents if you could tell me what you want to sharpen. I have a full line of shapton pro and glass stones as well as some king, atoma, imanashi and suehiro stones. What grits are you looking for ? and whats your price point?@@vincentwyble5346
I have the Shapton which is a nice stone but I no longer use it. Instead I have gone to ceramic stones which need no water and can be cleaned with a rubber abrasive eraser. Good ones are very consistent and last forever. Plus they are cheap if you look around so a full set from 600 to 20,000 grit is not a killer.
Great informative video. I use venev diamond stones and in-between Lapping i use a magic eraser and alcohol to get the black streaks off the stones. It works great.
Bar keepers friend is magic for resin bonded diamond or cbn stone load up. Little bar keepers friends and water and your venevs will be as load up free as they are after a fresh lapping. Takes about 10 seconds to clean my dragon stones of all loadup.
Ive got some cheap water stones, they were not expensive. They do the job. I dont constantly sharpen knives or do it as a job or hobby so the price fits the need. The set came with a levelling/cleaning stones too. Then I finish the blade with some green on a strop.
Coming back to this video. Im surr someone probably must have brought these up in the comments already. But the venev stones are really worth a try. You get a resin bonded diamond stone, for about the price of a normal japanese water stone. Since they are 2 sided. Its basically $50 per stone. The only caveat imo is its not worth getting the 1 micron/f2000 stone since it has issues giving an actual 1 micron polish. But f1200 and below are great stones for the price.
About those naniwa stones - there is plane maker on youtube and he uses them (video showing them is something like "my sharpening methods"). He doesnt use any water, and gets rid of the steel with regular pencil eraser. I am happy with my messy waterstones, but if you think about buying more of those expensive grits, his videos might help you.
Alex- "I spend $15k in sharpening stones, machines, kits, and DIY hacks, to save you, my lovely subscribers-$14,920. What a bargain!! I am still using my grand dad's oil stones, but your technique has upped my sharpening game a lot. Thank you! Hope you and the family have a Wonderful Christmas.
I was sharpening and learning with those cheap chinese whetstones and they are really bad, it takes a long time and it's like you said, they are very sensitive to anything you do, the only upside is that if you can sharpen with this then you can sharpen with anything because they are so hard and time consuming and when I bought a king whetstone it was just another level, it was so great, fast and very sharp results
Hey, can you make a thorough video about breaking-in diamond plates? Is it really that important? If so, what should it be done with? A chisel? A cleaver? Or just a knife? Should it be done wet or dry? If wet, with what? After the plate is broken-in, should you continue to use it wet or dry? All sorts of questions.
Another great Video! If I may, I have a suggestion for another Video. Are you interested in showing the relation of "bite" of an edge to the ability to cleanly Cut kitchen paper?
Great video Alex 😀 ! Glad you emphasize sharpening instead of showing us the latest knife out. These stone recommendations are are so helpful for those that want to keep a sharp edge. Knife sharpening was like a mystery to be solved when I started out. Now still too mysterious for many. Your channel brings sunlight to the topic & I'm not to old to pick up some fresh tips !
So here's a question. I recently decided I want to learn how to hand sharpen and I have some new knives from cold steel that they gave a range for in terms of sharpening angle and you can tell that they don't have perfect apex geometry. If I wanted to take a new knife and profile it to a 20 degree angle, would I use the 400 first and then go to a 1000 or would I just be able to do it with a 1000. I think I know the answer but I ask because the stones you suggest are all out of stock so I don't want a waste my time and money on another companies 400 stone without being sure of their quality. There's also some 320 stones I've found as well but I'm not sure if that is going down too much. Thanks for all you do. Can't wait to get started.
I wish I had this video when I was starting out, I bought 2 different super shitty amazon sharpening stones for like 40-50 bucks and i couldn't sharpen anything and I dished them out like crazy. I had decent to good knives to sharpen and I was certain I should be able to get my moras sharp. I finally got DMT stones later on thanks to this channel and my hours and hours of practice translated into some really sharp knives, it wasn't me after all or at least I wasn't good enough to use the stones and after dishing them out they were awful to use.
Soft aluminum oxide soaking stones aren´t bad. King makes them, Naniwa makes them, Suehiro makes them and others. They´re usually brick red but the principle is the same. A very soft aluminium oxide stone that requires soaking, creates a lot of mud and wears fast but also cuts fast. I have multiple of the chinese cheap stones because I got a whole box of them on the flea market. Most of them are harder than let´s say a King deluxe. The problems with the cheap ones iare for one that the particle size isn´t consistent. The finer grits are not as fine as advertised. I have three of the cheap double sided 1000/6000 stones and even a 3000/8000 and there´s no way to get a polish out of these things. There´s a 1000/4000 that gives a somewhat decent polish on the 4000 side but in general the grit is not as advertised. The other problem is that they are slow. The advantage of soft stones is normally that they cut very fast because they constantly expose fresh particles. But somehow the chinese managed to fuck that up. The stones aren´t incredibly slow but noticably slower than good stones. There are other slow cutting stones like the Naniwa advance that I like a lot but those at least give a very nice finish, wear slowly and are splash and go.
yeah man one of those cheapskate stones was my first whetstone. 400/1000 Still use it. I hate it. But it does the job of repairing or starting an rough edge... Never got a sharp edge off of it ever. Always had to take the edge to the pocket spyderco ceramics.. Which clogs up quickly. Recently got diamond plates up to 1200 and some naniwa.. the cheap whetstone fits in the diamond set somewhere and serves as a stand for the plates... I tend to use the cheap 400/1000 and go to the diamond 1200 and get a pretty toothy edge. Now I have a naniwa 2000/5000 I will be learning to use. Hopefully not as miserable as the amazone whetstone. Def look forward to replacing it one day.
Another great video Alex. Once I found the cheap set of diamond plates that fit on my edge pro I found a place that lies just below heaven as for really quick and fairly sharp sharpening. They are narrow but all the better for recurves. My question for you is have you noticed that if you sharpen a knife well and put it away or just let it sit on a counter for a while like months when you pick it back up it doesn’t slice paper like it did when you put it down 🤔.
All stones will load up to a certain point. That's a sign it is actually doing something. Try using lapping film that you cut to size and stick it to a flat perspex block that has been cut to size. I go for 210ml / 80ml. Just the right amount of surface area. Grits from 80 all the way up to 79000. Use water on the lower grits and oil on anything over 2000.
As voiced by other comments, I thoroughly enjoy your videos. I can't remember seeing reviews on CBN stones though (sorry if I've missed something) and would be interested in your opinion. Thanks.
I was just given one of those cheap aluminum oxide stones for free because it wasn't wanted anymore. If I have a few dollars to spend, should I use it or buy a new one? My knives are beaten up and need to be sharpened and I have never used a stone before. I care most about learning proper technique. Should I attempt to use the cheap free one, or will I learn better technique on a different one
I hate to tell you to spend money when you already have a stone but you will find it is much easier to practice with a $20 diamond plate. In my experience, the cheap aluminum oxide stones lead to nothing but frustration.
@@OUTDOORS55 Thanks, I appreciate the advice getting better is more important than price for me at the moment. I'll look for a good diamond plate to start with
Hey Alex, I remember you had a fine Spyderco ceramic stone, considering I like the dry sharpening best - it would be really interesting to me to see a comparison between that and Sharpton 1000? Just a video idea...
I got the medium one a while back, after seeing his many recommendations for it years ago. I'm wondering the same thing, but I expect the Shapton 1000 to be a step finer, since the Spyderco is estimated to be 600
I use the cheap stones a couple times a week on professional woodworking tools. There was a little bit of a learning curve, but I can reliably get all the cutting edges sharp and put a reasonable polish on the flats, remove facets, and all the rest. Are they as good as ones that cost fifteen or twenty times as much? No, but they work. Were they easy to learn on? Yes, despite you going "Ick. Messy. Slurry." Were they better than 90% of stones that people sharpened knives on for recorded history? Oh, yeah.
I'm kinda really happy that we don't have Amazon nationally here, and that retailed sharpening stones even with general retailer are usually japanese brands, even the combo stones (general retailers might have KAI, Samura). Then there's specialty retailers that have all the Naniwa, Shapton and other brands (Morihei, Suehiro, Imanishi, Haidu, Ken-Syou, Shin-Nagura, Atoma). You basically don't run into very very cheap nameless rebrand items. And this applies often to other products too. If there's a very cheap chinese whatever product, it's mentioned. Basically what you often find here is that the price reflects what you're buying. Even though the specialty retailer's stones are still mostly 40-120 euros if they're not diamond stones, even the professional category. Which is super nice. Knowing that basically having a 1000 grit stone gets you going well, 400 is nice for badly worn blades and 2000 is fancy if you have more than kitchen reasons. You really don't get poor from buying a decent sharpening beginner or more advanced set. Naguras and those fixing stones aren't expensive either. Personally I was the silly person when I decided to get into it, even though I did look up some info. Got one of those ok combo stones of 400/1000 that have slurry and need to be sunk in water for 10 minutes. Then got 3000/8000 stone too because "gotta have the option to get polished finish, that's important for daily kitchen knife". Got nagura and straightening stone. And realized I should've just got something like Naniwa or Shapton 1000 stone and nothing else until I felt like it doesn't do the job completely. Like I don't think they even cost more than an ok 400/1000 combo stone and you don't have to sink them.
Thank you, Alex for another great video! BTW, can you talk about whether or not the Shapton Kuromakus need to be flattened? I have a 220, a 1,000, a 1,500, & 5,000. None of them look out-of-flat to me but what do I know? Some I'm asking our resident expert, if they need flattening & if they do, how often? IMO, the only thing wrong w/ them is the language, 'cause I can't read Japanese. Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!
I've had the 220,1k,5k,8k for about 3 years. I'm the resident sharpener in my kitchen. I would recommend flattening the 220 after every 3 or 4 knives as it is a very soft stone the 1k and 1.5 k could probably do about 10 knives before I would feel like they need it although I personally start most of my sharpening sessions with a quick lap so I don't need to spend 10 minutes flattening. Realistically you don't have to do it super often but it can cause uneven bevel development but still make a nice clean edge. I do it often as I sharpen a lot of expensive knives that I want to keep as perfect as possible. NOTE I mostly do 8 inch or longer chef knives above 60 Rockwell so mileage may vary depending on blade length, steel type and hardness.
The kuromakus are slow wearing but yes they will absolutely need lapping after enough use. The 120 and 220 wear much faster then the higher grits. The 1000 and up are pretty damn slow wearing but they to will eventually need a lapping. If you use them a lot it's best to do a lapping before noticeable dishing happens otherwise you have to remove a lot of material to get them flat and it's a PITA. Just do a light lapping every now and then and you will be good. This coming from someone that sharpens professionally and has for a very long time now, with kuromakus being the stones I use on most kitchen knives clients have done so mine see a lot of use. 7-10 knives a day pretty much 7 days a week. I will do a light lapping every two or three days on my courser kuromakus and once to twice a week on my 1k and up. I could likely go 2 weeks without a lapping on them but then I would be at a point to where I'm feeling noticeable dishing and would have to do a pretty heavy lapping to true them up (especially the sub 1k grits) so it's best to just stay on top of it. Plus having nice perfectly true stones at all times is a luxury... especially when you sharpen for hire.
@@OUTDOORS55 the $40 one. I’ve sharpened 3 scandi knifes with it and re profiled one that had a bad grind. So far it’s holding up well. I like the portability also. I don’t have the skills to really nail a regular v edge grind. I use a work sharp angle adjust for that. Love the channel!
I would love to see u sharpen and show up close how to handle the tip that's often a bit rounded off but I keep my wrist stiffened like u sharpen but struggle with what to do when leaving the stone by lifted up and follow the curve or not. Love your videos and love to sharpen to relax. Watching a good video is a good second to the real thing, thanks for your videos
If your rounding the tip they you are either dragging the tip off the stone or your lifting you elbow to much. This usually happens when your using to much pressure and can't feel the curvature of the blade ending in lifting to much at the very tip trying to make sure you get it. If it's lifting to much that will usually be accompanied with a facet in the edge right around the center of the belly of the knife.i teach a lot of sharpening and how I teach people to not round over tip is to place their finger at the tip of the knife so they can feel when the knife tip is touching the stone, this let's them get a feel for how far they need to raise the elbow or shoulder to catch the tip without raising up to far and rounding over or not enough and missing it. It's all in the feel, if your using to much pressure you loose that feel and it really makes it harder then it needs to be. Most beginner sharpeners use WAY to much pressure and it totally kills the feel of what the edge bevel and stone are doing contact wise. Lighten up on the pressure so that you can feel the contact the edge bevel to the stone, this will allow you to feel your way sweep of the blade and after some time feeling and listening to the stone and blade you will be able to know exactly what's happening between the edge bevel and the stone just based off of feel and sound.
I think the 4-5dollars aliexpress foam backed diamond stones, are better value than the 20 dollars one you showed for sharpening, and so much better than the chinese alox biface. While they are not full lenght, they are full width, which matters more imo. a 400 grit paired with a 1000/1500/2000 kuromaku, is all you need really. The one you showed is mostly valuable as an atoma replacement to flatten stones.
Do you sharpen on the side with the logo and grit printed on it or the “bottom” when using the Shapton 1000 grit? I’ve been using the side with the logo but don’t know if it matters. Thanks!
used namikawa whetstones, horrible lifespan and not cheap, 3 of 4 stones cracked and is useless after 3 years, only 400 grit is alive now. So this time I bought all diamond plated in from 600 to 6000 and I should have done that from the start, much better performance and price and hopefully the steel will never crack...
$37 for two large double sided stones, wood and rubber holders, leather strop, stropping compound, knife angle wedge, and a rolling chisel guide. Yes, really cheap.
I'm still using my cheap set. Getting better results as I learn how each knife/steel edge varies on the stones. Carbon vs stainless, etc. Did learn to not store the kit damp in a sealed plastic box. Mold was ugly. Cheers
I do have one of those cheap stones and he is completely correct on the your hands will be cold for a very long time because I sharpen outside since it is messy I just use them on my moras because I’m new to this and well I ruined 2 moras on diamond
Another good one. I've been working with the SATC Diamand and the Shapton 1000 and trying to get away from gimmicky sharpeners. How does something like the Shapton compare to the Spyderco Ceramics you have reviewed in the past?
I heard the spyderco stores were being discontinued but i may be wrong. The shaptons have a better feel to them. Id classify the spydercos to be more finishing stones than sharpening. Other than the spyderco medium. The shaptons do have beeter feel but slightly more maintenance and care. The spydercos are pretty much indestructible unless you drop them.
I just found this channel and now i want to start sharpening my knifes. I have never really cared about them before but just bought a new one when they get dull. I have nothing super nice, several ikea knives one zwilling and a burgvogel but i mainly want to be less wasteful/buy less useless crap. How many stones do i need? Can one shapton glass 1000 and a strop be enough or do i need a finer stone? Something else?
Alex talking about the $20 diamond stone: "This is the stone that will never leave you. She will love you forever, and carry your children. This is the stone that you will want a long term relationship with."
really appreciate your cander and lack of selling out! also, my mom is a prof chef and swears on the horl rolling sharpener, any chance we can get a video on this one?
You could probably remove the loading from those hard expensive stones with Wink Rust Stain Remover. (caution rust stain remover has dilute hydrofluoric acid, do not get on skin!)
I have one of those cheap ones. Another problem is they develop a concave surface very easily and need to be flattened out. I do much better with a fixed angle system anyways, I only bring it out when I want to save my good diamond stones grinding a knife down or something, and they’re ok for that I guess.
Some of the links are out of stock heres some alternatives ⬇
Cheap diamond amzn.to/3TgrMdW
Check here for shapton 1000 if it's in stock amzn.to/4aiyk1O
⬇
These are amazon affiliated links
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cheap diamon sharpener in your link isnt for sale anymore
both the s satc and other diamond stones are out of stock. any alternatives??
Okay, I'm guessing you have an
a7C II Sony Mirrorless
Venus Optics Laowa ...
But that's the most I could figure out. Curious to know which exactly you're using though. Thanks!
You've done your job so well that the Kuromaku 1000 is out of stock in a lot of retailers (and Amazon) at the moment.
As a matter of interest what do you think of it's brother, the 1500 K0707 stone. How does it stack up against the 1000?
Nice Video. Are there some more. They are all out of stock
06:32 Man you are THE ONLY ONE who actually explains what that little stone was for. I have this Naniwa stone and to this day, I could never find any piece of advice on how to use this "cleaning" stone.
Thank you !
Exactly!!
For more information, it is a nagura stone, or "dressing stone". The one included with the naniwa diamond stone is pretty unique compared to others. Its bar shaped instead of rectangular/square shaped, but it serves the same purpose, cleaning, unclogging and "dressing" the stone.
Naguras have another use, thought this could be categorized as another "dressing" stone, and that is to produce slurry. You want to build slurry during sharpening, but harder stones don't form it very quickly. In these cases you would buy a companion stone, that can be rubbed against the stones face to build some mud/slurry
Back in the day of Japanese natural stones, it was common for them to be sold in pairs, many stones came with a nagura, of which both were cut from a single mother stone slab. That way both the nagura and stone itself had identical properties
@@williamw7134 Thank you for this great explanation
@@williamw7134dressing stones are also used to produce slurry with the Belgian coticule stones. In a similar way, you can have the little stone from the same slab, or from a different one for some variation in properties and use.
Hey Alex, I believe that you carry the knife sharpening realm on youtube. It might not be in popularity but when it comes to quality content, you never seem to disappoint. This video though, might be your best work on how to get into sharpening stones right from the beginning. Thank you so much for all you do!
Thanks, I appreciate the kind words🙏👊
Zorro9713 , I'm in agreement 100%.
I couldn’t agree more. That sums it up nicely
I'm not currently in the market for stones but I always learn something on this channel. The photography on here sets the bar for other, similar channels. It's awesome.
I’m so addicted to watching these videos and chasing those sweet hair whittling edges we all love. Something about making stuff that sharp is soothing to my mind
Santa brought me a cheap Aluminum Oxide sharpening kit. I mean REALLY cheap - $37. It's my first use of whetstones to sharpen knives. Results were great. Edges are razor sharp. To reduce the mess, I made a holder/jig that fits over my sink. I can rinse the stone easily and often to reduce the slurry. I might upgrade some day, but for now this is a good "starter" set. Tom Loves DIY
I wouldn't call 37$ really cheap.
I bought my aluminium oxide stone for $4 Australian dollars in the "dollar shop", that's about $2.70 US.
😂👍
How's your sharpening journey going today, 7 months later?
Try the resin bonded stone with oil instead of water, it drastically reduces loading and makes cleaning a breeze. Camelia oil is my favorite since it is food safe, it does not gum up and has the best cleaning properties of all oils I tested so far. But cheap babyoil will do the trick to a lesser degree as well.
Based on your recommendation, I now have a growing Kuromaku collection -- 320, 1000, 2000 and 5000. Also have added a couple of diamond stones and a strop. Thanks for your videos!
The reactions around 8:26 really help clarify your reactions and review of each stone. Completely necessary 😂👍🏾
Totally 😅
Reminds me of Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver, practicing his reactions in front of a mirror, before using them in real life.
I tried those crappy white/blue stones and had no luck. Switched to Sharpal 162N Diamond and after following your guide was able to get great edges. Thanks!
Awesome!
Hi alex, i recently started sharpening a few month ago using those cheap aluminium oxide stone and it is exactly as u said, it felt very wet, slurry and sharpening result is inconsistent. Thanks to you,I just ordered shapton kuromaku 1000 grit just now ! 40 dollar is really expensive though but your content is transparent and the result really shown. (Bear in mind currency exhange in my country is 4x US dollar)
Another good instructional video, as I came to expect from you by now.
For people who can't afford a nice sharpening stone I'd like add that scythe sharpening stones may be significantly cheaper at the exact same quality and, in my experience, the shape difference doesn't impact knife sharpening technique or results. So you may want to check this out before ordering some soft piece of crap instead.
I love how far your channel has come over the years I have been watching. What a fun journey it has been, and can't wait to see just how far you go. You should be proud of what you have done.
Thanks my friend! I definitely appreciate the support 👍😂
I agree. I haven't looked at this channel in quite a long time and I like it much better now. Great work!
I wonder why you keep putting so much effort in this topic. I bought, as of your recommendation, the only sharpening stone you need in your life. The dmt dia-sharp fine. And i had to get stitches 3 times since purchase, so just recommend that and show why. That did the trick for me. Good job! And good luck!
I sharpened with a Sharpal diamond stone for a long time, from amazon. They definitely wear out, but they worked pretty well in my experience.
These are some of the best sharpening videos I have seen on UA-cam (and as you know, there’s a lot of of them). Love the images that you’re able to create of the knife edges. Thank you!
A few hopefully hints here. First, I use a lot of diamond matrix stones. Veneve, Columbia Gorge, naniwa, and soon the new offering from Hapstone for the fixed angle sharpening systems.
1. Yes the diamond matrix stones do load (with the Columbia Gorge being the worst in this regard), but it is avoidable. Use a real sharpening fluid made for diamond stones. Notice I did not say oil! No oil!!! Trend makes a diamond stone fluid that is superb for diamond matrix stones. When the stone starts to look loaded, simply put a few drops of the fluid on the stone and rub it with your finger. The loading will disappear immediately. No need for a cleaning stone. I only use the cleaning stone for refreshing the surface when it becomes too slick form much use.
2. Use diamond martic stones for high Vanadium or very high HRc blades. Soft blades damage both diamond plates and matrix stones by causing the soft steel to imbed the diamonds in it's own matrix. (The matrix of the steel itself). which pulls diamonds out of the surface of the stone.
3. Lastly, different steels want different grits for best performance. If you are using high vanadium carbide steels try a corser grit such as the Naniwa 600 or the 400F from Venev (which is actually by our grit standards a 800 grit). It helps to know how different manufactures grade the grit size. Best chart I've seen to compare is on the Grit O Matic site.
High Vanadium, due to the nature of the carbides is the most aggressive and hold the edge the longest sharpened with these lower grits due to the vanadium carbides being exposed more on the edge. Very lightly strop the edge with only one or two passes with a 3 down to 1 micron diamond emulsion or saste on the strop. Ann more destroys the very nature of the protruding carbides.
Now here is a trick that really supercharges the performance of High Vanadium Carbide Steels. Sharpen one side of the blade with a coarse diamond stone. Say 250 to 400. The other side, I prefer the face side for looks, with a high grit. I usually use a Veneve 800f grit which by our standards is actually in the realm of a 2000 grit.
This can double the cutting longevity of the edge and is unreal in aggressiveness. to the point that care must be used around the edge. Simply accidently brushing bast in to the bench will instantly bite deeply. Again, finish with only one to two passes on a good strop this time with 1 micron. This only removes any final burr. Do NOT polish the edge. It will destroy what the edge is capable of.
The only thing that irks me about the naniwa diamond matrix stones is that they come with a cleaning stone made of very coarse and loosely bonded silicon carbide. However, ho supplier can find how to get the exact grit stone with the same loose bonding for replacement! GRRRRR!!!!!i
KnifeMaker/Retired after 47 years in the shop.
This comment serves as a great representation of the UA-cam comments section, as a whole.
It contains information that varies from wildly untrue, to excellent.
Also, using "our" in this context on the internet is really dumb. Who, exactly, are "we?"
@@CNYKnifeNut the most used grit rating are JIS grit charts,Japanese and P for European and to day now used in the U.S. Hence "the our" as they are the most used internationally for knife professional users/sharpeners. The most accurate is Micron.
Grit O Matic has a conversion chart showing the different companies variances in grit nomenclature.
Hope you find this a little less stupid! ;
You come to the same conclusion as me. I have one 600 grids diamond stone and one 1000 and 6000 grids double side king water stone. They covered all my need for knife sharping.
I got a small set of Shapton stones for Christmas after failing to get good results for years with that crappy Amazon stone. I was scared to screw up my Takamura that I got a few months ago and I'm happy to report that the Shaptons deliver on the hype. It was by far the easiest, quickest, and most effective sharpening I've ever done. I'm definitely not getting much out of the 8000 (came in a pack with the 1000) right now but the 320 and 1000 did more than enough to restore that knife's laser status. Not a sharp as out of the box of course but I doubt I would ever be able to match the masters.
My favorite place for sharpening advice/content on UA-cam
Great Videos ! Thanks for the advice mate. Just Invested in a 1000 Shapton Kuromaku from your link and a strop. Being an idiot I've been using a pull through sharpener for years and wrecked good knives. Looking forward to getting a good edge finally.
I've been using one of those cheap stones since I started sharpening about two years ago. I could always get a decent edge on my knives up until the last few months. Can't wait to see what happens with my new shapton
that's just another level, you'll see how easy and fast it will become besides becoming much more sharper, i was sharpening with cheap ones too and now I have a king, which is a good whetstone but not so great as shaptons
I think it is always the same issue when digging into new hobbies and areas. People don't want to spend too much money in the beginning, so they buy th crappy stuff, they realize it does not work out as expected, then they quit without ever getting in contact with the good stuff. I've seen this throughout many different hobbies.
@@7784000 I actually didn't know much about sharpening and i was really bad at it so I bought some cheap whetstones then only later i Learnt about it
@@7784000 I wasn't aware of the expensive ones didn't create a slurry that mocks your sharpening skills.
Nice, I like the resin bonded diamond, thanks for giving an introduction to the different kind of stones.
I started with such a stone that needs to soak 10 minutes before use, but... they are a total mess, interrupts my workflow and often need flattening due to being soft.
I personally use Naniwa prof. stones series I think they are 60-70 dollars a pop. up to about 3000 then they start to take off in price.
perhaps comparable to the Shapton ceramic stones (also marketed as splash and go). I think it really depend what you do, I work mostly with vintage tools, so I don't need the super top diamond stones that can do magnacut steels/super steels and carbides,.
Another great video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. You never disappoint
Always appreciate your videos. Thanks! Been using inexpensive diamond stones for a couple of years now. I finally bought a 6 inch fine / super fine double sided DMT stone based on one of your videos showcasing DMT. Love it!
I agree. The shapton 1000 is a great stone, I recommend it highly!
Got one of the cheap crappy ones, and honestly it is fine for my purposes, my kitchen knives are sharper and way less scratched than with a pull through knife sharpener. But is a little annoying to work with, so when that one is worked through i will consider the other ones mentioned in your video
I’ve always had one of these pull through sharpeners, and I had a gut feeling it was making my knife worse but I never really knew it was really just a shitty sharpener. Somehow I got recommended your vid where you go in detail about these and confirmed my suspicions. Just ordered the shapton kuromago 1000, thanks to you, never thought I’d say something like this but I’m really looking forward to sharpening my knife 😂
I personally do a lot of stone sharpening. It is mostly a hobby, but I am looking forward to one time earning some money on the side with it.
What I want from a stone: fast cutting, even scratch pattern, doesn't dish too fast, doesn't burnish too fast, easy to flatten. And I very much prefer splash and go over soaking. And as good as diamond plates appear on paper, I have not been impressed with any, that I was able to test.
After testing way to many stones I eventually settled with the shapton Pro (or kuromaku) stones and got myself a 4-pice set (120, 320, 1500, 5000). The 1500 is the best stone I ever used. Cuts extremly fast, almost no burnishing or dishing, very nice scratch pattern. I love it and for my ktichen knives I only use this one stone. The 120 cuts extremly fast, but burnishes very fast too, the 320 dishes very fast and need long flattening all the time. I do a lot of knife repairs or geometry changes, that why these two stones see so much use.
I’m a Chosera man (with a few Shapton’s I’ve got while on sale). Probably overkill for my kitchen knives but they feel absolutely amazing to use.
How can you not love this guy an😢 appreciate him?? I'm so glad I found your channel!! What do you suggest for a katana? I have 2 both sharp but I'd like to get a much better edge on em. And they're entry level. I might grab a one under a hundo to get some technique but I think going the stone way is best for a katana. I'm still flirting with the WS ken onion with attachment for it 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️ idk appreciate your input and advice 🙏🏻
Get a diamond stone it you don't want it to take forever..
I’m a shapton (ceramic) and Trend (diamond) kind of guy. I have some other medium quality stones, but those are my go to brands
your sign off is hilarious!
I’m picking up a stone off of your links. Thank you!!!
I remember many years back when I could only afford a very cheap stone. It was not very good. I eventually got my hands on a Norton two grit stone. That one from memory seemed pretty good. I had a partner back then who was a chef and I'd often do her knives for her. Ummm, I'd often use a steel to finish and edge off, even with my non kitchen knives.
That doesn't seem to be the done thing though. It did get them sharp though.
the reason it is not now a done thing is that on higher end higher hardness knives, all a steel can do is align the burr. When properly sharpened, there is NO Burr. Sadly, a Steel will develop a burr quickly and feel sharper. Sadly the burr is removed in use almost immediately. It works for traditional butcher knives used by actual butchers for a few reasons. The burr is not quickly removed by meat which is a very soft substance and secondly, a working butcher does not have the time to do a proper sharpening while actually working and a quick burr will suffice for them as the blade still acts as a sharp blade in the soft meat substrate.
Traditional butcher knives are relatively soft by today's standards. On purpose to be able to be steeled quickly. Modern steels, particurallyhigh HRc and or high Vanadium steels will destroy a butchers steel in shorty order.
I once made a high vanadium content blade for a local butcher and he was livid. The high HRc + Vanadium blade chopped gouges out of his steel that had been passed down from his Grandfather-Father, and to him. It was ruined!
KnifeMaker
@@michaell397Damn though, you have to admit that chopping through the steel is impressive though.
I really appreciate your beginner level stuff and being mindful of budget. Also your expressions when you're pantomiming are awesome. Thank you for these great videos.
If you have loading issues with stones but nogm nagura stone, you can use water and baking soda or fine table salt, does the trick really well
Appreciate your time and effort with these videos.
Instead of removing a tiny amount of the surface of the naniwa resin bonded diamond stone, a cleaning agent like Bar Keeper's friend can remove the loading of the stone without any material being removed. Because you should be able to sharpen tons of knives before this stone needs any resurfacing
Thanks for the tip
Yes it does work well, however if lubing your diamond matrix stone with a proper diamond lube such as the Trend diamond lapping fluid, there is no loading in the first place. Well worth the investment and the stones will last much longer. I tested this liquid for Grit O Matic and gave my finding about a year ago. They did not put the info out there, Probably because they had just begun carrying the then new Gunny fluid, which I tested next to the Trend. There was not comparison), but I was ask about it again just last week and will be tested by Chris at Grit O Matic shortly.
knifeMaker
After trying different stones, if I had to start from scratch, I would get a DMT XXC for heavy repairs and lapping my waterstones, a Shapton 220 glass for thinning/minor repairs when needed, a Shapton Kuromaku 1000 for general maintenance, and a Shapton Kuromaku 2000 to finish or touch ups. I keep things sharp so the 1000 and 2000 are my go to stones most of the time.
To add, I have had good results with the Shapton glass 320, so that can be used in place of a Shapton Glass 220 in any line up, although I like both stones.
How do you tell whether your knives are in good shape? I'm just assuming mine are terrible because we've never had them professionally sharpened.
@@trueloveeditorial7239 They 'feel' sharp, for instance my voyager cold steel opening knife, over used to open up packages/boxes and so on, I bring the edges back on a Shap 1000 or my old JNS 300, hone ever so slightly on my 2000 or 5000, test by push cutting paper and I get it back to cutting tape, cardboard. Have no idea if I have achieved a type of optimal sharpness, but I can use it for the tasks I need it do.
My choice. and what I have it Shapton Glass and Shapton Kuromaku Pro line. As far as the Glass series, I have a 500, 1000, 3000, 8000, 30,000. The pro line I have 1000, 5000, 8000, 12000. Then I have some other decent stones in between those grits, and they are King Deluxe sires 300, 800, 1200, King KDS (not the lesser KW65 model, which is still decent) 1000/6000 combo which are actually amazing, the S-45P 4000 as well. All good stuff. My strop is a 0.5 Micron Jende Nanocloth with the diamond paste @ 0.5 Micron.
You're a funny guy, man 😅. And your observations around sharpening stones resonate 100% with mine.
Non-sponsored reviews are the best my boy
Great Alex Thank you so much to explain the different stones
I got the shapton 1000 during the 3 hours it was back in stock. Thanks!
We wanna see a video where you put up the Korumaku vs a Naniwa pro or Chosera whetstone, not the diamond you already have. They are also splash n Go´s. Great vid.
I will be doing that in the future👍
I could really do with a comparison between the two, as I'm quite badly stuck in between getting the Korumaku or the Naniwa pro. Id also love to know which grits I should get on the Korumaku and which grits I should get on the Naniwa pro if I only were to have two stones
I would be glad to give my 2 cents if you could tell me what you want to sharpen. I have a full line of shapton pro and glass stones as well as some king, atoma, imanashi and suehiro stones. What grits are you looking for ? and whats your price point?@@vincentwyble5346
@@OUTDOORS55 Can't freaking wait 🔪🤩🤩
For those of us with aluminium oxid stones a video for how to get the best sharpness would be brilliant
Yea.. the slurry is mocking my sharpening skills.
I have the Shapton which is a nice stone but I no longer use it. Instead I have gone to ceramic stones which need no water and can be cleaned with a rubber abrasive eraser. Good ones are very consistent and last forever. Plus they are cheap if you look around so a full set from 600 to 20,000 grit is not a killer.
Great informative video. I use venev diamond stones and in-between Lapping i use a magic eraser and alcohol to get the black streaks off the stones. It works great.
Bar keepers friend is magic for resin bonded diamond or cbn stone load up. Little bar keepers friends and water and your venevs will be as load up free as they are after a fresh lapping. Takes about 10 seconds to clean my dragon stones of all loadup.
@@EDCandLace ill be giving it a try. Thanks for the info.
Ive got some cheap water stones, they were not expensive. They do the job. I dont constantly sharpen knives or do it as a job or hobby so the price fits the need.
The set came with a levelling/cleaning stones too.
Then I finish the blade with some green on a strop.
Coming back to this video. Im surr someone probably must have brought these up in the comments already. But the venev stones are really worth a try.
You get a resin bonded diamond stone, for about the price of a normal japanese water stone. Since they are 2 sided. Its basically $50 per stone.
The only caveat imo is its not worth getting the 1 micron/f2000 stone since it has issues giving an actual 1 micron polish. But f1200 and below are great stones for the price.
About those naniwa stones - there is plane maker on youtube and he uses them (video showing them is something like "my sharpening methods"). He doesnt use any water, and gets rid of the steel with regular pencil eraser. I am happy with my messy waterstones, but if you think about buying more of those expensive grits, his videos might help you.
Thanks, great content I got the Shapton from your link... You saved me from those cheap stones!
Alex- "I spend $15k in sharpening stones, machines, kits, and DIY hacks, to save you, my lovely subscribers-$14,920.
What a bargain!!
I am still using my grand dad's oil stones, but your technique has upped my sharpening game a lot.
Thank you!
Hope you and the family have a Wonderful Christmas.
I don't even want to know how much I've spent 😬😂 Glad to hear you're getting great results 👍
Kinda irrelevant question, but maybe an idea for a video (?):
Can you / should you sharpen regular table knives?
Just subscribed. As a reggae and knife enthusiast, I approve this message!
I was sharpening and learning with those cheap chinese whetstones and they are really bad, it takes a long time and it's like you said, they are very sensitive to anything you do, the only upside is that if you can sharpen with this then you can sharpen with anything because they are so hard and time consuming and when I bought a king whetstone it was just another level, it was so great, fast and very sharp results
Thank you for the helpful information Alex. I purchased the Shapton Koromaku stones.
Good choice!
This recording has the best detail I've seen so far.
Can you review a few top brands of rolling sharpeners? Some are better than others. Are there any around $100 that are worth using?
Hey, can you make a thorough video about breaking-in diamond plates? Is it really that important? If so, what should it be done with? A chisel? A cleaver? Or just a knife? Should it be done wet or dry? If wet, with what? After the plate is broken-in, should you continue to use it wet or dry?
All sorts of questions.
Another great Video!
If I may, I have a suggestion for another Video.
Are you interested in showing the relation of "bite" of an edge to the ability to cleanly Cut kitchen paper?
Yes actually working on something similar now☺️
@@OUTDOORS55 very nice!
Also, a package several grit sandpaper on a block of wood or glass. Cheapest and easy to use. Will get an excellent result.
Great video Alex 😀 ! Glad you emphasize sharpening instead of showing us the latest knife out. These stone recommendations are are so helpful for those that want to keep a sharp edge. Knife sharpening was like a mystery to be solved when I started out. Now still too mysterious for many. Your channel brings sunlight to the topic & I'm not to old to pick up some fresh tips !
I wonder, are all these cheaper double sided stones the same? All just rebranded and one sold for 10, the other for 20 bucks?
Y E S !
Love your videos! Learned a lot from you over the years! Thank you brother!!
Started my own sharpening channel :)
So here's a question. I recently decided I want to learn how to hand sharpen and I have some new knives from cold steel that they gave a range for in terms of sharpening angle and you can tell that they don't have perfect apex geometry. If I wanted to take a new knife and profile it to a 20 degree angle, would I use the 400 first and then go to a 1000 or would I just be able to do it with a 1000. I think I know the answer but I ask because the stones you suggest are all out of stock so I don't want a waste my time and money on another companies 400 stone without being sure of their quality. There's also some 320 stones I've found as well but I'm not sure if that is going down too much. Thanks for all you do. Can't wait to get started.
I wish I had this video when I was starting out, I bought 2 different super shitty amazon sharpening stones for like 40-50 bucks and i couldn't sharpen anything and I dished them out like crazy. I had decent to good knives to sharpen and I was certain I should be able to get my moras sharp. I finally got DMT stones later on thanks to this channel and my hours and hours of practice translated into some really sharp knives, it wasn't me after all or at least I wasn't good enough to use the stones and after dishing them out they were awful to use.
Soft aluminum oxide soaking stones aren´t bad. King makes them, Naniwa makes them, Suehiro makes them and others. They´re usually brick red but the principle is the same. A very soft aluminium oxide stone that requires soaking, creates a lot of mud and wears fast but also cuts fast. I have multiple of the chinese cheap stones because I got a whole box of them on the flea market. Most of them are harder than let´s say a King deluxe. The problems with the cheap ones iare for one that the particle size isn´t consistent. The finer grits are not as fine as advertised. I have three of the cheap double sided 1000/6000 stones and even a 3000/8000 and there´s no way to get a polish out of these things. There´s a 1000/4000 that gives a somewhat decent polish on the 4000 side but in general the grit is not as advertised. The other problem is that they are slow. The advantage of soft stones is normally that they cut very fast because they constantly expose fresh particles. But somehow the chinese managed to fuck that up. The stones aren´t incredibly slow but noticably slower than good stones. There are other slow cutting stones like the Naniwa advance that I like a lot but those at least give a very nice finish, wear slowly and are splash and go.
Awesome as always! Could you do a dive into rods for sharpening knives for skinning? Like deep bellies and recurves… Thanks
Please do a video on honing rods including close ups
Video coming soon😉👍
@@OUTDOORS55 those ceramic ones would deffo be interesting to see 👍🏼
@@OUTDOORS55 thank you sir!
yeah man one of those cheapskate stones was my first whetstone. 400/1000 Still use it. I hate it. But it does the job of repairing or starting an rough edge... Never got a sharp edge off of it ever. Always had to take the edge to the pocket spyderco ceramics.. Which clogs up quickly. Recently got diamond plates up to 1200 and some naniwa.. the cheap whetstone fits in the diamond set somewhere and serves as a stand for the plates... I tend to use the cheap 400/1000 and go to the diamond 1200 and get a pretty toothy edge. Now I have a naniwa 2000/5000 I will be learning to use. Hopefully not as miserable as the amazone whetstone. Def look forward to replacing it one day.
This dude is awesome I learned how to sharpen on a king Stone needless to say I can sharpen pretty well now learning the hard way😅
On 1000 or tge bigger King Deluxe 1200 :D? I learned on the 1200 :D
Remember 🎉🎉🎉 means i like you video! Great content and you are really easy to watch and learn from!
Another great video Alex. Once I found the cheap set of diamond plates that fit on my edge pro I found a place that lies just below heaven as for really quick and fairly sharp sharpening. They are narrow but all the better for recurves. My question for you is have you noticed that if you sharpen a knife well and put it away or just let it sit on a counter for a while like months when you pick it back up it doesn’t slice paper like it did when you put it down 🤔.
Yes I have noticed that. A very clever lady metallurgist I knew told me that magnetic knife racks do that too.
Dang it! I think your reviews are creating a buzz and raising the prices on Amazon. 😄
So far nothing has gone crazy. Some of the prices actually came down.🤷♂️
@@OUTDOORS55always good news. Thanks for the updated info.
@@OUTDOORS55 Most recently jumped 10 bucks. That's ok. Still a good stone worth the price.
@@ureasmith3049 Currently $39.49 if you click the "other sellers" button on the above linked page for the Shapton.
All stones will load up to a certain point. That's a sign it is actually doing something. Try using lapping film that you cut to size and stick it to a flat perspex block that has been cut to size. I go for 210ml / 80ml. Just the right amount of surface area. Grits from 80 all the way up to 79000. Use water on the lower grits and oil on anything over 2000.
As voiced by other comments, I thoroughly enjoy your videos.
I can't remember seeing reviews on CBN stones though (sorry if I've missed something) and would be interested in your opinion.
Thanks.
I was just given one of those cheap aluminum oxide stones for free because it wasn't wanted anymore. If I have a few dollars to spend, should I use it or buy a new one?
My knives are beaten up and need to be sharpened and I have never used a stone before. I care most about learning proper technique.
Should I attempt to use the cheap free one, or will I learn better technique on a different one
I hate to tell you to spend money when you already have a stone but you will find it is much easier to practice with a $20 diamond plate. In my experience, the cheap aluminum oxide stones lead to nothing but frustration.
@@OUTDOORS55
Thanks, I appreciate the advice getting better is more important than price for me at the moment. I'll look for a good diamond plate to start with
Hi from Brazil, I love your channel
Thanks so much 🙏👍
Hey Alex, I remember you had a fine Spyderco ceramic stone, considering I like the dry sharpening best - it would be really interesting to me to see a comparison between that and Sharpton 1000? Just a video idea...
Excellent. I basically asked that same question before seeing you had brought up the Sypderco stones as well.
I got the medium one a while back, after seeing his many recommendations for it years ago. I'm wondering the same thing, but I expect the Shapton 1000 to be a step finer, since the Spyderco is estimated to be 600
I use the cheap stones a couple times a week on professional woodworking tools. There was a little bit of a learning curve, but I can reliably get all the cutting edges sharp and put a reasonable polish on the flats, remove facets, and all the rest.
Are they as good as ones that cost fifteen or twenty times as much? No, but they work.
Were they easy to learn on? Yes, despite you going "Ick. Messy. Slurry."
Were they better than 90% of stones that people sharpened knives on for recorded history? Oh, yeah.
I'm kinda really happy that we don't have Amazon nationally here, and that retailed sharpening stones even with general retailer are usually japanese brands, even the combo stones (general retailers might have KAI, Samura). Then there's specialty retailers that have all the Naniwa, Shapton and other brands (Morihei, Suehiro, Imanishi, Haidu, Ken-Syou, Shin-Nagura, Atoma). You basically don't run into very very cheap nameless rebrand items. And this applies often to other products too. If there's a very cheap chinese whatever product, it's mentioned. Basically what you often find here is that the price reflects what you're buying. Even though the specialty retailer's stones are still mostly 40-120 euros if they're not diamond stones, even the professional category. Which is super nice. Knowing that basically having a 1000 grit stone gets you going well, 400 is nice for badly worn blades and 2000 is fancy if you have more than kitchen reasons. You really don't get poor from buying a decent sharpening beginner or more advanced set. Naguras and those fixing stones aren't expensive either.
Personally I was the silly person when I decided to get into it, even though I did look up some info. Got one of those ok combo stones of 400/1000 that have slurry and need to be sunk in water for 10 minutes. Then got 3000/8000 stone too because "gotta have the option to get polished finish, that's important for daily kitchen knife". Got nagura and straightening stone. And realized I should've just got something like Naniwa or Shapton 1000 stone and nothing else until I felt like it doesn't do the job completely. Like I don't think they even cost more than an ok 400/1000 combo stone and you don't have to sink them.
Thank you, Alex for another great video!
BTW, can you talk about whether or not the Shapton Kuromakus need to be flattened?
I have a 220, a 1,000, a 1,500, & 5,000.
None of them look out-of-flat to me but what do I know?
Some I'm asking our resident expert, if they need flattening & if they do, how often?
IMO, the only thing wrong w/ them is the language, 'cause I can't read Japanese.
Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!
I've had the 220,1k,5k,8k for about 3 years. I'm the resident sharpener in my kitchen. I would recommend flattening the 220 after every 3 or 4 knives as it is a very soft stone the 1k and 1.5 k could probably do about 10 knives before I would feel like they need it although I personally start most of my sharpening sessions with a quick lap so I don't need to spend 10 minutes flattening. Realistically you don't have to do it super often but it can cause uneven bevel development but still make a nice clean edge. I do it often as I sharpen a lot of expensive knives that I want to keep as perfect as possible. NOTE I mostly do 8 inch or longer chef knives above 60 Rockwell so mileage may vary depending on blade length, steel type and hardness.
The kuromakus are slow wearing but yes they will absolutely need lapping after enough use. The 120 and 220 wear much faster then the higher grits. The 1000 and up are pretty damn slow wearing but they to will eventually need a lapping. If you use them a lot it's best to do a lapping before noticeable dishing happens otherwise you have to remove a lot of material to get them flat and it's a PITA. Just do a light lapping every now and then and you will be good. This coming from someone that sharpens professionally and has for a very long time now, with kuromakus being the stones I use on most kitchen knives clients have done so mine see a lot of use. 7-10 knives a day pretty much 7 days a week. I will do a light lapping every two or three days on my courser kuromakus and once to twice a week on my 1k and up. I could likely go 2 weeks without a lapping on them but then I would be at a point to where I'm feeling noticeable dishing and would have to do a pretty heavy lapping to true them up (especially the sub 1k grits) so it's best to just stay on top of it. Plus having nice perfectly true stones at all times is a luxury... especially when you sharpen for hire.
Do you apply pressure going down or up, or you keep it the same irrespective of forward or backward pass?
Sharpal diamond sharpening stone is better than any whetstone I’ve ever used. Faster and less mess. Has a case that is also a platform.
I would buy the $20 one. The Sharpel is over priced for the same result. If you're going to spend more, I would buy the DMT stones.
@@OUTDOORS55 the $40 one. I’ve sharpened 3 scandi knifes with it and re profiled one that had a bad grind. So far it’s holding up well. I like the portability also. I don’t have the skills to really nail a regular v edge grind. I use a work sharp angle adjust for that. Love the channel!
I would love to see u sharpen and show up close how to handle the tip that's often a bit rounded off but I keep my wrist stiffened like u sharpen but struggle with what to do when leaving the stone by lifted up and follow the curve or not. Love your videos and love to sharpen to relax. Watching a good video is a good second to the real thing, thanks for your videos
If your rounding the tip they you are either dragging the tip off the stone or your lifting you elbow to much. This usually happens when your using to much pressure and can't feel the curvature of the blade ending in lifting to much at the very tip trying to make sure you get it. If it's lifting to much that will usually be accompanied with a facet in the edge right around the center of the belly of the knife.i teach a lot of sharpening and how I teach people to not round over tip is to place their finger at the tip of the knife so they can feel when the knife tip is touching the stone, this let's them get a feel for how far they need to raise the elbow or shoulder to catch the tip without raising up to far and rounding over or not enough and missing it. It's all in the feel, if your using to much pressure you loose that feel and it really makes it harder then it needs to be. Most beginner sharpeners use WAY to much pressure and it totally kills the feel of what the edge bevel and stone are doing contact wise. Lighten up on the pressure so that you can feel the contact the edge bevel to the stone, this will allow you to feel your way sweep of the blade and after some time feeling and listening to the stone and blade you will be able to know exactly what's happening between the edge bevel and the stone just based off of feel and sound.
Thanks so much, going at it tomorrow. 👍
I think the 4-5dollars aliexpress foam backed diamond stones, are better value than the 20 dollars one you showed for sharpening, and so much better than the chinese alox biface.
While they are not full lenght, they are full width, which matters more imo.
a 400 grit paired with a 1000/1500/2000 kuromaku, is all you need really.
The one you showed is mostly valuable as an atoma replacement to flatten stones.
Id disagree but to each their own🤷♂️
@@OUTDOORS55 I see, out of all the chinese diamond stones on your channel, I never saw these one, no wonder
Do you sharpen on the side with the logo and grit printed on it or the “bottom” when using the Shapton 1000 grit? I’ve been using the side with the logo but don’t know if it matters. Thanks!
used namikawa whetstones, horrible lifespan and not cheap, 3 of 4 stones cracked and is useless after 3 years, only 400 grit is alive now. So this time I bought all diamond plated in from 600 to 6000 and I should have done that from the start, much better performance and price and hopefully the steel will never crack...
$37 for two large double sided stones, wood and rubber holders, leather strop, stropping compound, knife angle wedge, and a rolling chisel guide. Yes, really cheap.
I'm still using my cheap set. Getting better results as I learn how each knife/steel edge varies on the stones. Carbon vs stainless, etc. Did learn to not store the kit damp in a sealed plastic box. Mold was ugly. Cheers
I do have one of those cheap stones and he is completely correct on the your hands will be cold for a very long time because I sharpen outside since it is messy I just use them on my moras because I’m new to this and well I ruined 2 moras on diamond
How to you ruin them?
Another good one. I've been working with the SATC Diamand and the Shapton 1000 and trying to get away from gimmicky sharpeners. How does something like the Shapton compare to the Spyderco Ceramics you have reviewed in the past?
I heard the spyderco stores were being discontinued but i may be wrong. The shaptons have a better feel to them. Id classify the spydercos to be more finishing stones than sharpening. Other than the spyderco medium. The shaptons do have beeter feel but slightly more maintenance and care. The spydercos are pretty much indestructible unless you drop them.
I know its not your usual baliwick, and its a bit of a detour, but I'd love to see your take on honing straight razors.
Does this information also apply to to hand plane blades?
Loved the infomercial smile section…made me laugh out loud…Cheers MikeR.
I just found this channel and now i want to start sharpening my knifes. I have never really cared about them before but just bought a new one when they get dull. I have nothing super nice, several ikea knives one zwilling and a burgvogel but i mainly want to be less wasteful/buy less useless crap. How many stones do i need? Can one shapton glass 1000 and a strop be enough or do i need a finer stone? Something else?
Alex talking about the $20 diamond stone: "This is the stone that will never leave you. She will love you forever, and carry your children. This is the stone that you will want a long term relationship with."
really appreciate your cander and lack of selling out!
also, my mom is a prof chef and swears on the horl rolling sharpener, any chance we can get a video on this one?
You could probably remove the loading from those hard expensive stones with Wink Rust Stain Remover. (caution rust stain remover has dilute hydrofluoric acid, do not get on skin!)
I have one of those cheap ones. Another problem is they develop a concave surface very easily and need to be flattened out. I do much better with a fixed angle system anyways, I only bring it out when I want to save my good diamond stones grinding a knife down or something, and they’re ok for that I guess.