Overwhelmed with waterstone choices

[Quilbilly]

I have been wanting to get a very high grit waterstone for a long time now and decided that today was the day to order one. There are too many different kinds and grits and companies. Any advice on what stone to get would be appreciated. I am looking to spend under $50.

My 92 year old grandmother gave me my grandfathers old double sided stone and up until recently I have been doing most of my sharpening on it. Needless to say, after 30+ years of sharpening, it is a little worn out. I have the "Lansky" sharpening system but the grit only goes up to 600.

I am looking to get a REALLY sharp edge on some of my knives. Mostly kitchen knives, but also a pocket knife or two.

Thanks for your help.

 

[bikerdoc]

I dont like water stones - just me - some love them
you can get stones with grits higher than 600 at lowes and on line cheap
Or us wet/dry emory sandpaper from the auto store - grits run 60 to 2000

They work great!

 

[Deltaboy1984]

I am going to try that emory paper! I have seen carpenters use it to hone tools.

 

[bikerdoc]

deltaboy,

cut a strip of paper and a piece of wood the same size ,staple the paper to the peice of wood and use it like a stone

 

[Winston_Smith]

If you already have a stone, you can buy a flattening stone to level out your grandpas stone.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2005775/17629/Flattening-Stone-With-Case.aspx

I have a 1000/4000 grit stone and an 8000 grit. The combination works well for needs you listed.

 

[Quilbilly]

I found a local place that had them in Kirkland (AWESOME store). The guy at the counter really knew his stuff. I came home with a 1200/8000 grit and this other small stone (cant remember the name) that is used to basically make mud on the top of the #8000 to speed up sharpening. After I used the 1200 side I already had a pretty nice edge. After the 8000 side I could remove some hair from my arm. I think after I spend some time with this new stone I can get even better results.

Should I use the "bottom of a coffee cup" trick after the stone or is the #8000 already a higher grit than the cup?

 

[Hans Esker]

Japanese 8000 grit (there are different grit standards) probably will produce a much finer edge than the coffee cup, since it will allow a more consistent grinding (personally I see the coffee cup primarily as an expedient for when you don't have proper sharpening abrasives). To see for yourself, use a magnifying glass or some other magnification tool to compare the resulting edges.

The "mud/slurry prep stone" is known as a Nagura stone.

What type of stone is your grandfathers?