# Cheap sharpening stone for knives?



## Christian1 (Jun 30, 2018)

I currently have nice chosera 1k, naniwa SS 5k, shapton pro 8k, and very fine coticule/jnat. (these stones I got for straight razors, I buy and sell them on occasion so 1k-8k set of stones are nice). Only nice knife I have is a 125$ ish carbon steel gyuoto I picked up. It has been fine though and all I have had to do is do stropping strokes on jnat to keep it sharp, not wanting to use it as practice knife atm. 

I have a bunch of cheap house knives laying around that need sharpening and wanted recommendation on what stone to get to remove chips/dings from knife (also wanting to practice my knife sharpening). Think it would be worth getting a 220-800 grit stone for removing dings and small chips in the knives, or just stick with the 1k until dings are out.
Can use my chosera on knives but would rather practice on a cheap stone while practicing with cheap knives.
I understand there is only so much someone can learn on cheap tools/equipment but I still learning very basics on cheap knives. 
Dings/chips on knives just from normal abuse, nothing serious from drops or crazy hacking. 

2 hones I was looking at are these

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055B2RGO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Naniwa-Economical-Combination-Waterstone--P559C4.aspx
(1k/3k)


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## Christian1 (Jun 30, 2018)

Highest grit I plan on taking the cheap knives is maybe the 5k depending on the knife but pretty sure just basic 1-2k grit zone would be plenty.


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## Drosophil (Jun 30, 2018)

The King 300 and the Shapton Pro 220/320 are fast, dish slowly, splash and go and also cheap (slightly more than that Naniwa combo).


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## sac36555 (Jun 30, 2018)

If you already have a 1k, then I’d look in the 300-500 range for fixing micro chips, bevel setting, etc. the fact that you already have a Chosera, my pick would be the Chosera 400, but that seems to be out of your budget at around $55usd. I would 2nd Drosophil’s comment of the king 300 or Sharpton Pro 320


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## Benuser (Jun 30, 2018)

Drosophil said:


> The King 300 and the Shapton Pro 220/320 are fast, dish slowly, splash and go and also cheap (slightly more than that Naniwa combo).


+1 Shapton Pro 220
Neglected cheap stainless often need a lot of thinning, and are very abrasion resistant. So go for coarse. Even for setting the bevel. Clean up a bit with cardboard or split — rough — leather. Only strop and deburr very lightly with the 1k and STOP. Refrain from refining any further, it's counter-productive.


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## sac36555 (Jun 30, 2018)

Benuser said:


> +1 Shapton Pro 220
> Neglected cheap stainless often need a lot of thinning, and are very abrasion resistant. So go for coarse. Even for setting the bevel. Clean up a bit with cardboard or split — rough — leather. Only strop and deburr very lightly with the 1k and STOP. Refrain from refining any further, it's counter-productive.



Very good advise from a guy that has a lot of knowledge about J-knives and sharpening....I will also agree that you will get minimal if any noticeable difference from going past 1k with cheap, soft stainless knives.....I’m sad to say I know from experience


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## Christian1 (Jun 30, 2018)

Thanks for replies! figured higher grits would not be necessary, glad to hear the 1k should be good enough for finishing them then. Will probably go with the shapton stone then since I really like the 8k version I use on Straights. Great help thanks everyone


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## Christian1 (Jul 10, 2018)

Just an update, picked up a jnat for my knives and just going to roll with using my Chosera 1k. Will just make sure the chosera is flat flat before taking razors to it.


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## masibu (Jul 13, 2018)

If you wanna go cheap i find that combo india stones are pretty reliable for coarse work. Oil is usually what is reccomended for lube but I wouldn't say it's an absolute requirement. I've used mine with oil, water, glass cleaner, detergent and even conditioned with coarse slurry with no ill effects. Yes the stones can wear over time but a coarse india is rated at what.. 120 grit or something? It takes a long time before they become uncomfortably slow, in which case you can up the pressure to encourage fresh grit release or condition them with another coarse stone. The fine india is rated 300 grit but I find it to be easier than waterstones of similar grit to get to shaving level sharpness. I basically treat my stone as though its a 300/700 combo that doesn't need flattening.

Otherwise the king 300 is a great waterstone to use if the combo india stone isnt cool enough. its plenty hard and theres plenty of stone to work with. The shapton pro 220 is noticably harder than the 320 and faster cutting than the king. The india stone can take more force though if desired to really increase the cutting speed


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## rick alen (Jul 13, 2018)

With the scratch marks left by the king 300 I can jump right to a 1K, even doing wide bevels. How is the Shapton 220 here? I understand the deep scratches left by the pink bricks like to see a 400 before moving up.


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## Xenif (Jul 13, 2018)

I recently started using the King 300, I didnt like it much, until I started using it with some nagura. Has anyone else found this? I use a chalky Iyo nagura on it and it makes it feel much much better; dosent seem to losing any cutting power or speed.


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## Drosophil (Jul 13, 2018)

Xenif said:


> I recently started using the King 300, I didnt like it much, until I started using it with some nagura. Has anyone else found this? I use a chalky Iyo nagura on it and it makes it feel much much better; dosent seem to losing any cutting power or speed.



I use a cheap Naniwa synth nagura on it and it works much better than without anything. Robin Dalman suggests putting SiC powder on a slab and rubbing the stone on it.


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## masibu (Jul 13, 2018)

rick alen said:


> With the scratch marks left by the king 300 I can jump right to a 1K, even doing wide bevels. How is the Shapton 220 here? I understand the deep scratches left by the pink bricks like to see a 400 before moving up.


 
It has admittedly been a while since ive used the shapton 220 but from memory I did find another stone before a 1k to be pretty handy for wide bevels. I imagine it would take a fair bit of time using a 1k to take out scratches from the 220. The king doesnt have this issue as you mentioned. If the king doesnt cut quite fast enough I have plenty of options to lap it, whether that be from a diamond plate or some chunks of an old shapton 120 if im feeling particularly savage


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## Benuser (Jul 14, 2018)

The Shapton won't leave very deap scratches. Tolerance with particle size is very narrow in the case of Shaptons, no bad surprises to be expected. Reduce pressure before going to the next stone.


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## Ilia (Sep 8, 2018)

the normal range


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## Ilia (Sep 8, 2018)

The only thing I don't like about Chinese stones is the parasitic risk they leave behind...


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## Ilia (Sep 8, 2018)

But Naniwa is certainly not China


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