Show Your Newest Sharpening Gear

[deltaplex]

After waiting for the right circumstances to come together (for far longer than I expected), I finally nabbed one of these monsters locally:

Now I just have to wait for one of the 12x3 Arks to pop up...

 

[Simon082]

NOS 8×2 Water of Ayr. Looks rather fragile and prone to cracking due to the fissures running through, what the best waterproof sealer?.

 

[Seemore]

Man-made aoto 2000. Uptown lists it as Imanishi, Bernal does not. In any case I’m looking forward to trying it.

 

[Simon082]

Man-made aoto 2000. Uptown lists it as Imanishi, Bernal does not. In any case I’m looking forward to trying it.
View attachment 316594

This was one of my first stones when I started many years ago. I remember it being very soft, muddy and smelled great.

 

[Vertigo]

This was one of my first stones when I started many years ago. I remember it being very soft, muddy and smelled great.

When you been at it so long you can recognize a stone by smell

I'd bottle the Rika 5k.

 

[M1k3]

When you been at it so long you can recognize a stone by smell

I'd bottle the Rika 5k.

Oh man, the Oouchi I used to have smelled great!

The old formulation Nanohone's, not so much. Unless you like the smell of brake cleaner

 

[Simon082]

Straight from the Dalmore Estate 3×1 ToS nagura/polishing stones, very cute. These have a really nice fragrance when the slurry builds up. I like these ToS stones so much, its now my avatar pic.

 

[Koop]

Not really a kitchen knife stone at 150x40mm - but should be great for my straight razor.

It came with the bout - nice nagura.

 

[Koop]

Another new stone showed up via UPS. A Wastikivi from Finland. This is a coarse phyllite (metamorphised slate I'm told). I'm not sure what I'll do with it. That's the problem with surfing the 'net while enjoying a cocktail or two. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

[mc2442]

I have WAY too many purchases that can relate to that.

 

[ethompson]

Most expensive drink I’ll ever have was the one that pushed me over the edge and got me to message Nutmeg for an uchi, my first jnat. Been on a bender since

 

[Simon082]

Bag of rubble. Mizuno was kind enough to send me a brown kasumi turd of a nikiri, so got myself some stones for a real true kasumi practice.

 

[Tapio]

Another new stone showed up via UPS. A Wastikivi from Finland. This is a coarse phyllite (metamorphised slate I'm told). I'm not sure what I'll do with it. That's the problem with surfing the 'net while enjoying a cocktail or two. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
View attachment 316889

I left my extra big dual sided Wästikivi laying on the ground thinking, that maybe the neighboring kids might find some use for this strange looking stone while playing. Didn’t like the feel nor the results.

 

[Tapio]

A couple of days ago I got this Jende nanocloth strop and the matching 4 micron diamond paste. I really like the results.

 

[Simon082]

A couple of days ago I got this Jende nanocloth strop and the matching 4 micron diamond paste. I really like the results.

What stone did you use before the 4 micron. Poor .

 

[Tapio]

What stone did you use before the 4 micron. Poor .

Naniwa Pro 3k and Shapton Kuromaku 12k.

 

[Koop]

Another new stone showed up via UPS. A Wastikivi from Finland. This is a coarse phyllite (metamorphised slate I'm told). I'm not sure what I'll do with it. That's the problem with surfing the 'net while enjoying a cocktail or two. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
View attachment 316889

Turns out I had a use for it. My neighbor is a wood carver - he makes small figurines. He's getting up in years and had trouble sharpening one of his carving knives and asked if I could help. This stone was fast on the wood working edge!

 

[Hualicopter]

New stone! Do you guys keep the foam insert to keep the stone from bouncing around in the case? Not sure if it would impede the stone from drying.

 

[MowgFace]

View attachment 319213
New stone! Do you guys keep the foam insert to keep the stone from bouncing around in the case? Not sure if it would impede the stone from drying.

Tossed mine.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Tossed mine.

Same.

 

[M1k3]

View attachment 319213
New stone! Do you guys keep the foam insert to keep the stone from bouncing around in the case? Not sure if it would impede the stone from drying.

Tossed mine also.

 

[bermuda_chub]

Here goes nothing. This is going to be quite a learning experience for me. I’m going to be hitting you guys up for advice right and left.

 

[jacobwilder5]

“My greatest fear is that when I die, my wife will sell my tools for what I told her I paid for them”.

Just kidding! Sort of…

Some new stones this week. NSK Oboro 200 & 400, flattening plate, and an Okudo natural stone.

 

[azn_knives_4l]

NSK Kogyo I want to try these so badly but the cost of entry is just out of reach atm. Someday!

 

[Danejah]

Rainy day on the farm allowed me to do some sharpening in the greenhouse with my new 250x80 BBW. Wasn't sure how to approach it. Lapped it with my JKI diamond plate briefly, washed it clean then hit it with the slurry stone. I then went straight to my edges (which are never really in that bad of shape to begin with) and was enjoying the feedback but it was slower than expected when feeling for a burr. Remembered a recent video @milangravier posted sharpening a nakiri and so I stepped down to my gesshin 2k which I love. Much faster, then finished on the BBW as quickly as I could per Milans instruction in his video and finished on raw leather. Was able to come up with some pretty impressive results, won't know till I take them home to the kitchen but I was impressed. Was finishing on natural synthetic before so curious if I notice a difference. I am by no means a sharpening wizard like many here but enjoy the process, im so busy this time of year it's very therapeutic. Anyone with more experience wanna give me some pointers Id love to hear it.

 

[Seemore]

Rainy day on the farm allowed me to do some sharpening in the greenhouse with my new 250x80 BBW. Wasn't sure how to approach it. Lapped it with my JKI diamond plate briefly, washed it clean then hit it with the slurry stone. I then went straight to my edges (which are never really in that bad of shape to begin with) and was enjoying the feedback but it was slower than expected when feeling for a burr. Remembered a recent video @milangravier posted sharpening a nakiri and so I stepped down to my gesshin 2k which I love. Much faster, then finished on the BBW as quickly as I could per Milans instruction in his video and finished on raw leather. Was able to come up with some pretty impressive results, won't know till I take them home to the kitchen but I was impressed. Was finishing on natural synthetic before so curious if I notice a difference. I am by no means a sharpening wizard like many here but enjoy the process, im so busy this time of year it's very therapeutic. Anyone with more experience wanna give me some pointers Id love to hear it. View attachment 323178View attachment 323179

I’m guessing there’s quite some variation between individual BBWs. Mine is one of the faster stones I have to raise a burr, especially when first making a slurry with a small BBW. As you did, I use it alone when a knife needs touching up, or at the end of a short progression.
For what it’s worth, I bought mine directly from Ardennes in Belgium, where Rob suggested flattening it by rubbing it occasionally on some wet 400 sandpaper on a flat surface.

 

[milangravier]

Rainy day on the farm allowed me to do some sharpening in the greenhouse with my new 250x80 BBW. Wasn't sure how to approach it. Lapped it with my JKI diamond plate briefly, washed it clean then hit it with the slurry stone. I then went straight to my edges (which are never really in that bad of shape to begin with) and was enjoying the feedback but it was slower than expected when feeling for a burr. Remembered a recent video @milangravier posted sharpening a nakiri and so I stepped down to my gesshin 2k which I love. Much faster, then finished on the BBW as quickly as I could per Milans instruction in his video and finished on raw leather. Was able to come up with some pretty impressive results, won't know till I take them home to the kitchen but I was impressed. Was finishing on natural synthetic before so curious if I notice a difference. I am by no means a sharpening wizard like many here but enjoy the process, im so busy this time of year it's very therapeutic. Anyone with more experience wanna give me some pointers Id love to hear it. View attachment 323178View attachment 323179

Very cool to see you try a similar process !
I guess there is obviously some variations between BBWs, like any natural stones but I would have thought there are quite consistent. The one I have tried, compared with the Coticule, were little more muddy and a tad coarser than coticules. Raising a burr with BBW or Coticule is totally doable in a short time if the blade is thin. But I generally always start with a synthetic stone because : they are faster stones so the shape the micro bevel much sharper and faster + they are reproductible items whereas the natural stones are not, so I always prefer for sharpening and polishing actually, work synthetic stones to make the base work so naturals don't have to work much but just do the effect I want them to do.

 

[Danejah]

I’m guessing there’s quite some variation between individual BBWs. Mine is one of the faster stones I have to raise a burr, especially when first making a slurry with a small BBW. As you did, I use it alone when a knife needs touching up, or at the end of a short progression.
For what it’s worth, I bought mine directly from Ardennes in Belgium, where Rob suggested flattening it by rubbing it occasionally on some wet 400 sandpaper on a flat surface.

Thanks for the feedback, this was not direct from AC but from Griffith shaving goods here in the states via AC. I was under the impression there is less variation with the BBW but I think I just need more time with it. Do you notice yours dishes at a noticeable rate where flattening makes sense on a regular basis like with a synthetic? I would assume not if it’s just being lightly used for touch ups?

 

[Seemore]

Thanks for the feedback, this was not direct from AC but from Griffith shaving goods here in the states via AC. I was under the impression there is less variation with the BBW but I think I just need more time with it. Do you notice yours dishes at a noticeable rate where flattening makes sense on a regular basis like with a synthetic? I would assume not if it’s just being lightly used for touch ups?

I can’t report whether it dishes at a noticeable rate, because I don’t check it as often as I do my other stones. I assumed it was “hard”, thus dishing slowly like a hard synthetic, but I may be wrong about that. I flattened it a few sessions ago, so I’ll check it the next time I use it, and report back. This would be a shorter gap between flattenings than my usual for this stone, and provide a more accurate answer.

 

[JustAnotherJoe]

I was under the impression there is less variation with the BBW

Sample size of 2 here, purchased from different vendors a year apart. These two are indistinguishable from one another.
Neither of them are as fast as the coticules I've tried (also sample size of 2), but I wouldn't consider them slow compared to other naturals in the same effective grit range (also they abrade a much wider range of alloys than most naturals in my experience).
Best approximation of hardness that I can give: harder than naniwa pro 800# and softer than king300#. I would not consider these AC bbws a "hard stone", which in my mind are whetstones like Arkansas stones, and others that do not release mud with out assistance. The bbw side of a random old coticule is noticeably harder and a little scratchy feeling until a slurry is produced (produces a similar edge though).

Hopefully others with a more experience can chime in to give you a better idea where your stone sits in the spectrum of Belgium blues.