First waterstone

[Matt88s]

I just bought my first water stone this evening, have it soaking as I type. I've always used Arkansas stones, but I thought I'd venture into uncharted territory and give the waterstones a try, I've heard good things about them.

I bought a King 1000/6000 combination stone, 205x50x25mm

Couple of questions, first off, what are water stones? They aren't natural stone like Arkansas stones are they?

Second, it says, 1000 KD and 6000S. What do the KD and the S stand for?

Do you think a 1000/6000 combo stone will do for most general carving chisel and knife sharpening?

Cheers!
Matthew

[J.E. Mike Tobey]

Since I am 61 years old, most of my life has been spent with Natural Oilstones from the Arkansas Washita Mountain Range. About 2 plus years ago I discovered waterstones. I have done Norton, King and I now have settled upon Shapton. I still use oilstones frequently. Just my opinion, but the jump from 1K to 6K is pretty big. I have always gotten good progress to my finest stone with a 4K or 5K. If you concentrate on a secondary bevel only at 6K a decent result is likely. I just don't like that big gap because that final polished edge depends upon the most minimal striations at the apex. That is hard to reach without a mid-stone. My US .02 cents.mt

[kman-oz]

There are natural waterstones too, but the King variety are man-made Aluminium-Oxide stones. No idea what the KD or S stand for, but 1000 is good for moderate material removal, while 6000 is for polishing.

You could successfully use the 1000 side for establishing chiesl bevels and gross angles on knives, while using the 6000 side for polishing microbevels on chisels and honing knive edges. 'Tis a good start I think; not a big investment if you find you don't like them, but enough to establish a technique and decide what's next too.

You will find that they dish fairly quickly, so you'll need to flatten them often.