Thread: Looking for advice on upcoming purchases

Also, what grit do you consider "sharp enough" for each tool? I've read so many different methods I'm a bit confused, after 1200 grit I'm just hitting the strop for a while like I saw in a Paul Sellers video.

I have 2 DMT DuoSharps a 10" XCoarse/Coarse and an 8" Fine/XFine and love them. The XCoarse (220 grit) chews through metal pretty quickly and the XFine (9 micron / 2500 grit) is definitely "sharp enough" for both chisels and planes.

I like to finish on a 12000 Shapton, but that's because I like the mirror polish, not because I think it's any more useful.

EDIT: XFine is 9 micron / 2500 grit, not 8/3600. Text has been changed to reflect this
This also is equal to 1200 mesh (cos what's the fun of having a single system where all the numbers mean the same thing?)

I have three "fine" stones, two Shaptons 5000 and 8000 and a Spyderco Ultra Fine ceramic

all leave a much more refined edge than the green 1200 mesh (0.9 um) DMT.
I have the red/green (600/1200 mesh) double sided DMT and only rarely do I need to use the red (600 mesh) side.

To save yourself some dollars, perhaps just get one double sided diamond plate?

Cheers for the advice guys! Man its hard comparing DMT and Ezelap, converting mesh/grit/microns is doing my head in.

Thinking of getting the double sided 8" Ezelap in 250/600 and then a single sided 8" Ezelap in 1200 grit. Then I'll follow that up with an extra fine stone of some kind. Still haven't figured that out.

My honing guides arrived today too, unbelievably well built!

I cannot recommend the diamond stone combination you are looking at. Some may like them, but I really believe that you would be better off with something more traditional, and which will last longer. Diamonds are not forever.

You need coarse, medium and fine stones.

You certainly could use a diamond stone as the coarse stone, and if you did I would nominate a "Fine", which is 600 grit. The aim of this stone is to create a micro secondary bevel using your honing guide. An alternative (which I use) is the Pro Shapton 1000. This is an excellent coarse stone.

The Medium stone could be a Sigma 6000. Or a Pro Shapton 5000. I prefer the former.

A fine, polishing stone is the Sigma 13000 or Pro Shapton 12000.

These should last you longer than the diamond stones. They do need maintenance in the form of something to lap them, but they are hard stones and do not go out of flat quickly. To flatten, either use 220 grit sandpaper or, better still, get a coarse (225 grit) 8" diamond stone.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Bueller, Derek is giving you some very good advice there.

As he says, you need coarse, medium and fine. The combination you're looking at is coarse, coarse, medium.

once the back of the blade is flat, and you've established a primary bevel -- you start working on the micro bevel, and in many instances this bevel can be started with something finer than 1000 grit. I'll oft times use a 2000 Shapton.

Thanks so much for the detailed advice guys, I'm totally new to this stuff.

To be honest the main reason why I was thinking about diamond plates was because I'd heard stones go out of flat but I'll defer to your experience and better judgement on that.

Appreciate the recommendations on ceramic stones, looking at prices now and it seems like it would be comparable price wise if I went with Shapton Pro 1000/5000/12000 stones. Any Australian suppliers of Sigma stones you can recommend? I looked around but it seems like they're short on the ground here in Aus. The Shaptons all seem to be available on eBay in the grits you advised so not a big deal really.

I have to say I'm absolutely astounded with the design and build of these honing guides. I love well engineered tools and these really do seem top notch. I was very confused as to how it all worked at first but two minutes with the manual and it all made sense. Completely idiot proof!

Handy conversion chart: https://www.thesandpaperman.com.au/a...ion-chart.html

Okay I wound up ordering Shapton Pro stones in 1000/5000/12000 grits. Anything else I should think about? I have a strop as well and was just going to glue it to an offcut of ply.

Put the strop aside and master the stones first. Get to know them and what they can do. A strop should not be necessary after the 12K.

With regard the strop, what do you plan to use it for (removing the wire edge or honing on bench planes and bench chisels or carving chisels?), and how do you plan to use it (bare or with a compound?)? Basically, I would use leather only for carving chisels or curved edges. I prefer compound on planed hardwood for all other blades (the leather can dub the edges otherwise). Leave the strop alone for now. It is more complicated than it looks.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Put the strop aside and master the stones first. Get to know them and what they can do. A strop should not be necessary after the 12K.

With regard the strop, what do you plan to use it for (removing the wire edge or honing on bench planes and bench chisels or carving chisels?), and how do you plan to use it (bare or with a compound?)? Basically, I would use leather only for carving chisels or curved edges. I prefer compound on planed hardwood for all other blades (the leather can dub the edges otherwise). Leave the strop alone for now. It is more complicated than it looks.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Sounds like a plan! I'll figure out the stones and leave the strop in storage.

Thanks again for all your help.

Have you taken the time to look at the Scanning Electron Microscope pictures of sharpened edges? The suite of pictures made by the National Research Council of Canada?
You can find them all in Leonard Lee's book: The Complete Guide To Sharpening. As you all well know, he's the old man of Lee Valley & Veritas.

You cannot put a zero edge on steel. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that you can. A zero edge on a diamond knife for electron microscopy was $1,500/mm.
Instead, do yourself a favour and plan the process to make the edges that you need for the wood workings that you enjoy doing. The rest is a waste of your time,
your effort and your money.

I've done it. The goal was a smooth, effortless wood cut for carving.
Glassy clean in both hardwoods and soft woods.
However, if you think you can beat the science of steel go ahead.

Okay so my Shapton stones have all arrived. I'm going to go through and sharpen up my chisels, can someone advise on the steps required for the micro bevel?

1. Normal bevel @ 1000
2. Normal bevel @ 5000
3. Normal bevel @ 12000
4. Micro bevel @ 1000
5. Micro bevel @ 5000
6. Micro bevel @ 1200

Does that sound right or is it pointless doing the micro bevel on the coarser stone? I'll be knocking the burr off the back of the chisel between steps as well.