What kind of sharpening stone do i have

PS: I am a guy. I'm not sure that's exactly true. As an experiment I've been using just one stone, a grit Shapton glass stone to sharpen and touch up my most used Japanese knives.

They are very sharp and function quite well at this level of finish. I should also mention that I do a few passes on a chromium oxide loaded leather strop after the grit stone. Doesn't take more than passes on each side. Most butchers that I've seen in the U. I used similar approach for many years before switching to Japanese waterstones, and I could get a sharp functional edge that way, and most people who picked up one of my knives would say it was sharp.

Now I only take out the oilstone when I'm reshaping an older knife. Waterstones with good technique can produce a much sharper and more refined edge and will open up new culinary possibilities and make knife work more of a pleasure, but basic technique with an ordinary oilstone is probably good enough for most kitchen tasks.

That's a perfectly reasonable way to go. The cheap stones in the beginning aren't going to hurt your edge in any way. What you get from nicer stones and some cheap stones are actually pretty nice is qualities like better feedback, quicker results, less dishing It will be coarser and toothier, but if it's been well sharpened on the medium stone it won't be horrible.

It will do some things especially well, like slicing slimy or fibrous foods. You can shave with a knife that's been well sharpened at 1K. But it won't push cut as well as a polished edge. And it won't leave the kind of glass-smooth, undamaged finish on food that a polished edge will leave. You give up some big advantages, like cut herbs that stay fresh, and fruits that don't brown. I use carrots as a test of sharpening and when I take it as far as I can go on a cheap stone, it requires noticeable pressure to get through a carrot, often more than before I started.

Just two swipes on a finer stone and the pressure is noticeably reduced. If two swipes or even 8 on the fine stone is making that big a difference, then I suspect what you're actually accomplishing is burr removal. Coarse stones will raise a significant burr on the edge, and it can be surprisingly hard to remove. The burr can end up as minute, perfectly straight extension of the edge called a wire edge and is one of the more vexing problems in sharpening, especially with some knife steels.

The cheapest knives and the most expensive knives often put up the biggest struggle. That wire edge jurts performance and durability.

Generally, going from a medium stone to a fine one requires a lot of polishing to fully remove the coarser scratches So I'm suspecting that what you've been doing on your fine stone is really just removing the burr; you're going from a bad 1k edge to a good 1k edge. To really take it to a polished 8K or whatever grit your stone is edge will take a lot more time on the stone I deburr on a hard felt pad which is suppose to remove a wire edge but find a great improvement with a few passes on the leather strop.

I suspect the strop is correcting some small flaws in my technique but could be removing a fine burr. I use a felt pad too. I still find that I don't do a great job of getting rid of the last little bit of wire edge, even though most of my knives are much easier than average to sharpen. It took me a long time to figure out I was having this problem. He used to have accounts with many of the large grocery store outlets Safeway, etc , namely to sharpen butcher knives.

He seems a bit unorthodox by standards I've read on this site when it comes to sharpening if I understood everything he was telling me. He says he's hardly too concerned about the sharpening angle of most common knives--says it's a lot of BS about having to be so precise.

Further, he's totally against using two hands when sharpening; the pressure of the fingers of the "other" hand on the blade as a guide will only create unevenness. He does sharpen all knives on a machine and, according to others around town, whom I asked, he does a very good job.

If I have a stone what characteristics or tests can I use to determine what kind of stone it is. This information would be useful so that I can use the stone properly. There are no real tests you can do to determine the kind of stone, although you can get a practical appreciation for how it works — fine cutting or not, produces a scratchy or smooth or polished surface, how fast it cuts. Cutting speed is not always directly tied to how finely a stone cuts, although this may seem paradoxical the size and hardness of the abrasive particles can be the same in two stones but their spacing and how strongly they're bound together can vary greatly, q.

Anyway, stone IDs are a really tricky area and it may require an experienced collector to definitively identify a stone for you. But red stones aren't common so just as a quick guess it's just possible you're seeing an oil-soaked India stone, which would have originally been an orangey colour. Indias were one of the first synthetic hones, offered by Norton since the turn of the last century. They're made from aluminium oxide bound in a ceramic-like matrix. If you want to get expert help in IDing your stones you can investigate this option by posting pictures on various knifemaking or straight-razor forums where members are usually very willing to help ID unknown stones for new members.

Many have turned into stone collectors and have a vast knowledge of stones old and new. You may need to clean the stone, as the current appearance of many old stones may often, in fact, completely mask their true appearance. In extreme cases a stone that is dark grey, greenish or brown turns out to be beige or nearly white after cleaning. Although many natural and synthetic Western stones are sold as oilstones note that they don't have to be used with oil.

If you are using oils broadly speaking this isn't always only one liquid, it can be anything from mineral oil at the viscous end to something finer like a light machine oil or honing oil baby oil too if you don't mind the scent! Note: in general the finer the stone the better it responds to a lighter less viscous honing fluid, so it's worth trying various things to find out what works best.

Arkansas stones should refer to a particular type of stone that actually does come from the state. Unfortunately these days many kind-of-like Arkansas stones are sold under the name because it's a selling point. There are further designations of Arkansas stones into classes e. Soft Arkansas, Hard Arkansas, white translucent, black translucent but these too are abused to add value to stones that aren't what they look like. Did you see some reflection on your edge?

If so use a sharpening stone with grain size to coarse to medium. Do make sure that you use the right angle to sharpen the knife! Sharpen as long as it takes to no longer see the reflection on the edge and continue with the next test. The third test is the ballpoint test. Place a ballpoint pen in front of you on a table at an angle of approximately 30 degrees.

Hold the knife vertically and place the edge on the pen. Don't apply any pressure but let the weight of the knife rest on the pen. Does the knife slide off? If it does your edge is too blunt or sharpened with a wrong angle! Sharpen your knife using the right angle on a sharpening stone with grain size to medium to fine , and repeat the rest until the knife 'cuts' into the pen. If the knife doesn't slide off you are good to go! It means that your knife is already quite sharp. You can immediately start with the fourth test!

The paper test is perhaps one of the most well-known ways to see if your knife is sharp enough. The test is quick and efficient and you will almost always have a piece of paper lying around. Hold the piece of paper in front of you using only one hand. Use the other to try to cut through the paper from the edge. If the knife easily slides through the paper you can start with step 5!

If it gets 'caught' on the paper or doesn't go through the paper at all you need to sharpen your knife. Use a sharpening stone with a to grain size fine. Repeat the test until your knife will easily cut through the paper.

Does your knife easily move through the paper? Usually this sharpness is enough for your pocket knife, bushcraft knife or any other knife with a thicker blade.

You could sharpen your knife to make it even sharpen but unfortunately this type of knife won't retain its sharpness long because these types of knives are often used for the more demanding tasks.

A kitchen knife is mostly used for lighter tasks and therefore retain their sharpness a lot longer. Want to make your knife even sharpen? If so continue with the fifth test! The next test revolves around cutting a tomato. Matsunaga, with its brands King and Sun Tiger is probably the manufacturer most familiar to European consumers.

Its strongpoint are traditional soft stones that abrade quickly to reveal new sharp cutting particles. These kinds of stone must be dressed very often to keep them flat and effective. Cerax and Suehiro stones from Suehiro are a little harder, and as such do not wear down as quickly as the classic Japanese water stones. The grit stone will perhaps give you the best cutting edge with a mirror polish on chisels and similar blades.

Suehiro also makes a small combination stone for those who do not sharpen tools all that often and are reluctant to spend extra for a Cerax stone. The stones from Shapton are probably the hardest of all Japanese sharpening stones. They will remain flat for a long time. They are therefore the best choice if you are looking for a relatively coarse stone that cuts quickly without having to be dressed repeatedly. The finer-grained stones also work very well. But Shapton stones do not provide the mirror finish you can achieve with softer stones.

Best among the Naniwa stones are undoubtedly their fine-grained water stones. There are no other stones that achieve such a perfect mirror polish. A sharpening experience close to that of natural stones is yours to enjoy with Bester water stones from Imanishi in Kyoto. Bester water stones are of medium hardness, require a moderate amount of wetting and get to grips quickly with the job at hand.