what is really needed.

I've been using a Takashima (sp?) from Maxim as my finisher for both the secondary and primary bevels after binsui (no idea what that would equate to with synthetics but I enjoy the way the knives cut and I guess that's all that matters). I have a couple knives that I finish with the binsui though so I should experiment with mixing them with the Takashima to see what results it yields.

 

Youd be surprised Sir. Binsui is relatively low grit. It might me everything from 800? to 2000?

 

I do not know what grit is my binsui, but it's super slow. It cannot be used as one stone only. Mixed with jns1000 work super great and give hair shaving edge, but as said before, it cannot be used on it's own.

 

I kept it simple with my collection, Jnats are for my razors and synthetics for the knives. All my natural stones are very fine grained and leave a smooth edge that I like for shaving. My lowest is about 8-10k stone and highest a rather hard 25k+ stone. Once my razor is set I never really see the lower stones. My kitchen knives only see the Shapton Glass stones and the Norton 4/8 (whats left of it) after thinning. I like the edge that Shaptons give to the kitchen knives but hate it on razors This has all be through years of trial and error but I have the exact stones I want and don't expect to need anything else till I break one

 

I very much appreciate the input. Gave up on straight razors a few years back so think I'll find what I need in a few stones.

 

I have an edge pro apex that does a fantastic job on smaller blades. I have some Shapton and Nubatama stones for it aswell. Looking to get better at free hand though.

I think I will buy a cheap chefs knife to practice on. Any suggestions for some good stones to start out on? (not trying to jack this thread, sorry)

 

Reid, I use a simple King 1000/6000, and finish on wet newspaper, felt, or balsa depending on my mood. This is a very good basic setup to practice on, and is fairly inexpensive. The edges produced can be pretty spectacular if you're careful and thorough.

 

Thanks Cris! Ill be checking that out soon

 

I use a Wicked Edge for sharpening and plain stones (including an Atoma 140) for thinning.

With the Wicked Edge I sometimes put a Shapton 16K edge on a knife just for the fun of it. Carbon benefits most from this, but AEB-L, too. With VG-10 I do not notice any improvement above 8K. A good knife can slice tomatoes horizontally without me touching them .

A more practical edge for me is around 5K.

I used to sharpen knives for a restaurant for some time and I asked each cook individually what edge they preferred. Guess what? It's highly personal. It varied from 800 (Wicked Edge diamond stones) to 10K Chosera.

 

Kings are good. Several vendors here have very nice combo stones a reasonable prices for an upgrade.