Japanese water stones, where do you purchase?

[CanuckGame]

Hey everyone.

i have an Enzo trapper with a scandi grind made with O1 steel

im looking for some water stones for sharpening, specifically

800 grit
1200 grit
6000 grit.

i have looked online and the prices are quite high for these stones, with shipping costs and the exchange rate being crazy, i thought before i went ahead with purchasing some, i would ask here if anyone knows anywhere to get these for better prices than i am finding, maybe someone within canada who has all 3 stones i can purchase in one go.

thanks in advance.

[adriaticum]

I got mine from House of Knives in Surrey
Depends on where you live, Stuffers in Langley will have it too.

[gitnadoix]

Check Lee valley

[CanuckGame]

thanks guys, will check your suggestions, i live on Vancouver Island, Nanaimo area to be specific. good chance i will be heading to the mainland in a few weeks, so will check Stuffers as well if i dont find something sooner.

[landphil]

Check Lee valley

Where I bought mine years ago.

[srupp]

Hmmm Lee Valley tools as stated does have them.. $$$$

Lee Valley Tools also sells adhesive backed synthetic sheets of different grit of sharpening material.its what I use to get a scarey sharp edge on chisels,
It gets attached to 1/4 inch plate glass..that's placed on a slightly elevated board. Glass ensures perfectly flat surface..grits range from large for fast removal..to tiny micron for finishing work..my nickel pocket hand plane is extremely sharp..no need for $$ or maintaining water stones wetness, nor flatness....
FYI
Cheers
Steven

[russm86]

Check out Warriors and wonders in Vancouver website is www.warriorsandwonders.com (http://www.warriorsandwonders.com) he has a pretty good selection and is usually quite competitive and they all seem to be quite knowledgeable. Also, have you looked into ceramic stones instead of the water stones? Water stones tend to wear fairly easy, they end up "dishing" etc and you have to flatten them using a diamond stone where as ceramic is considered by many to not wear, technically it can/does but way way way slower, often hardly noticeable compared to water stones so much so they will last most peoples life time and they don't usually see the dishing and so don't bother flattening them. They can also be quite a bit cheaper. I have the spyderco ceramic stones on my wishlist.

[Downwindtracker2]

Knives only need a 1000 grit. You are only cutting flesh after all and a bit of saw edge helps. But when it comes to my chisels and planes, however,I use up to 8000 waterstones, then strop to 1/2 micron. Ceramics do work better, but they are even more expensive than my expensive waterstones.

I would recommend Leonard Lee's book on sharpening, The Complete Guide to Sharpening. You'll going to hear a lot of BS, when it comes to sharpening!! Get the science. And add a Norton 1000grit and a few of those $5 1000grit pocket waterstones. Lee Valley has free shipping right now.

[landphil]

Knives only need a 1000 grit. You are only cutting flesh after all and a bit of saw edge helps. But when it comes to my chisels and planes, however,I use up to 8000 waterstones, then strop to 1/2 micron. Ceramics do work better, but they are even more expensive than my expensive waterstones.

I would recommend Leonard Lee's book on sharpening, The Complete Guide to Sharpening. You'll going to hear a lot of BS, when it comes to sharpening!! Get the science. And add a Norton 1000grit and a few of those $5 1000grit pocket waterstones. Lee Valley has free shipping right now.


I agree on the 1000x for knives - I have a 1000/4000x combination stone, and only use the 1000x for knives. Very effective.

[albravo2]

I would recommend Leonard Lee's book on sharpening, The Complete Guide to Sharpening. You'll going to hear a lot of BS, when it comes to sharpening!!

Man, I hear you. I have never spent as much time at anything with such poor results (sex included) as trying to really sharpen stuff.

Everything I've ever read goes into great detail about which stone or cloth or compound to use, then glosses over how to find the right angle. It seems the abrasive doesn't matter unless you can figure out how to get the angle perfect. Too much angle and you are flattening the cutting edge, not enough and you are not changing it. Worse, you can't build a template because most tools have different angles required.

This hits a chord with me because I just bought a beautiful Gransfors Bruks axe. It came shaving sharp and after using it to reduce thickness of some fenceboard ends it needed sharpening. I tried the Gransfors sharpening stone and made it nicely duller. I have it back to moderate sharpness after using a strop but it isn't as sharp as when I bought it and that drives me nuts.

Sorry for the hijack, hopefully I'm not the only one.

[Tikka270]

Hmmm Lee Valley tools as stated does have them.. $$$$

Lee Valley Tools also sells adhesive backed synthetic sheets of different grit of sharpening material.its what I use to get a scarey sharp edge on chisels,
It gets attached to 1/4 inch plate glass..that's placed on a slightly elevated board. Glass ensures perfectly flat surface..grits range from large for fast removal..to tiny micron for finishing work..my nickel pocket hand plane is extremely sharp..no need for $$ or maintaining water stones wetness, nor flatness....
FYI
Cheers
Steven

http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=33004&cat=1,43072

I use these sheets as well. I prefer them over my spyderco ceramic stones. There is a Lee Valley in Victoria.

[AgSilver]

I have a lot of nice kitchen knives...and man, that crowd is REALLY into sharpening...personally, I don't have time for it, so I ended up with a Chef's Choice 15/20 or something like that...I forget, works like a damn. But I tried several other methods first, they're just too time consuming for me...even the Apex Edge Pro system...great, but takes time. I don't have time.

Good place for stones in Canada is Paul's Finest - http://www.paulsfinest.com/ - he's a super nice guy, answers questions, gives (what seems to be) honest advice. Also often has good Naniwa stones on sale. I've also bought some stuff from the US from Chef Knives to Go (Mark Richmond) and Japan (best shipping policies ever) from Koki at JapaneseChefsKnife.com.

I know the CC 1520 isn't as good long term, but short term, getting knives sharp is the primary goal and it achieves that much more quickly with less fuss. So I'm using the 20* angle on my bush knives and 15* on anything I want seriously sharp for kitchen, etc...and the Havalon for gutting, breaking down, and trimming a deer.

[Downwindtracker2]

albravo2, an axe should to be a lot sharper than a knife.If you whittling or chip carving, that's different. Then you have the angle, too sharp and it buries, too blunt and it doesn't cut deep enough. Most axes are for splitting wood, not chopping trees. The hand forging of a Gransfors makes the grain structure smaller,allowing you to get a super sharp. I've used a Hard Arkansas and mineral oil in the past, now being lazy a 1x42 belt sander with a 1000grit belt, then a power strop.

[adriaticum]

albravo2, an axe should to be a lot sharper than a knife.If you whittling or chip carving, that's different. Then you have the angle, too sharp and it buries, too blunt and it doesn't cut deep enough. Most axes are for splitting wood, not chopping trees. The hand forging of a Gransfors makes the grain structure smaller,allowing you to get a super sharp. I've used a Hard Arkansas and mineral oil in the past, now being lazy a 1x42 belt sander with a 1000grit belt, then a power strop.


I don't necessarily agree that axes have to be sharper than knives.
Not all axes are the same

An axe uses more blunt force to complete a task while knife uses it's edge along with slicing motion to complete a task.
Sharper means smaller angle and in combination with force it's a recipe for chipping and rolling edges.
Axe edge has to be smooth but the angle has to be bigger rather than smaller.
This is why splitting axes are different from felling axes from carving axes.
The bigger the axes the bigger the angle of the edge.

We've all seen grandpa's axe split wood for decades and never be sharpened.

[SHACK]

I restore alot of straight razors for a hobby (like I need another hobby) and sharpen way to much, but as said above 1k is plenty for the "service" knife. Norton makes a great product as well as various cobination stones. You will have to lap your water stones to keep them flat, so there is some maintenance involved....but to be honest almost all stones will need this at some point.

[brian]

Amazon.ca has water stones, check them out and see if anything looks interesting. I bought a 1000/4000 grit combo stone from Lee Valley, it works nice to polish the edges of my gouges before a final hone with automotive polishing compound. I've never gone that far with my knives (though I have been tempted to try and see if it will hold an edge for longer)! For rougher work I prefer diamond plates. I picked up my diamond plates off of Amazon.

[1899]

I really enjoy using Japanese water stones. I have Naniwa Chosera stones in 800, 2000 and 10000 and Shapton Ha-No-kuromaku in 320, 5000 and 12000. I also have a Falkniven DC4 for in the field use.

Lee Valley sells King stones and they are good. For starting out I like their 800 and 4000 package. I think it is $65 for the two stones. Those stones are quite soft, but they give good feedback. I bought a set for my brother.

You will notice that different stones have different levels of feedback and hardness. There will also be a difference in the consistency of the grit, the rate at which the stone loads up, the rate it cuts, the requirement to pre-soak vs "splash and go" etc. I find that Chosera stones give me the feedback that I like, the rate at which they cut, the consistency of the grit (and therefore slurry), etc. Chosera stones are a bit pricier, but I like them.

Having said that, you can get a knife just as sharp with the King stones - they will just feel different and wear quicker because they are softer. It is all about technique and practice (although it won't take you long). I purchased my Chosera stones from Paul's Finest and Kitchen Virtue - they are both Canadian companies, and usually have good sale plus free shipping over $99 orders. Keep in mind that Naniwa renamed their Chosera line of stones, they are now called Professional.

You will also need a Nagura stone to get a slurry going, and eventually a truing stone. Also pick up some green stropping paste - I use Solingen from House of Knives, but many people use the stuff you get from Princess Auto - I can't remember the brand name. Take a look at Murray Carter's videos on Youtube - he has some excellent advice.

[ajr5406]

North Arm Knives put up a sharpening video here a few months ago, and uses the King Brand stones from Lee Valley apparently.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?128086-Free-hand-stone-sharpening-Video-Tutorial

[the_longwalker]

Hmmm Lee Valley tools as stated does have them.. $$$$

Lee Valley Tools also sells adhesive backed synthetic sheets of different grit of sharpening material.its what I use to get a scarey sharp edge on chisels,
It gets attached to 1/4 inch plate glass..that's placed on a slightly elevated board. Glass ensures perfectly flat surface..grits range from large for fast removal..to tiny micron for finishing work..my nickel pocket hand plane is extremely sharp..no need for $$ or maintaining water stones wetness, nor flatness....
FYI
Cheers
Steven

I do the same but with a piece of granite countertop I got for free at a local cabinet shop. When hunting I attach the strips to a cut down paint stirring stick (kind of like a strop) which is really lightweight.