Well lately , I have been experimenting with whetstones in order to make sure my shears and other blades remain in good working order. So far, I can't say I have been entirely happy with the level of sharpness I have been able to achieve on my shears despite my persistence and level of experimentation. I recently purchased a whetstone combo; (ie) 600 grade grit on one side and 1000 grade on the other. For what it does, it does well but I can only still shave "fines" off my thumbnail. Unfortunately it is my anal retentiveness that has forced me to take the issue further. In the last week, I have carried out an extraordinary level of research on whetstones and cannot believe how much I have learnt. Well I guess it's no surprise to learn that in most cases, if you want to learn how to properly sharpen blades, than there's a good chance it will have something to do with the Japanese.
2 Critical things I learnt about the Japanese that I would like to share with you that I think will stick in your mind.
1. The Japanese don't sharpen with one stone, they sharpen with a minimum of 3 stages:
1. Grind
2. Sharpen
3. ** Hone
2. The majority of us (westerners) stop at the sharpening stage. This is where the japanese are just getting warmed up and start bringing out the big artillery
The whetstones available from what I understand are generally available in 2 classes:
* Ceramic (Synthetic) ...I think
* Natural (Of which many say can never be beaten)
Some of the mainstream brands in Japan for whetstones include: King, Naniwa(which seems to be the cream of the crop), Ohishi, Kasumi, Sun Tiger, Suehero, Cerax , Shapton and so on.
For those of you who don't know, whetstones, as the name implies are used with water(not oil) and are generally kept wet during the sharpening/honing process. They come in grades ranging from 60 , 240, 400, 600 , 800, 1000, 2000, 3000, 6000, 8000, 10000, 12000 and as far as 30,000
(Yep, that comma is in the right place). (Thirty thousand)Generally above about the 1000,2000 grit class you can also use a "Nagura" stone. This is a short stocky piece of stone which I'm told is a bit like chalk. When the whetstone is wet, you can rub this on to create a "slurry" which then further enhances the sharpening / honing process. I am currently looking at purchasing a Naniwa combination stone with a 3000/8000 grit class. If anyone knows of anywhere in Australia where this exact whetstone can be purchased I am all ears
I will be going to Japan in April and also found out that Kyoto and in particular a place called "Sakai" also known as the city of Knives. I can tell u now that I will be going there like a bullet!! This is where you will see stones that are likely to be marked as "Miscellaneous" in that they are so old, the vendors are probably not even aware of their origins. I hope you have enjoyed this post and would love to know if any of you have had any good experiences with whetstones and would like to share here.
John
I have heard that they are the best for sharpening blades
