Waterstone vs diamond/ceramic

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Gary

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 17, 2003
2,603
2
57
from Essex
What size are those blocks then? My base camp set is about the size of a paper back.
 

Les Marshall

Life Member
Jan 21, 2004
174
1
67
Chichester West Sussex
I use a diamond stone, never had any problems with it (that'l change now i've said that), I hone with a ceramic honer. But as the guys have said, it's all down to personal preference. :pack:
 

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
Ok, got the ruler out. Lesseee, which side is metric...? :?:

Right. There it is in m&m's. :wink:

I got about 11.5 cm long, 3.7 cm wide, and around 2 cm tall (not including the pad). You can make them any size you want, eh? :uu:
 

Gary

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 17, 2003
2,603
2
57
from Essex
Cheers Hoodoo, I am sure they can be made any size but I would wonder if a too smaller size would encumber rather than enhance performance. Mine ar roughly the same size as yours btw - so I guess I wil have to go smaller just to see.

Anyway cheers.
 

mercury

Forager
Jan 27, 2004
204
0
55
East Yorkshire England
Right , I don't use my knife very often and its as blunt as owt ( shock horror )

When I was a lad my Dad had loads of whetstones and oilstones for his chisels , flat they were and about the size of a bar of chocolate

I've scoured the B&Q's and what have you but can't find one anywhere

Surely there's a high street diy store that sells them ?
 

C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,395
2,414
Bedfordshire
The problem is that the high street stores tend to only sell carborundum stones.

Best bet would be to mail order from Tilgear in Cufley, Axminster, or someone similar.

Tabwell tools in Bakewell had good stones, but they are hardly a common highstreet store :roll:
 

leon-1

Full Member
Gary said:
I have always taught that a diamond stone takes off more metal and as such effects the longevity of a blade while waterstones are a little more forgiving. Att he end of the day as the guys say there are pros and cons to each system you just need to find what suits you best and what suits your knife!

Gary knows that I am a fan of waterstones, but they have a place, have one or two at home, but for field maintenance use a ceramic. :)
 

leon-1

Full Member
jakunen said:
thought you were using a japanese water stone on the Dartmoor trip to sort out your axe?:wink:

Yep indeed, but have recently had good experience of the one of the spyderco ceramic stones, very impressive and hard as hell. They don't appear to take off quite as much as a diamond stone but can put one hell of an edge on (I will always carry a slipstone or a 2X2" combi waterstone anyway).
 

Adi007

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sep 3, 2003
4,080
0
Depends - that smaller rods and sheets can be quite delicate but the larger stones are quite tough. The ceramic/diamond combo is very strong because of the sheet metal bonded to one side.
 

C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,395
2,414
Bedfordshire
I can't comment on how good they are, but I did see something at the Blade show a couple years back called CeraHone, an aluminium oxide on an aluminium substrate, designed specifically to overcome the breakage problem of pure ceramics.

A quick google search shows that they are still around, but I didn't delve enough to get a feel for how good they are.

Hey, Lithril, Tormek are nice if you have deep pockets, possibly the best thing for doing gouges, but I see that kind of tool as an addition to bench stones, not a substitute. Apart from anything, I hate the idea of having to rely on a jig to sharpen stuff, its like never taking the training wheels off a bike. Free hand sharpening is a wonderful skill to learn :) (says the eternal C/D grade student :roll: )
 

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
I dunno Gary. The small hones have always worked well for me, at home or in the field.

axehoning2b.jpg
 

alick

Settler
Aug 29, 2003
632
0
Northwich, Cheshire
I confess that I don't like DMT or anyone elses diamond hones very much. They start off rather coarse and nasty, then wear down quite quickly and rumble along like half used sandpaper for ages. The one exception is for sharpening carbide cutters - the harder the material, the better diamond seems to cut it.

The great thing about waterstones is that they are soft and wear down steadily exposing new sharp edges that give a really clean cut. The real woodworkers out there will know that garnet paper is way better than sandpaper or the new synthetic papers for exactly the same reason.

But horses for courses. Waterstones are useless in the field, so get a ceramic sharpener or take a hoodoo hone with some spare wet and dry paper. Wet and dry on plate glass is excellent for flattening the back of chisel and plane blades, so it's well upto maintaining a knife edge.

BTW - the tormek's a good tool, popular in schools and the like which have to sharpen dozens of blades regularly with minimum effort but I'd not put any of my good japanese chisels on one :eek:):

Cheers
 

Adi007

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sep 3, 2003
4,080
0
Simon said:
The spyderco ceramic stones are basically made by Coors in Colorado I believe ..... guess what else they make? ..... no not the beer :p
They were involved in the development of the reentry tiles for the Space Shuttle.
 

Simon

Nomad
Jul 22, 2004
360
0
59
Addington, Surrey
more or less ... way I heard it they are basically the same thing ... same basic material and same process ....... point being ... their tough
 

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