Stone Sequence
- This topic has 27 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 03/19/2017 at 7:29 pm by
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From what I understand, the goal is to erode the scratches left by the previous medium and replace them with scratches that are shallower and narrower. In theory, you could go directly from 1,000 grit to a 10,000 grit stone and you would eventually (after a few continuous weeks of scrubbing) erode all of the 1,ooo grit scratches and replace them with 10,000 grit scratches. The reason that most people don’t sharpen this way is because it would take forever. It is much faster to progress through several intermediate grit stones before reaching for the 10,000 grit. Thus, you want to choose a grit progression that will allow you to quickly erase the scratches from each preceding medium.
Okay, so how do you know if you have removed the scratches from the previous grit? As you get into the higher grit media, it becomes nearly impossible to see the scratches with the naked eye, so many people use a jeweler’s loupe or a microscope to view the secondary bevel of the blade.
In the below thread you can see Clay uses this method to determine what grit progression he recommends after the 1500 grit diamond plate. He shared examples of what it looks like when the scratches from the previous grit have been efficiently erased by the next step in the progression as well as examples where the scratches were not efficiently removed. For the TL;DR he ended up recommending 1,000> 1,500> 6 micron film> 3 micron film.
https://knife.wickededgeusa.com/forums/topic/new-1500-grit-stone/
Take this all with a grain of salt as I am by no means an expert and am simply repeating information that I have learned though this forum and youtube. Hopefully someone with more knowledge and experience will chime in and give you their opinion as well.
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For me after the 1000 diamonds, i’ll be using the ceramics 1200/1600, then leather strops 5/3.5 microns and lastly 1/0.5 microns.
Clay made a lot of research here
Diamond lapping films work better. Many people switched from ceramics to diamond lapping films and are very happy with results.
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so my upgrade plan is to buy the precision arms, the angle gauge and either the 1500 grit diamond or the 1200/1600 ceramic stones… what is your advice between those two stone choices?
The new 1500 grit stone may replace 9µ and 6µ films, but it wasn’t confirmed which one is better yet. Film or the new 1500 grit diamond stone. Many people like diamond lapping film (not ceramics). See quotes below:
wickededge: I’ve had a lot of success going from the 1000# diamond to the 6µ films. Link here
M1rrorEdge: I have all the ceramic stones and once I identified the diamond film benefits (and used them), I no longer use the ceramics (They are “retired”-so to speak). I have tried the strops, however, I prefer the films over the leather strops with diamond paste. Link here
Mark76: SInce I’ve discovered the diamond films I want nothing else – they’re great. Link here
tcmeyer: I don’t think there’s much doubt that diamond film gives you a more uniform finish than the ceramic stones and like you, I have retired my ceramics. Link here
droc217: Got the lapping films. I feel like the ceramic stones were a complete and total waste of money … Link here
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My current set up – I have stones up to the 1000 grit diamond … I have the gen 2 vice and old non-precision arms… I plan to upgrade… so my upgrade plan is to buy the precision arms, the angle gauge and either the 1500 grit diamond or the 1200/1600 ceramic stones… what is your advice between those two stone choices?
I don’t know if the 1200 / 1600 ceramic has been directly compared to the new 1500# stone in a post on the forum yet. However, in that thread about strops or stones that dulledge keeps making reference to you can clearly see that the ceramic stones do not abrade steel very rapidly. On Clay’s test knife it took him somewhere around 120 strokes per side in order to completely remove the 1000# scratches. It would be interesting if Clay could comment on about whether the 1500# removes the 1000# scratches in an efficient manner. For what it’s worth, I ordered a setup with the 100#-1000# and then the 1500# with no ceramics. I don’t have a microscope yet and the stones will need some break-in time, so I won’t really be able to make a good judgement on this progression for a while.
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