[spinky41]

I am looking for ideas for good sharpening stones i see tons out there but i cant make up my mind someone please help me

[hobo]

well spinky41 you cant go wrong with norton.sharpening stones .

[Woodartist]

I have oil stones that I have used for years, however there are ceramic stones out there that people like http://www.carvingpatterns.com/sharpening.htm

I'm not sure that oil, water, or ceramic sharpen metal better but the oil stones are a bit messy. I'm sure some experts can chime in and I'd also be interested to see the comments.

[mark yundt]

One that is a staple in my shop is a water stone I got from Lee Valley. It is 800 on one side and 4000 I think on the other side.
It shapes the bevel nicely without being too aggressive or leaving big score marks,,and the other actually polishes the bevel to a nice mirror shine.Some times I skip the 4000 side and go straight to the buffer,,but it does a nice job.The next one will be a straight 800,,,the 4000 side doesn't wear out like the 800 side.Many types of stones do a fine job,,I personally think the oil ones are a bit messy,,and leave it to me to get oil on my carvings.As neat as I might try to be I just know that one drop I missed is 'gonna spread itself all over the place,,or the film on my hands will just crud up the works.Yeah,,,I'm a slob.

[Woodartist]

The oil stones will make you a "slob," Mark. I have the same experiences I'll have to get some newer non oil stones, but have so many shapes and sizes that I hate to "waste" the money

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

Spinkey, If you were confused before, you'll really be confused by the time this thread runs out. As you've observed, there are a lot of different stones out there. They all work. The only advice that I'd like to pass on is if it's a stone that requires a liquid, use water, even on an "oil" stone. Water works just as well and doesn't make the mess.

[hobo]

People tend to think of Norton stones as being oil but they also make water stones as well. I'm just saying Norton is a very well liked and reputable name here in America and I have been extremely satisfied with mine, both water and oil.

Hobo

[Eddy Smiles]

Spinky...

My opinion.... forget the stones and just buy yourself a set of good diamond hones. If you want to see how they work buy a cheap set at Harbor Freight. I've retired all my stones. I too old, too sore, and too tired to spend hours and hours working up the grits in stones. Diamond hones are faster and in my opinion just as good.

[Woodartist]

Eddy, are these the ones you refer to?? :http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=36799

[Eddy Smiles]

Bill... That's them. It's been my experience that they are not as reliable or asgood as say a DMT diamond hone but for someone wanting to experiment with diamond hones they provide a very inexpensive alternative. I don't have the money to put out for an entire set of the expensive hones so what I did was purchase a set of the Harbor Freight hones ( I in fact, have two sets - with coupons and sales they're dirt cheap) so that I have a coarse, medium and fine and then I bought a more very expensive, very fine, DMT diamond bench hone. For my level of expertise they work just fine. Perhaps a more experienced serious carver will find fault with my sharpening method but everyone has to do what they can and work within their budget.....in my opinion that is!