Part of the process
Choose your stones
One medium stone of about 1000 grit sharpens most kitchen knives. A finer stone adds polish and a coarse one repairs chips. Water stones, diamond plates and oil stones all work; they differ in speed, upkeep and what you wet them with.
- First stone
- about 1000 grit, or a 1000/6000 combination
- Add later
- a coarse stone for chips, a strop for the finish
There are three families of bench stone. Water stones, the usual meaning of whetstone, cut fast and come in the widest range of grits, but they wear hollow and have to be flattened. Diamond plates stay flat and need no soaking. Oil stones, natural Arkansas stones included, are hard, slow and long-lived. Whetstone vs diamond stone sets the first two side by side.
The number on a stone is its grit: a low number is coarse and removes metal quickly, a high number is fine and polishes. A stone of about 1000 grit is the usual first purchase, and several makers pair it with a 6000 side. A coarse stone is only needed for chips and badly neglected edges. What grit whetstone do you need covers one, two and three stone setups.
Grit numbers are not one scale. A 1000 grit Japanese water stone is about 11.5 micron, while a diamond plate sold as 600 mesh is 25 micron and one sold as 1200 mesh is 9. Makers also use the words coarse and fine for different things. When you compare stones, compare microns, which the grit chart lists side by side. Bench stones are commonly about 8 inches long, enough for a full stroke with a kitchen knife.
Common mistakes at this stage
- Buying five grits before learning to hold an angle on one.
- Reading coarse, medium and fine on the box as if every maker meant the same grit.
- Oiling a water stone without knowing it then has to stay an oil stone.