Which ~6000grit waterstone?

[bugbear]

Too big a grit jump is largely a red herring in honing. It is a very big deal in sanding, but honing isn't like that at all.

Why is applying an abrasive to metal different in kind to applying an abrasive to wood? I can confirm
from practical experience that when aiming for a surface finish on metal, the same rule (it's fastest and best
when you don't skip grits) that applies to wood applies to metals.

Is honing different, and if so, why?

The main thing is it's tackling such a tiny area, and the change in scale makes all the difference because the working times are so short. Or can be, honing style is a bit of a factor hence why I said largely.

Most agree that the key thing in a progression during honing is just like when sanding not to waste time at any given step yes? Well because of the very small surface being worked it can take no noticeable extra time to make a big jump in grit that nobody would use when sanding, manually or using power sanding.

There's commonplace supporting evidence for this in the gaps in grit between the two sides on some combination stones, many skip a grit (at least one!) in a sanding sense yet they seem to work perfectly well as a progression in sharpening stones. To give one example, a Norton India is P150 on one side and P400 on the other. Few would use that progression sanding wood, or metal, I'm sure there would be at least two intermediate grits, but it works in sharpening.

Further support is in a recommendations previously in this thread. Think of the rating of a good slate hone. It's variously estimated at somewhere between the lower single digits and into the tens of thousands. And don't many in a British workshop use it after an India stone? Which makes this very acceptable jump at minimum P400 to P2500, and quite possibly P400 to F2000 which skips 16 grits!!

Thanks for that - some strong, lucid reasoning there. =D>

BugBear

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

You're being kind and diplomatic ED65 :lol: :lol: Not quite the words I would use concerning the use of a brick combined with "great results" (hammer)

I was striving to be

But to be fair I have actually seen someone demonstrate sharpening a knife on a brick, followed by stropping on cardboard I think it was, and he achieved an edge he could shave with. There's actually more than one demo of this on YouTube if memory serves, but the one I'm thinking of the demonstrator's point is always skill > materials.

Obviously using a brick just isn't a good starting point and shouldn't be recommended, but it's closer to a real-world example we could actually make use of than you'd think. In the Hand Tools forum member D_W has made reference to trying something recently where he went out and bought the cheapest honing stone he could find, I think it was literally one dollar, and using that followed by stropping he got an edge on a chisel that most here couldn't match (hair-poppingly sharp, quite a bit above shaving-sharp).

That's the thing, Skill over anything else!
btw I used to sharpen hay Scythes with an actual brick/stone If I had misplaced my sharpener, so did my grandfather... It worked out just fine and I was able to cut grass for cows just perfectly..Hence my first try at sharpening a handplane was with a brick as well

 

[bugbear]

But to be fair I have actually seen someone demonstrate sharpening a knife on a brick, followed by stropping on cardboard I think it was, and he achieved an edge he could shave with.

That sounds like the (rather famous, actually) Murray Carter party piece.

Murray Carter makes and sells knives at "quite high" prices

https://www.cartercutlery.com/

BugBear

 

[Lons]

There are bricks and bricks. As an ex builder I would suggest that some of them are totally unsuitable. A piece of sandstone is a different matter however, my father and most of the neighbours would sharpen their carving knives on the back step. They couldn't achieve an edge that I would accept on my hand tools however.