Hey there guys welcome back Ryky here.
So a lot of you have been writing me about whetstones earlier.
And I want to just take a few minutes and just talk about whetstones in general.
I want to break down whetstones into three main categories and hopefully it'll help you understand what they are.
The first category are fixing stones. The second category are sharpening stones. And the third category are polishing stones.
And then within each category you have your course, your medium and then your fine.
I consider anything under a #320 a fixing whetstone.
And the reason for that is because
anything over a #320 it would be too slow and too inefficient to fix in a sort of chips or nicks on your cutting edge.
#120 are your courses. #220, #240 are a medium.
And #320 can be considered either a very fine or relatively fine fixing stone or a very coarse sharpening stone.
I never used a #320 as a sharpening stone.
So that's why to me a #320 is in the category of fixing stone.
If you guys have watched some of my repair videos, you'll see that my knives with chips of two to three millimeters
I typically get throw into a #120 or even a #140 Atoma.
So, to me the #140 the #120 are the grits that I use to fix anything with a large chip on.
So, the bigger the chip or the bigger the damage you have on your cutting edge - the lower grit you want to go.
So, the next category of stones are your sharpening stones. And for me the grits that fall into the sharpening stones are, I would say,
#400 up to #3000. And here is why.
Because #400 you actually can't really fix a knife at the #400 grit level. You can try but it would take a very very long time.
So, to me that falls into the sharpening category.
At #3000 grit you can still actually sharpen a knife that was actually fixed on a #320 grit stone.
And after #3000 it gets very slow and very inefficient. So, to me, that's why I give a range of #400 up to #3000.
#400 being very coarse, #3000 being very fine.
And so within that category you have to decide what you're looking for.
If you guys want a really fast sharpening stone
go for the #400 to #500. And if you want a whetstone that is very fast cutting but also can handle relatively dull knives
go between the #700 to #1500 range.
But if you want a fine sharpening stone that can handle daily knife maintenance,
anywhere between a #2000 and #3000 would be the way to go.
Now for last category is our polishing whetstones.
Now this is the broadest range of whetstones out there.
And they fall from the #4000 all the way up to #30000 grit whetstones.
And the reason I put these grits in the polishing category is because I've never really successfully go from a...
say a #320 grit whetstone to a #4000 or #5000 and gotten really good edge.
Sure the edge is really nice and polished, but not very sharp.
That's why to me the #4000 cutoff is what I will consider a polishing whetstone.
So in my lingo I would call the #4000, #5000 and #6000 your medium
fine polishing stones. And then from #8000 to #10000, to #12000 would be your fine.
Anything over #12000 would be considered your super polish or your ultra polishing whetstones.
If you look at the lineup like the Shapton Glass Stones or the Naniwa Professional Stones
you will see that as you go up in grit level the prices will increase.
One thing that you need to bear in mind: the higher the grit level does not necessary, i mean, the sharper the knife.
The higher you go in grit rating has more to do with aesthetics than absolute sharpness.
The absolute sharpness of your knife is dictated with the sharpening stone.
So, if you have a very poorly sharpened knife and you will go on a #16000 grit whetstone,
It's not gonna be very sharp. It'll look very nice, It'll be very glossy, but the sharpness will not be there.
Your technique is gonna be the number one factor in deciding how sharp your knives can be.
So, now the question is how do you build the whetstone collection?
All right. So, here is where things can get really tricky and has more to do with subjective uses.
For example, I really don't care for a mirror polish on any of my knives.
My personal knives are sharpened on the Chosera #800 and then polish on the Chosera #3000.
For those who want a #8000 grit finish - you actually can very safely jump from #1000 to #8000 grit.
That's not a problem at all.
When you go over the #8000 grit - that's when you want to explore either a #2000 grit or a #3000 grit sharpening stone.
And then jump over to the #12000 grit polishing stone.
The question I get often is where should you spend your money when it comes to whetstones.
Should you put your money in polishing whetstones or sharpening or fixing whetstones? And here's my answer.
So, imagine your grit as a bell-shaped curve. The #1000 or the #800 to the
1200 grit range is at the top of the bell-shaped curve. And then everything else falls below.
As a matter of fact for you're fixing whetstones
I would recommend you buying the cheapest fixing whetstone you can buy at the courses level, because then you don't have to worry about it,
you don't have to worry about your knives gouging into the stone if you had a chip on your knife.
Spend as little money as possible. So, for polishing. Well, polishing is actually kind of an interesting thing.
Are you looking for a hazy Kasumi finish or you looking for a mirror polish?
Unfortunately, there are many brands that are being made in China that are sold on Amazon and on eBay that advertise a #6000 and #8000 grit finish,
but really offer you nothing than a #2000 or #3000 grit polish.
This is not to say that stones been in China or outside of Japan are poor.
It just says that grit stone ratings aren't universal and that you have to understand what you're buying before you actually buy it.
Now the problem is there are many sources that will give you like apples-to-apples comparison between different brands.
I'm trying to do that, but there are so many brands out there that it's really difficult to do.
Stones from brands like King, Naniwa, Shapton and Suehiro -
these are the brands that I trust the most. They've always been very consistent and they offer a wide enough range of stones
that they can pretty much suit anybody who is looking to get into hand sharpening
So, here is a really quick recap.
Anything below at #320 is considered a fixing stone. The lower the grit - the faster they remove your chips off your knife.
Everything from the #400 to #3000 is your sharpening stone.
So, the lower the grit - the faster they sharpen, the higher the grit - the better they are for daily maintenance.
Everything in the #4000, #5000 and #6000
are your medium polishing stones. And then #8000, #10000, #12000 are your fine polishing stones.
And anything over #12000 is an ultra fine polishing stone.
The higher the grit - the more expensive they tend to be. But it does not equate to absolute sharpness.
Again guys, I am not the authority when it comes to knife sharpening and polishing whetstones.
I'm doing my best to explain to you what I understand based on my experience. And just remember: there is no one person or one
entity that has the absolute authority when it comes to knife sharpening or polishing whetstones.
If they claim they do either they are a retailer or they're somebody who takes themselves way too seriously.
Alright.
Well, thank you guys for being here and I'll catch you in the next video.
And if all of this whetstone grit talk is too confusing go out there and buy an electric sharpener and call it a day.