Best wet stone?

[CHAPPELL22]

Evening all, new to the site and bush craft would appreciate any advice,
i
i`m in need of a wet stone around the £20-£25 mark that will work for both my Bear Grylls parang and Condor Bushlore knife?

 

[MartiniDave]

If you can get to a car boot sale in a rural-ish area you can often pick up an old whetstone literally for pence, and to be honest they are often much better than anything available today. If your lucky you might find a canoe stone, which would be my first choice for the parang, and is what I use for my billhooks and axes.

Alternatively, have a look at Paul Kirtley's site, he has an video on sharpening which clearly shows you don't need anything particularly expensive. Mors Kochanski also has similar on you tube.

Dave

 

[sandbender]

"...Alternatively, have a look at Paul Kirtley's site, he has an video on sharpening..."

Here you go...

[video=youtube;crTEJDiFd-0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crTEJDiFd-0[/video]

+1 to not needing anything particularly expensive.

 

[sandbender]

And here is Mors's video...

[video=youtube;14hrK7XCpSs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14hrK7XCpSs[/video]

...which puts me in mind of British Red's five pound sharpening kit, which is well worth a read through.

 

[rorymax]

Video links not working for me

rorymax

 

[sandbender]

Video links not working for me

rorymax

They are embedded youtube links so should work fine for most, do you have some sort of ad blocker running that might interfere with them?

 

[crosslandkelly]

Go to your local hardware shop, B&Q, Wickes or what ever, and buy an carborundum oil stone. Soak it in water and you have a whet stone. All carpenters and joiners have them, to keep their chisels razor sharp.

 

[demographic]

Go to your local hardware shop, B&Q, Wickes or what ever, and buy an carborundum oil stone. Soak it in water and you have a whet stone. All carpenters and joiners have them, to keep their chisels razor sharp.

Err, most I know nowadays use Diamond hones. After I broke an oilstone (dropped it and it snapped) I vowed that I wouldn't keep something as fragile in my toolbox anymore and that ended my usage of oilstones, plus diamond hones even do TCT router bits.
The four sided jobbies from B&Q (nine quid last time I looked) seem to be the most popular with the lads I know, they start off slightly coarse but bed in nicely.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Err, most I know nowadays use Diamond hones. After I broke an oilstone (dropped it and it snapped) I vowed that I wouldn't keep something as fragile in my toolbox anymore and that ended my usage of oilstones, plus diamond hones even do TCT router bits.
The four sided jobbies from B&Q (nine quid last time I looked) seem to be the most popular with the lads I know, they start off slightly coarse but bed in nicely.

Guess I'm still old school, but the op asked about a whetstone.

 

[ozzy1977]

Still got my grandads norton double sided oil stone, still going great after at least 30 years

 

[demographic]

Guess I'm still old school, but the op asked about a whetstone.

Aye, fair enough. Just that I'm a carpenter and I don't have one anymore. Well, to be more accurate I have two halves of one.

I gave a Tri Hone thing away a while ago as it wasn't a patch on the diamond hones. I can't be done with the wear that makes them hollowed when I'm flatting the back of a plane iron off. If I flat something off I want it flat.
Yes its possible to flat the stones off but that would be yet another thing I'd have to keep in my box.
Tri Hone.

Knives are a different thing and to be honest far simpler to sharpen to a decent level. Planes need to be done to the right angle or the chip they produce won't work right with different woods. Me fussy? Hell yes and I can provide evidence of what works with different angles and grain orientations if needed.

It is possible that I might do the waterstones thing but not in with the sharpening kit I carry onto site, that will be diamond hones all the way.

 

[petrochemicals]

The aluminium oxide stones (5 quid) from anywhere do sharpen things smoothly, but they do hollow. As for the best diamond ones I can't help you. Ideally use a polishing/honing stone to finish