Anyone into sharpening knives? What’s everyone’s preference, water or oil?

I may be the only one, but I use neither. One stone must be 50 years old and has never been oiled. I wash once in a great while.

Diamond, Wicked Edge for me.

What kind of stone M.Magis?

Oil for stones and water for diamonds.

I use oil on stones. Also have diamond stones. I use water on them. Have one water stone and water on that.

Garryowen

Work sharp

You want a whetstone to thin down the blade and a series of oilstones and a leather strop for a polished scalpel like edge.

I have a Japanese water stone that is 3000/8000 and I touch up with an F.Dick Rapid steel (spring loaded steels). My pocket knives and a dozen or more kitchen knives stay razor sharp. Start with a good knife.

Much easier to keep knives sharp every day than to have to reshaped dull knives. When someone gives me a dull knife to sharpen, I use my WorkSharp first.

I use water stones and diamond plates in grits varying from 80 to 10.000
I don't like oil stones.

I bought a set of water stones about a year ago. Cut fast but wear fast if you need to do much work on a blade but really great stones for finishing an edge. Think I'll try a good diamond stone for the heavy work. Oil stones last forever but cut to slow for me.
Just for context I was buying some older used knives off ebay and some of them had been severely misused and need a lot of work. Once I get a blade right it takes very little to touch it up on a fine water stone.

To be honest, I’m not 100% sure. Its been around longer than me. I’ve never known a good way to ID stones. Though honestly, the last several years I’ve been using a diamond sharpener more often than not.

Smith and Norton make good stones. DMT makes diamond stones. Blade Brand makes water stones.

I use oil or water stones if the knife sharpens easily. Some are Rockwell hardness 58 or more and stones won't hardly touch them. On those knives I use diamond stones.

Garryowen

I had a knife made from a file and I had a heck of a time getting it sharp. I wonder if it was on the harder side? I didn't have a diamond stone to try it on.

I had a knife made from a file and I had a heck of a time getting it sharp. I wonder if it was on the harder side? I didn't have a diamond stone to try it on. [/quote]

If you get a knife like that try a diamond stone on it..

Garryowen

work sharp ken onion blade grinder

and a Dexter 12 inch diamond steel

I can make them hair popping shaving sharp but I mostly use the 800 and 5000 grit belts now occasionally the 320.

I use the diamond steel several times till that seems like diminishing returns then a run at 5000

I get a few knives sharp then start cutting , today we cut up a cow today was cutting most all day

I like 20 degrees on kitchen knives

Back in the late 50's and 60's I used a small stone 7/8 inches wide and 3 inches long. Used nothing but spit on it to touch up knives and finish with a steel.

Dad had an old Camillus knife that the long blade was broke. We used the small blade to gut fish. All that was need to keep it sharp was a few licks with a steel. No stones, oil or water was used for years. Just a steel.

Still have that small stone. Keep it in my tackle box and sharpen hooks with it.

Garryowen

I have found that if my stones are not giving me the result I want I hit it with a file, rough and then smooth, then the stones do well. I think the edges round so the stones are not doing much before a new edge is cut with the file. But I am no expert.

I mostly use smiths tri hone, three stone sharpener. No water or oil. Then the strop with jewelers rouge.

I bought one of those after watching Bruce T sharpen his knives on one. He didn't have the Ken Onion model but it was a Work Sharp. I've been fiddling with knife sharpening for forty-five years. Stones, diamonds, strops, oil and water. This thing is the cat's meow.

I’ve used one of the cheaper Work Sharps but didn’t get great results. Have a Norton 400/1000 water stone and just recently picked up a Norton crystolon fine/coarse oil stone. Leather strop with the green compound makes for a nice finish.