Are honing stones essential for knife sharpening?

[Law]

Stones like the Nagura - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brimarc-Japanese-Nagura-Stone/dp/B008ACYGKK

What does the slurry do in addition to regular sharpening?

[bopdude]

Don't take this as gossple but I think the slurry acts as a kind of abrasive compound to help achieve an edge ?

[Magicdave]

They're not essential. As you sharpen your blade you'll be building up slurry from the natural wear of the stone. The way to work this is to always turn the knife (assuming your sharpening a knife) at the end of each stroke with back and forward motions, i.e. each side alternating.

Doing 8 one side, 8 the other etc. is fine for honing on leather. On a stone (I'll assume water rather than oil) it is much better to alternate the side working back and forward. This way you can chase a little wave of water back and forward, rather than just pushing it off the end. It also means you need to add water less often, it is important to always have a surface of water on the stone.

As the stone drys (very regularly) you can see the slurry sitting and adding a little water each time turns it into a paste.

Out of interest, for sharpening chisels you can sit the far end of the stone a little higher than the near edge, that way the water comes back towards you at the end of each stroke.

[Magicdave]

[QUOTE=turn the knife (assuming your sharpening a knife).[/QUOTE]

Actually, your thread title should have stopped me assuming.

[Law]

Ok, atm I'm just using a little falkniven pocket sharpener for all my sharpening needs. I need a proper set, anyone got any reccomendations for a proper set of sharpening stones?

[Romanista77]

Ok, atm I'm just using a little falkniven pocket sharpener for all my sharpening needs. I need a proper set, anyone got any reccomendations for a proper set of sharpening stones?
The Falkniven DC4 is all I really use to sharpen anything now days.

[Magicdave]

I use one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Master-Class-Combination-Sharpening-Stone/dp/B003ASDAGU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431036745&sr=8-1&keywords=ceramic+sharpening+stone

It's not the best sharpening stone in the world. But it does the job well as I use it. I use the 400grit side for sharpening second hand tools and re-profiling. The 1000grit side for cleaning that up before honing or when a blade needs a little more than a hone.

I then strop it on 2000 and 3000grit wet and dry before going to a leather/Nic Westermann white compound combination (I highly recommend this compound it is excellent)

6000 - 10000+ grit stones are excellent, but cost a fortune. When you can work that fine and still be able to to push the edge of the blade forward on the abrasive you have great control over your sharpening. If money isn't an option I recommend a 400/1000 grit combination stone for repairing edges/re-profiling and something around 6000/10000 combination for more regular working.

Something you need to look out for are stone with the company logo printed on the surface. I hate this with a passion. The stone I linked to here has it, it can be a problem, if you feel it catch you can wear it off on old blades, a bit of metal, or a diamond stone.

When a water stone starts to wear it loses it's flatness, you can use a diamond stone to make it flat again. Your DC4 may do this job, but better to find out if someone has tried using one for the purpose first.

[OakAshandThorn]

MagicDave has it spot on, I think. Heck, you can use natural stones that you can collect for honing. The slurry from a Nagura is just a nice way to polish up the edge...but not essential for a keen sharp edge. My Spyderco Doublestuff is essentially a honing stone because the grit, while listed as medium on one side and fine on the other, is more like a fine and super fine combo. Slurry is created the more strokes you give.

[Magicdave]

while listed as medium on one side and fine on the other

This is a good point to bring up. If uncertain, it's normally a good idea to avoid anything that states the grade as a word. Different purposes have different measures as to what is rough, fine etc. I got a pack of mixed grade wet and dry paper marketed as rough, medium, fine and super fine, no numbers on the packet. Once opened the sheets were marked on the back as 60, 80, 120 and 180. I'm not sure what, but it has to be correct for some purpose.

For knife sharpening on a Water Stone, 1000 grit is considered rough, once you get up around 6000 maybe 8000 it's fine with somewhere around 10000 and above being super fine.

But 400 is a god send when working with chipped edges and anything that would be easier on a powered water wheel if you don't have one.