Three inherited carbon steel kitchen knives, all with a very obtuse edge from years of a pull-through sharpener, one with a 2mm chip. I need to remove real metal. Budget is about 70 for one purchase. I already own a 1000 and a 5000 waterstone, so this is purely for the heavy stage. Coarse diamond plate or a 220-320 waterstone?
A 220 waterstone will remove metal faster than a diamond plate at a similar price, honestly. But it will dish noticeably in one long reprofiling session and you need a flattening solution anyway, which puts you back at the same total spend. The plate wins on the arithmetic even if it loses on raw speed.
Agreed on the speed. The other thing nobody mentions is the slurry — reprofiling three knives on a 220 soaker produces an enormous amount of grey mess, which matters if you are working at a kitchen sink rather than in a workshop.
Whatever you buy, keep the reprofiling angle honest. Marker on the bevel, six strokes, look at where the ink went. Old pull-through damage leaves a convex bevel that lies to you about the angle you think you are holding.
For the 2mm chip specifically, think about whether you can lose it in the profile rather than grinding the whole bevel back to meet it. If the chip is near the tip you can often reshape the curve slightly in a couple of minutes instead of removing that much steel along the whole blade.
@burr_and_edge · 11mo ago · 3 replies
Diamond plate for this job. Three reasons: it stays flat, so you are not stopping every few minutes to flatten a stone that is dishing under heavy pressure; it cuts hardened steel fast with no soaking and less mess; and once the reprofiling is done it becomes your flattener for the 1000 and 5000, which is a purchase you will make eventually anyway.
Get something around 300-400 grit. Coarser than that on a kitchen knife just makes deeper scratches for the 1000 to chase.
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@grinder_gremlin · 11mo ago
One caution: new plates cut aggressively for the first few uses and then settle down. Do your worst knife first, not your favourite.
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@nib_grind_nate · 11mo ago
Not having to flatten mid-job is the argument that got me. Ordered a 400.
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