Abrasive stone for sharpening knives. Diamond venetian bars - a set for sharpening. Universal diamond block

All whetstones, or whetstones are divided into 3 main large groups.

1. Ceramic bars. Grains of electrocorundum or silicon carbide act as an abrasive. Ceramic grains crumble quickly enough, the bars themselves become clogged with small particles of steel and lose their properties, so you should regularly wash them with soapy water to make them last longer. Such bars are the most affordable way if you just need to sharpen a kitchen knife. They are inexpensive, therefore, even if they fail, it will not be a pity to replace them. But sharpening a very blunt knife with a ceramic bar is extremely difficult.

2. Diamond bars. Raw materials are artificially grown diamonds. Each abrasive grain has a very sharp edge and is not destroyed during operation. Therefore, diamond bars do not dull and do not change their flat shape over time. And besides, they are not clogged with waste particles. When using diamond stones, it should be remembered: the grinding of metal is very intensive, scratches may remain on the cutting edge. Therefore, in the wrong hands, this fine sharpening tool can cause damage to the cutting edge.

The technology for the production of diamond abrasives is quite expensive, and the cost of the materials themselves too. Therefore, the present diamond bar cannot be cheap. But it will last for an incredibly long time.

3. Japanese water stones . From the name it is immediately clear that the birthplace of origin is Japan and for work they need to be moistened with water. The last factor plays a decisive role. When wetted, a finely abrasive suspension is formed on the surface of the stone. It is the grinding material.

The main advantage of this method of sharpening is softness. Fine grains treat the metal gently, the homogeneous structure of the suspension makes sharpening better, and the cutting edge is resistant to blunting. With the help of good water stones, even difficult-to-sharpen blades made of hard high-carbon steel can be sharpened. Of course, the process itself takes time, but such a knife will serve for a long time. Japanese water stones are tools for real professionals, lovers of high quality knives.

When choosing bars, you should also pay attention to their grain size. It is she who determines the purpose of the stone. All stones, or bars, are divided into three categories:

1. Coarse grain stones. Used for repair work, removing traces of peeling, to prepare the blade for the main stage of sharpening.

2. medium grit stones. Serve for fine sharpening, finishing of the cutting edge.

3.Fine-grained bars. They are used when it is necessary to straighten and polish the surface of the blade.

A very dull knife cannot be fully returned to working condition with one bar. There is a rule: the knife should be sharpened from a coarse-grained bar to a fine one. Therefore, if you like good sharp knives, one grindstone is indispensable.

And, of course, one cannot but mention the importance of the length of the bar. To obtain a good result, if you work in stationary conditions, it is advisable to take bars whose length exceeds the length of the blade. Small whetstones are good for camping conditions, for fast editing of a knife during the work.

Of course, you can sharpen the knife on an electric or mechanical knife sharpener. But the best, most gentle result will be only with manual sharpening, using whetstones.

Today's review is dedicated to the grinding bars of the Venevsky Diamond Plant, purchased in the online store of this very plant. More precisely, legally, this is not exactly a store directly from the plant, but let's say the plant is an affiliate

As usual, the review is in two versions - video and text. Video version at the end of the review.

I already did before. In that review, I tried to consider theoretical issues in detail: what are the pros and cons of diamond abrasives, what types of diamond abrasives are there, how do they differ, why electroplated diamonds and Venev diamonds work differently, etc. To avoid duplicating reviews, I won't revisit the same questions, so if you're interested in all this theory, you can follow the link and watch the first review.
In a nutshell, I will only remind you that galvanized diamonds, such as DMT, EdgePro, and many others, differ in that they work much faster and rougher than Venev diamonds, while Venev diamonds work softer, more delicate, if you like, and have a longer resource due to thick diamond-bearing layer, plus amenable to renewal and alignment.
When I was just studying the topic of diamonds, it was striking to me that in the discussions they focused attention, they said not just “diamonds”, but “Venevsky diamonds”, something along the lines of “well, for this you need to take Venevsky diamonds”. I then thought that certain individuals were promoting the manufacturer in such a way due to some kind of selfish interest. When I figured it out, I realized that in fact the emphasis was made due to the fact that Venev diamonds are in pure technical terms different from others available on the market, and for many discussions it is essential to indicate which diamonds were used in a particular operation. So this maker's name is actually information about the type of tool, and the name is important because In some cases this tool is good, and in others it is not.
Now about today's review. Now I have collected the entire middle part of the Venevsky factory abrasives line, except for the thinnest and coarsest ones. And the review will focus on these forms:




This set allows you to completely sharpen your knife. I mean sharpening in the narrow sense of the word, i.e. sharpen the knife. In the assortment of the plant there are even coarser abrasives for peeling - 200/160 and 160/125. The fundamental difference between peeling is that at this stage the formation of the cutting edge and (if necessary) the elimination of damage, such as chips, for example, is performed. This is why it is often said that peeling is actually a repair job, not a knife sharpening.
And there are thinner bars for finishing - 3/2 and 1/0. By the time these bars are used, the sharpening has long been completed, the knife is already sharp. The main tasks of finishing are to ensure that the cutting edge (hence the name) is brought to a predetermined state in order to ensure durability, etc. Increasing sharpness during finishing is a side effect.
Peeling and finishing are not considered in this review. In my opinion, it is wrong to lump them together with sharpeners. Firstly, it is wrong in terms of the sharpening technique. And secondly, one might get the impression that all Veneva diamonds, from the roughest to the finest, have identical properties, and the assessment of one of them extends to the entire line. And this is fundamentally wrong, and later it will become clear why.
This middle part of the line forms a single set, which I consider in this review as a single set for phased implementation a single knife sharpening task.

All forms in the overview have the same concentration of 100%.

Goods received
Let's start with the presentation.
I won’t talk much about the packaging - it was packed securely, all the bars arrived safe and sound.
Forms are supplied in already familiar leatherette cases, inside of which there is a passport for each bar.




I don’t see the point in talking about covers in detail. Cases are like cases, what they are is a plus, although I would not say that they surprised me with their quality or something like that. Well, now, as far as I know, the covers have become completely different. On the manufacturer's website, the bars are already shown with new covers.
The appearance of the bars is the same as that of the previously reviewed 50/40. And now my set looks like this:




Or rather, looked like when he arrived.
Again I will praise the Viennese bars for appearance. They look just gorgeous, clearly readable inscriptions are very convenient.

flatness.
But the bars are bought not to admire, but to work with them, so there are much more interest Ask: what about the bars with flatness? On this point, there are many disputes and claims against the plant. I show.


Saddle shape is visible on all my bars with the naked eye. Moreover, the diamond-bearing layer has the same thickness throughout the entire bar (measured with a caliper), but blanks are curved- all as one.
In my opinion, this may indicate that some kind of deforming load occurs during the manufacturing process. For example, as a result of exposure to temperature. The organic bond, as far as I know, involves exposure to high temperatures during manufacture, and it is possible that the blank may bend when heated / cooled. At least, with unsuccessful heat treatment, this happens with knife blades. Well, okay, the technologists of the plant should deal with this.
For us, as users, the condition of the final product is more important. I said that there are disputes about curvature. On the one hand, the representative of the plant, both in personal correspondence with me and in Internet discussions, assures that each bar is tested for flatness, and curved bars are necessarily rejected. There were also photographs of the equipment on which the flatness is checked.




Since the bar has passed the Quality Control Department, it means that it corresponds to the specifications and cannot be crooked.
But I believe my eyes. And with my eyes I see bent bars. It would be necessary to check the size of the gap with the help of probes, but a smart idea comes later. The bars are already aligned, so I can only say that by eye the curvature is clearly greater than stated by the factory. I don’t know how this is combined with the assurances of the plant about the passage of the Quality Control Department. Maybe the bars are already after passing the test, in particular from the heating-cooling processes? In any case, there is a fact - the bars have a saddle.

You can also look under a microscope. And the 100/80 bar is interesting here because the diamonds are clearly visible.




I want to draw your attention to a couple of points.
First, the shape of the diamonds is visible. AT various discussions The advantages and disadvantages of abrasives are illustrated in this way.

They are designed to show that diamonds are super-abrasive with sharp edges, cutting metal very effectively. It is interesting that these pictures are used both by the supporters of diamonds, showing how wonderful they are, and by the opponents of diamonds, showing how terrible diamonds hopelessly spoil knives, leaving terrible cracks on their surface.
In reality, industrial diamonds do not look like gem-cut diamonds at all.


They are more similar in shape to an ordinary pebble picked up on the road.


Second, note that the diamonds are sunk differently in the bond. Recently, passing by Khrushchev, I suddenly noticed that its wall is a completely visual model, by which it is possible to explain the structure of the bar.


The upper part of the wall is conditionally the surface of the bar at low magnification, and the lower part is the same at high magnification. And on the left, 100% concentration, and on the right, a bar with 50% concentration.
And here you can see that some stones are strongly recessed and barely peek out of the wall, that is, bundles, while others are almost completely on the surface. Plus, all the stones are oriented in different ways - some are turned towards us with a flat part, others with a sharp edge. Why am I doing this? Moreover, this feature can be misleading. When the possibilities of optics do not allow us to clearly see diamonds, we judge their presence and size by their brilliance. And it's easy to misinterpret what you see. In one place, the diamonds do not shine due to orientation in the bundle, and in another place, the diamond on the surface shines with a successfully turned plane, and one might think that we are observing a large scatter, it may seem that some diamonds are large, others are small, and even that is empty , then thick.
Keep this in mind when looking at pictures of thinner bars. What glitters is not a whole diamond.
In general, I have no complaints about the working layer. Well, in general, in terms of the quality of the supplied bars, the only problem is curvature.

In work
Now about how these bars proved to be in work. The general conclusion is simple: all bars work well. The marking is not mixed up, each next bar works thinner than the previous one and effectively removes traces of its work. But as always, there are many nuances.

The first example is Andrey Biryukov's knife made of M390 steel with a hardness of more than 60.




More precisely, this is the blade of Andrei Biryukov, which was later turned into a full-fledged knife by the efforts of my fellow countryman.
M390 in terms of sharpening is not too difficult steel, but still quite suitable for the example in this review, since chemical composition and its hardness is very impressive, it is a much more complex steel than the quick cut from the last review, and it is well suited to visually show why diamonds are needed when there are much cheaper abrasives.
So, the first bar 100/80 is about 180 grit according to the most common classification.
Worked without problems. The bar easily and naturally gnaws at the M390, like kitchen stainless steel. As a result, we have supplies with clearly distinguishable risks.


Under the microscope, it can be seen that there are no deep risks that clearly fall out of the general range.




There is no point in checking the sharpness at this stage, although the knife already cuts the newspaper quite calmly

50/40 is about 360-320 grit
The risks have become thinner, they still fall evenly. The knife has become even sharper and is already generally capable of shaving off the hair from the forearm, although it does it roughly.




The main thing that pleases is speed. After the last bar, it took just a few minutes to sharpen it with all the settings and preparation.

20/14 is about 800-1000 grit
Everything is the same as before, the knife has become even sharper, and the carts are more beautiful, and they already noticeably shine.

7/5 is about 2000-3000 grit
Well, everything is clear here - the end result is clearly visible: the carts are shiny, the knife shaves, the risks are neat, the cutting edge is without ugly shapeless teeth. In general, quite a good result, on which it is quite possible to stop.

In the end, what do I want to say about sharpening M390 and other similar steels? Venev diamonds are sharpened as if it were some completely trivial steel from those that are now a little arrogantly called simpletons. M390 grinds like kitchen stainless steel. The end result depends solely on your skill. If you know how to sharpen, then with Venevsky diamonds you can sharpen a quick cutter or powdered supersteel to a good result. There are holiwars on the Internet about the fact that the end result of sharpening with diamonds is worse, especially in terms of durability. I won’t delve into this topic now, because, as the well-known officer’s daughter said, “not everything is so simple,” and if you dig, you will have to talk a lot about it, and the conclusions and recommendations will not be unambiguous, but depend on the situation. For now, I'll remind you that all knives that win the Russian Rope Cutting Championship are sharpened with Venevsky diamonds. This is indicative, regardless of how you relate to the cutting of the rope. Igor Lukinov generally considers this type of abrasive to be the best. Again, you can argue with him, but his opinion is worth mentioning, since he has a very rich practical experience.
In general, the resulting sharpening of powdered high-alloy steels is at least good. Well, the main advantage of Venevsky diamonds, from my point of view, is how the sharpening process goes. I mean two things.

Firstly, Venev diamonds allow run dry, i.e. without soaking or using oil. As a result, the sharpening procedure becomes much easier and cleaner than when using water guides, for example.
Secondly, it is very important for me resource and stability Venevsky bars. Usually the discussion of the merits of diamonds revolves around speed. Yes, it is important. Yes, when using non-diamonds to sharpen powder monsters, the sharpening time can stretch to completely unacceptable values. But, in fairness, it must be said that there are abrasives, for example, silicon carbide on a soft bond, which work on such steels no slower, or even faster than diamonds. That's just the speed is provided by a very fast renewal of the grain and, as a result, a very fast wear of the stone. In some cases, this means that you sharpen and sharpen and see how the stone literally melts before your eyes. There is still a lot of work, but the stone has already been worked out to a noticeable saddle, and we need to stop to trim it, that is, we have additional troubles. And at the end of the peeling, you look with sadness how the stone has noticeably lost weight. And this is after one knife. I myself have not yet come across absolutely epic examples, but I have met reviews of people who did not have enough Boride CS-HD stone to finish peeling the knife.
And here diamonds have a huge advantage, which I would like to emphasize in particular. Even if they do not win noticeably in speed, they will definitely win in durability. When buying diamonds, you understand that even in difficult cases they are not enough for a couple of monster knives, but for a very long time. In an amateur format of use - for years, perhaps even for long years.

And if we compare diamonds with each other, then diamonds on an organic bond, which by default means Venevsky, have one more advantage. The fact is that diamonds on a galvanic bond gradually grow bald. You can again, for example, show the wall of the house as a model.


Diamonds are gradually pulled out of the bundle, like stones from the wall in the photo. For galvanized diamonds, this is an irreversible process. And that's bad. It turns out that on a bald bar, lone diamonds stick out here and there, which leads to very uneven work. But at the Venevskys under the bald top layer there are still millimeters of fresh diamonds that show through after the upper ones have been worked out. That is, galvanic ones work worse and worse, and Venevsky ones are stable until they work together to the very substrate. Well, the Venevsky ones work slower than galvanic ones, but softer and more accurate.

Okay, everything is clear with supersteels. What about simpler steels? After past reviews, judging by the comments, some viewers got the impression that diamonds in general and Venevsky diamonds in particular are not suitable for knives made of, let's say, ordinary steels, that is, steels of the 40X13 level, 420 family, 440C, etc.
No, it's not. It's not that diamonds are not suitable for sharpening such steels. It was about the fact that they are most often redundant. Such steels can be easily worked with stones made of aluminum oxide or silicon carbide, which are usually much cheaper than high-quality diamonds. Plus there are some peculiarities in how different abrasives affect steel and how steel affects abrasive. In short, if only such simple steels are to be sharpened, there is no urgent need to buy diamonds.
But this does not mean that diamonds cannot be used in such situations. For example, I will show the sharpening of this Victorinox.


He needs to remove the chip at the tip.


In fact, the work is trifling, and diamonds are completely optional here. Moreover, there is no need to use rough diamonds. But since he successfully turned up under the arm, he will be experimental.

So, stage one, we use the Venevsky diamond 100/80. The knife had an angle of 30 degrees, they asked to increase it to 36, so the diamond has less than a minute to work here. It's literally a minute.


In general, as I said, it was useless to use a 100/80 diamond here - it was to shoot sparrows from a cannon. Here it is simply indicative that a diamond simply cuts such steel as if it were plasticine.
Under the microscope, the edge looks relatively good. For me, by the way, this is a surprise.




I expected a deeply plowed approach and coarse, uneven teeth on the cutting edge. It was interesting to see it myself, since I usually don’t use diamonds for such steels.

The second stage, Venevsky diamond 50/40. Again, an overkill option in our situation. It could well have been missed. But I'm using it as an example.


If you do not display a neat edge to show the result of this stage, then after half a minute it would already be possible to move on to the next bar. The bar again cuts steel like plasticine and very quickly removes traces of 100/80.

Moving on - 20/14. If I hadn’t made a review, but simply sharpened this knife with Venevsky bars, I would probably start immediately from 20/14. He would also remove that chip instantly, and at the same time the total sharpening time would be less, since we skip two stages.
The view under the microscope does not require special comments.

Well, we conclude with the last bar from today's review - 7/5. They worked a little longer to be safe, that is, not to leave risks from the previous bars, not to leave a burr.
This is what it looks like under a microscope. Quite normal. There are no rough scratches left, the teeth on the edge are quite uniform.


Everything, sharpening is finished.

By and large, the knife was sharp already after 100/80, and in principle, even at that stage one could even stop. The knife is not razor sharp, but it cuts aggressively. Some even like such an aggressive sharpening. The problem is she keeps not for long, especially if you're working on something hard like wood. Well, with each next bar, the knife became sharper, and the retention of sharpness was better. After 7/5, everything is fine, only from an aesthetic point of view, the leads do not look very good, especially because of the clearly visible border on the lead after moving to a larger angle, so I slightly lengthened them without going to the edge. It took another minute and a half or two.




What did I want to say with this Victorinox example? In this situation, it was easy to do without the Venevsky diamonds and use something simpler and cheaper. It is not even possible, but it would be a more justified option. Venevsky I used here only for the sake of review. But on the other hand, the Venevskys made it possible to remove the chip and sharpen the knife really in a few minutes, literally effortlessly. Is the end result not good enough? Last time I sharpened this knife with natural stones. If after a while I ask the owner of the knife if he noticed that this time the sharpening was done differently, then what do you think he will answer? He will say that he immediately noticed - this time something is not right, the sharpening does not hold at all, the blade is damaged, and in general everything is much worse than last time? Yes, nothing of the sort. With such a blind study, he will not distinguish between “diamond” sharpening and “non-diamond” sharpening - I have already checked this more than once.

findings
Okay, the review is already getting long, it's time to somehow summarize and evaluate these four bars. Yes, by the way, let me again focus on the fact that all conclusions and assessments refer to exactly to these bars. I'm not talking about Venev's abrasives "in general", but about 100% concentration sharpener bars with 100/80, 50/40, 20/14 and 7/5 grits. Why does it matter?
-First. In sharpening, it is customary to distinguish three main stages: peeling, sharpening and fine-tuning. So, these four bars form a set that provides the actual sharpening stage. Rougher for peeling and finer for finishing is a topic for a separate discussion, since some of the points voiced here for peeling and finishing are irrelevant.
-Second. The properties of the bar are affected by the concentration. I heard that Venev diamonds 100% and 25% work completely differently. So different that it is sometimes possible to use together bars of the same grit, but of different concentrations. I heard, but I have no experience in this regard, so I speak specifically for 100% concentration.
-Third. Now on the grinding resources you can find serious claims to Venevsky diamonds. In general, by the way, in almost all areas it happens that at first something is praised in unison, and then the mood changes, and the same product is scolded no less unanimously. With Venevsky diamonds, the situation is similar. There was a period when they were extolled. But if a person decides to look at fresh discussions, then he will find that they are harshly criticized and it may seem that the abrasive is no good at all - there are so many dissatisfied, sheer abuse
Now, don't jump to conclusions from a superficial examination of the discussions. Claims are indeed made against the Venevsky plant, and the plant admits that there is a problem. But there is one very important nuance. The problem has been identified on the thinnest bars and the reason for it is not yet clear. Initially, it was believed that it was due to the fact that boron carbide was used in the organic bond, which by itself is a very effective abrasive, and the grain size of boron carbide turned out to be larger than the size of the main abrasive, i.e. diamonds. Now the plant has stated that, according to the results of their research, the problem is not boron carbide, but what exactly is not clear.
Now the Venevsky Plant is experimenting with bundles, trying to make thin bars devoid of this problem.
But I would like to emphasize that this problem it does not matter to those bars that were on review today.
Again, the problem of non-flatness of the bars is less relevant for these bars for sharpening systems, but more relevant in the case of bars for manual sharpening.

In general, I repeat. It is not worth giving some generalized assessment of Venevsky diamonds “in general” and transferring claims to 1/0 finishing stones to the entire line. Or after reading about the curvature of the “screw” of the bars for manual sharpening, think that this is found on the bars for sharpeners. I have no complaints about the sharpening bars considered today. No not like this. I have a complaint about the curvature, which I have already spoken about. But in terms of work I really like them, and I consider them an extremely useful acquisition for me and I am ready to put up with non-flatness for this.
I will not speak for the rest of the plant's products, so as not to be accused of superiority, but about this part of their line with clear conscience I can say that I like it and it suits me. I wrote about the shortcomings - decide for yourself how critical they will be for you

This could be the end, but experience shows that some people scroll to the end of the review and look for direct, clear advice: “Just say - to buy or not to buy these bars?”.
The short answer for such viewers would be:
« -if you have to regularly sharpen knives made of difficult steels like quick cutters and powder super steels, then I highly recommend purchasing a set of Venevian bars from 100/80 to 7/5. They really don’t have a worthy alternative in this category right now - this is not praising the manufacturer, this is an objective situation on the market.
-If you don't know what you need to sharpen and you want to have a universal set that is guaranteed to cope with any knife and allow you to sharpen it quickly and without problems, I also advise you to purchase such a set. In general, it can become the only one. Everything will be fine until you climb to read the forums, and then you can lose peace and sleep because of doubts about the impact of diamonds on the resource and durability of the knife :).
“But if you know for sure that you will only sharpen knives made of ordinary simple steels, then I see no reason to take diamonds - this is unjustified neither financially nor technologically.”

It is significant that on the same Hanse, if a person is forced to often, or even more so predominantly, sharpen knives made of wear-resistant steels, and especially if he has to do this as quickly as possible and receiving guaranteed result, he becomes an ardent supporter of Veneva diamonds and often writes that this is the only abrasive he needs (Igor Lukinov, Alexander, etc.). If a person sharpens mainly Japanese kitchen knives or razors, he usually gravitates towards natural stones.

Here is a conclusion.
As for me personally, I am not a fan or opponent of diamonds. I do not participate in the disputes “diamonds against natural stones”. I have diamonds on a galvanic bond, there are Venevian diamonds on an organic bond, there are synthetic stones, ceramics, natural abrasives. And they all coexist perfectly with each other, complement each other and no one has ousted anyone.

Every housewife knows how much easier and more pleasant it is to cook, having at hand sharp knife. However, even the highest quality blades become dull over time and require immediate sharpening. To return the blade to its original state, use bars to sharpen knives. Today, the market for household goods is represented by huge selection these tools. Grinding stones differ in the nature of origin, grain size and the nature of the abrasive substance. Each of the devices has its own advantages and disadvantages, so the choice of a bar must be approached very responsibly, based on the characteristics of the knife.

Sharpening stones of natural origin

Grindstones by origin are divided into natural and artificial. Not always bars made from natural material are better than artificial grindstones. This is easily explained, because the grains of a natural abrasive substance are heterogeneous and differ greatly from each other in their size.

To make good tool, you need a stone whose length exceeds 20 cm, and such a holistic mineral has a rather high cost. In addition, natural stones are more fragile than artificial ones, so they often have to be corrected and turned by hand. However, many prefer to have such devices and are happy to use a natural stone sharpener.

Arkansas (novaculitis)

The birthplace of the Arkansas stone is the US state of Arkansas. The mineral consists of fine-grained quartz crystals, which have incredibly sharp edges and are tightly connected to each other. Not everyone can use novaculitis. You have to be a real master of your craft to sharpen a knife with such a tool.

When working on Arkansas, lubrication is required, the role of which is most often performed by mineral oil. If this condition is not observed, then the surface of the stone will quickly become contaminated with particles of the material being ground down and the tool will become unusable.

Another natural material used for sharpening knives - Japanese water stone. If this tool fell into the hands of an experienced grinder, then the speed and quality of sharpening will be ensured. For beginners, this version of the whetstone, like the previous one, is absolutely not suitable.

The fact is that Japanese water stones are very expensive and require special conditions of use. During operation, do not forget about lubrication. In addition, coarse-grained and medium-grained whetstones must be stored in water, which is recommended to be constantly changed, and fine-grained stones for sharpening knives, on the contrary, must be thoroughly dried after use.

Water stones are very soft and quickly grind off, and the grinding is uneven. On the one hand, more abrasive is ground off, on the other, less. To bring the whetstone to its original state, you need to make a lot of efforts: find a marble plate with a smooth surface, cover it with sandpaper, moisten it with water and edit the grindstone, slowly running it over the skin.

artificial stones

Today, there are technologies for obtaining a grinding stone by artificial means. This significantly reduced the cost of the instrument. Fake diamond- these are two abrasive materials mixed together, firmly connected under the influence of high temperatures and pressure.

Silicon carbide, corundum and chromium oxide are used as the working fraction. These materials are so strong that they are able to cut off layers of metal. To keep the working crystals in the bar, a special base is used.

ceramic stones

Ceramic bars are durable and of high quality processing metal surface, however, lag behind other types of bars in several important ways.

• Sharpening with ceramic stones is a long and laborious process.
• Fine-grained ceramic stone is almost impossible to buy.

Of the advantages of ceramic grinding tools, one can note their low cost and unpretentiousness in use. This tool does not require lubrication or soaking and is often used instead of musat.

Today on the market in large numbers presented ceramic whetstones made in China or Germany. Sometimes there are products released back in time Soviet Union. If you are lucky enough to purchase such a tool, you can not worry about the quality of sharpening at all, since these products are of excellent quality.

Ceramic bars are needed not only for straightening knives, but also for sharpening fish hooks and needles. If under the stream warm water rub two old stones against each other, then they can again be used.

diamond bars

Some ignorant people think that the diamond bar is studded with diamond crystals. However, this one is far from it. A diamond sharpening tool is a plastic or aluminum substrate, on which metal plates with a set of diamond abrasive grains are fixed on both sides.

A double-sided diamond stone is the best option for sharpening knives. It can be used by both an experienced master and a beginner.

At the diamond grindstones the following advantages are noted:

• even after prolonged use, the diamond sharpener remains perfectly flat;
• diamond grains have very sharp edges and do not grind off during operation;
• if a diamond bar is accidentally dropped, unlike a ceramic stone, it will not break into pieces;
• during sharpening, it is not necessary to moisten the sharpener with water or oil;
• to clean the diamond stone from steel particles, it is enough to rinse it in clean water and wipe it dry with a piece of cloth;
• the diamond bar grinds the steel of the knife very quickly, so the surface of the bar remains in working condition for a long time.

At diamond grindstone there is a significant drawback. If the bar fell into inept hands, the knife blade can be irretrievably damaged. This is due to the fact that diamond grains held on the surface of the stone with the help of electrolytically sprayed nickel are much stronger than steel and can scratch and even shred the knife blade.

Often diamond whetstones are produced as component grinder, so on sale you can meet and choose the bars of the most different forms and sizes. In addition, all kinds of fasteners can be sold complete with sharpening tools.

Diamond abrasive stones are durable, but they need time to wear in. As soon as all loose grains fall out and the tool acquires a normal shape, it will serve for many years and do its job well.

What is grindstone grit?

The grit (or in other words "grit") of the bars used for sharpening knives shows how many particles of the abrasive substance are on 1 cm 2 of the surface of the bar. This value ranges from 80 to 10,000 grit. The higher the grit, the smoother the bar and the smaller the abrasive crystals.

Bars with a small grain size are used for the initial processing of the cutting object, as they remove a thick layer of metal due to particles big size. It is advisable to use them in cases where the blade is very dull or the cutting edge has crumbled.

Grinding stones with a high grit value are more gentle on the metal. They are used for finishing the blade. When sharpening a knife, if you have several bars with different grain sizes and use them in order of increasing grit, you can make the knife incredibly sharp.

Rules for sharpening a knife on a diamond bar

When sharpening a knife on a diamond bar, you need to follow a few simple rules - only in this case you will be able to get a positive result.

1. Before starting work, moisten the diamond bar with water, after dropping a little detergent for dishes or liquid soap.
2. After making more than ten movements, it is necessary to wash off the suspension formed on the bar under a stream of cool water.
3. During the break, it is better to put the bar in a container of water.
4. The whetstone while dressing the knife should not lie on the hand, but on a wooden board and have a solid support. It is inconvenient to hold a stone or bar in your hand. This can be done in the case when it is impossible to find a solid and flat surface for installing a bar, for example, on a hike.
5. In the process of sharpening, all surfaces of the bar should be used evenly, and not rely on only one edge, then the abrasive substance will grind evenly.
   

   During sharpening, you can not press the knife with all your might - this way you can break the abrasive crystals from the bar and ruin an expensive tool.

6. A new diamond bar needs to be "run in". At first he shoots very aggressively steel coating, but after sharpening 7-10 knives will work more smoothly.
7. The length of the sharpener should be equal to the length of the knife or slightly exceed it.
8. For complete and high-quality sharpening, three types of stones are used, differing in the degree of graininess. They begin processing with a coarse-grained stone, and end with a bar with the smallest abrasive crystals.
9. For daily dressing of a knife blade, you must have a musat. This tool resembles a file and is used to bring the sharpness of the blade to its optimum state.

Having sharpening stones with different grits in your arsenal, you can always keep your cutting tools in order. For experienced craftsmen who have to sharpen knives every day, expensive natural minerals - Arkansas or Japanese water stone are more suitable. It is advisable for a beginner to purchase a diamond bar that is less whimsical to use.

With the use of the first bronze weapons, it became necessary to maintain them in good condition. The introduction into primitive life of new metal tools also dictated the need for artisans who could give the blade the necessary sharpness.

It was in those days that the ancestor of the bars for sharpening knives appeared. The first whetstones were oblong-shaped stones made of sandstone and silica rocks. Later, each warrior carried a small bar with him to sharpen his weapons.

A bit of theory

Modern Process sharpening of the cutting edge is conditionally divided into three stages: peeling, sharpening, finishing. Accordingly, grinding stones / bars of various grain sizes are used for metal processing: coarse-grained, medium-grained and fine-grained.

The concepts of hard, medium and soft /bars are also applicable. The concept of granularity is the size in microns of crystals (grains) that remove metal layer by layer.

Coarse-grained bars are designed for rough work: they carelessly process the blade, removing metal in large fractions. Fine-grained stones grind off the irregularities left by a larger bar, thereby bringing the cutting edge to the ideal.

When working with some stones, it is necessary to moisten them with water or oil.

This is due to two reasons:

1. There are samples of stones / bars that work extremely inefficiently without lubrication and wear out quickly. When the cutting edge rubs against the stone, the water between them is a kind of reagent that forms a suspension with the abrasive. Thanks to this very suspension, the bar grinds the metal. A striking example of such stones are Japanese water stones.
2. When metal rubs against the surface of the bar, particles of stone and metal clog the pores of the bar, reducing its abrasive ability, the water flow washes away excess dirt, keeping the working surface of the grinding bar intact. It should be noted that the abrasive during dry sharpening can scratch the polishing of the blade, which is also not very good.

The main types of grinding abrasives

natural stones are in the highest price category due to exhaustion natural resource, availability of manual work for the production of a bar or high costs for prey. They are used by sharpening professionals, for this reason, for domestic needs, the acquisition of such a stone will be an extremely impractical solution.

Some samples need to be soaked in water, lubricated with oils. They have a wide range of grits for all stages of blade sharpening. Natural stones are among the most expensive in the field of tool sharpening and have long earned the respect of craftsmen.

The only drawback of working with such stones is the requirement for skill and experience. Unprofessional sharpening with natural stone will knock off the blade of the knife and ruin the stone.

Here are the most famous types of natural sharpening stones: Arkansas natural stone (Novaculite, Washita, India), African ZuluGrey, Japanese water stones (Nakayama, Oozuku, Narutaki, Shabudani, Okudo), Belgian blue stone and Cuticule.

Synthetic stones are made from an abrasive with a hard-based binder. We list some of them:

1. Artificial water stones They are an alternative to natural counterparts. In work, wetting with water or special oil is required. Storage in water is allowed a few days before the start of work. After sharpening, it is recommended to dry the stone. The price of artificial specimens is cheaper than natural ones, but remains at a high level.
2. Diamond sharpening bars are very durable materials: often used to align other sharpening bars. Fine-grained specimens last longer than large ones, due to the slow chipping of the abrasive. When working, it is recommended to use a lubricant - soapy or plain water. On various Internet sites, the structure of diamonds is illustrated in the form of regular polyhedra, although this is fundamentally wrong: under a microscope, crystals look like an ordinary stone. irregular shape, the planes are different and some faces are visible.
   The disadvantage of diamond stems from its dignity: high sharpening speed, respectively, with inept handling, you can remove an extra layer, damage the cutting edge or leave a deep scratch.
3. Ceramic stones have high wear resistance like diamonds, sharpening quality like natural stones, but at the same time a low sharpening speed. Such products are suitable for finishing and maintaining the sharpness of the blade. They do not need water or oil, after work they are washed with water and wiped with a rag. Suitable for sharpening household tools: needles, fish hooks, scissors, shaving accessories.
4. Abrasive synthetic whetstones of low price category. Such products made in the USSR were in every home. Carborundum and electrocorundum grains, which are a solid material, grind metal well, but due to a weak binding composition, they quickly crumble. After working with the product, rinsing with water is recommended. Or, sharpening the tool with lubrication initially.

Sharpening household tools

For sharpening kitchen or woodworking tools, it is most practical to purchase a double-sided sharpening block: large / medium or medium / small (size of abrasive crystals). Natural stones are not taken into account, as they require a certain skill.

For the above purposes, diamond whetstones for sharpening knives produced by the Venev factory are quite suitable. A domestic enterprise located in the Tula region is a monopoly in the field diamond tool on the Russian market.

Some Venevian bars show a manufacturing defect - problems with flatness. Such a disadvantage is not critical, it can be leveled.
To sharpen any tool, you need to fix a bar or stone on a flat surface, since both hands will be needed during work.

Fasteners can be factory-made or ordinary boards nailed to the workbench as a stop. When sharpening a knife, take right hand by the handle, and the left by the blade (for right-handers) and try to use the entire surface of the stone for uniform chipping.

Place the tool with the butt towards you, and with the blade away from you, laying it on the stone. Sharpening is done by moving the stone away from you and slightly to the right, sharpening the left side. For sharpening the right side, the handle is taken in left hand.

Both sides are sharpened the same number of times. Do not change the angle of the blade in relation to the bar, otherwise the cutting edge will quickly become dull.

You need to grind until the formation of metal dust, check the sharpness on a sheet of paper - the knife should cut the paper freely with minimal effort. If the result is the opposite, you need to repeat the procedure. It is possible to wash off abrasive particles from a knife and a stone after work or in the process of sharpening.

Sharpening scissors is easier and faster than sharpening knives. In the case when you need to quickly sharpen scissors for several uses, you need to take a glass bottle or any cylindrical metal object (a needle will do).

Further, this inventory must be cut with scissors - in literally. That is, to make cutting movements across a metal object or along the neck of a glass bottle. Such sharpening gives sharpness for a short period.

For best results, you need an average sandpaper, file or sharpening block with fine grit. When using an abrasive skin, you simply need to cut it or rub the scissors on the canvas with external chamfers (cutting plane).

The inner parts of the blades must not be sharpened - this can lead to a complete malfunction of the tool. When using a file, it is necessary to sharpen from the connection of the blades to the tip, passing it along the outer edge of the blade.

When using a small bar, you can also work like a file, and with a large one, put scissors on it and also sharpen the outer cutting edge.

When sharpening, be sure to observe the angle, with its decrease or increase, either the wear of the blade will increase, or the cutting ability will decrease.
It is not recommended to check the sharpness of the tool using your own body parts.

So some citizens check the sharpness of a knife by cutting the hairs on their hands. The paper way is much safer. For sharpening a meat grinder knife, an abrasive corundum stone of medium / fine grain size is suitable.

It is necessary to sharpen in a circular motion clockwise, along with the knife, the grate is similarly sharpened. In the process of work, it is necessary to constantly moisten the surfaces and carefully monitor the planes of the knives to prevent distortions.

When the cutting planes are sharpened to a shine, you should attach the knife to the grate and check for gaps between them - there should not be any.

Modern human life is accompanied by a variety of metal tools, which, in turn, require attention and care. To this day, for 5000 years, grinding bars and stones have been coping with this task, the demand for which is only increasing every year.

Video

Anyone who has ever tried to cook something on their own knows how annoying dull knives. Preserving precious nerve cells is not difficult; you just need to purchase a good sharpening bar, for example, a diamond one. Our article will tell you how to choose it.

Diamond whetstones for knives - the subtleties of choice

Among all the abrasive materials used to sharpen kitchen (and not only) cutting tools, diamonds occupy a special place of honor. Due to their unique structure, they are very high level strength and hence long service life. At the same time, such a bar is almost not clogged with chips - to completely clean it, just rinse it under running water or wipe it with a cloth. Sharpening with diamond stones is suitable for knives made of almost any material, from the usual stainless steel to cutting-edge ceramics. Although the latter, of course, will have to tinker for a long time. When choosing diamond sharpener worth paying attention to:

1. dimensions. For ease of use, the length of the bar should be at least 3-5 cm longer than the length of the largest knife.
2. Grain. To determine the degree of abrasiveness of diamond bars for sharpening knives, the marking will help, which for domestic products includes several numbers separated by a line. Ideally, the farm should have several grindstones with different grits: for roughing (160/125, 200/160, 250/200), semi-finishing (100/80, 125/100) and finishing sharpening (40/28, 50/40, 63/50). But it is quite possible to get by with one double-sided bar, the sides of which have a different degree of abrasiveness. For foreign-made bars, the grain size is indicated by one number from 200 to 1200, equal to approximate number grains per inch of surface.