Sharpening questions

I too have been confused about this. The Norton company provides this cross reference type of information. The following link has a table at the bottom attributed to Norton:

http://norsewoodsmith.com/content/oil-stones

It does not appear to explain your findings, the grits of the waterstones and sandpaper are displayed as approximately equivalent. There are lots of other factors at work in this process. Assuming you’re doing everything right then the question would be “Hey, what works for you?”

My own little bit of experience is to spend just enough time fretting over sharpening to produce good wood shavings then put all the stuff away. I’ll never be a sharpening expert and don’t want to be.

-- Dave, New England - “We are made to persist. that's how we find out who we are.” ― Tobias Wolff

Differnt products different manufacturer. It is tuff to get everyone to follow a standard.
I got these used sharpening stone and forget what they are (grit, oi/water…...etc).
I 2nd Dave’s respone. Get it sharp enought to give you a quality cut and move on.

-- I'll be a woodworker when I grow up. HHHOPKS

the type of grit (aluminum oxide, ceramic, etc) and the bonding agent also play in how they perform too. A grit that fractures readily and a bonding agent that releases easily will work much faster because it is exposing fresh sharp edges more often. If the grit is harder to fracture, and the bonding agent holds on better then it will seem like it gives a finer finish, but slower to use.

-- I still have all my fingers

Oh and worn sandpaper behaves like it’s much finer than its rating.

-- Dave, New England - “We are made to persist. that's how we find out who we are.” ― Tobias Wolff

That’s the great thing about standards there are so many to choose from.

The 8k stone will behave differently depending on how you use it. Quite wet and with a bit of a slurry worked up it should cut faster and coarser. If you rinse the slurry off and wipe it dry it should (after a few strokes) “bed in” and start polishing.

I’m pretty much with hhhopks, get it sharp however works best for you (by all means try a few ways but then pick one and stick with it). Sharpening is a learned skill the more you do it the better you’ll get, switching between systems a lot just confuses the learning process when you’re getting going. Its actually best if you can find a sharpening buddy (someone who can really get things SHARP) as its much clearer what you’re shooting for once you’ve used the results.

If you really want to get nerdy there are pretty cheap ($40) USB microscopes available now that let you see what the edge really looks like. That combined with some tests (i.e. the classic how many end grain paring cuts in soft pine can you make before it starts to tear) is a better guide than any arbitrary rating.

Actually let me correct that – if you REALLY want to get nerdy go hang out on some of the razor forums, those people are crazy. Luckily the type of edge they want is irrelevant to woodworking so we can mostly ignore them :D

Sharpening is/can be as exotic as you wish to make the process.
I tend to make the process s simple as possibe with as few devices needed to achieve the end result.
Its kinda like your tooling. How many tools do ya really need to make a box, how many planes does it require to rough out, square, and smooth a board?
Not an easy answer, ‘cause each craftsman has his/her own concept of the final objective.
Bill

-- bill@magraphics.us