Cheap stones?

India.

Norton's India stones are excellent, affordable, and will stay flat a long time. I would expect much better service out of them compared to a no-name waterstone set. A combo India and Eclipse clone would be less expensive than the stone set shown. India works well on A2 also.

I went to Graham Haydon's youtube collection the other day. It is excellent and shows a simple and effective sharpening routine.

Also, no surprise, that amazon listing only shows a computer rendering of the stones, not the actual product. I am suspicious of such listings.

No fan of combo stones

After many headaches with grit contamination I find the combo stones to be a non-starter. 

To maintain tools, water stones are easy to use and forgiving. Just don't drop them, or allow grit to mingle between stones or tool--keep everything clean. Paired 1000 or up to 2000, or so, can be used to flatten each other. Try a 3000 between the next grit. A 4000 preceding charged leather strop will have razors humming.

King stones have traditionally been the bargain. I just find them pretty hard. Keep everything at least 2.5" to 3" wide and 8" long. 

Nothing beats an 8" ginder to re-establish a bevel. With this and a buffing wheel, the Unicorn Method will make all the above suggestions pretty redundant. 

I can't do it but only the very finest honing (secondary) bevels are needed. That's just a few seconds per stone.

Good Japanese steel is another story.

Re: No fan of combo stones

The very best woodworker I’ve ever seen says that if you need more than an 800 grit King waterstone, you don’t know what you’re doing.  That’s all he uses, it gets his blades hairsplitting sharp, and his results speak for themselves.

Re: Cheap stones?

I'm with Steve and I'd point them towards a medium/fine combination oilstone. If they want to get fussy with additional sharpening stages and stones later, that would be up to them, but in the short term a basic oilstone is all that's needed, plus maybe the palm of a hand for some final stropping. I always teach the basic honing of standard chisels and plane irons without the use of jigs or guides, but that's just me because I've never used jigs or guides myself, but you might prefer their use. That just leaves needing a means for creating the grinding angle, achievable easily enough on a cheap grindstone. Slainte.

Re: Cheap stones?

Time once again to post it Richard....  you know.

Re: No fan of combo stones

Bruce, what do you use for carving and turning gouges and the like?

Re: Cheap stones?

Just for your delectation, Charlie. Slainte.

Re: Cheap stones?

Nicely put, Riichard

Re: Cheap stones?

I knew I should have stayed away from this jungle story....

Re: Cheap stones?

Love it!

Re: Cheap stones?

A classic!

Great story, Richard!

Re: Great story, Richard!

Thanks Ellis. I think you know it's been around for quite a while though. I think it was first published in the now defunct (printed paper version) of Woodshop News in maybe 1998. Woodshop News still exists in a digital only format which is sent to me via an emailed link and I usually peruse swiftly, and sometimes pick out an article or two to read more thoroughly. Slainte.

Re: I'm Stumped!

In the photo in your sharpening article, what is the thing standing on end behind your left elbow and infill tote?

Re: I'm Stumped!

William, it/they are simply batten fluorescent tube light fittings leaning against the wall that I'd acquired for free from somewhere that was doing a remodelling job. I had places where I could use some extra light so the opportunity of some free fittings was too good to miss. At some point after that snap was taken I installed a few of the better ones in useful places. The fittings are similar to the type shown below.

Sorry, but the answer isn't vey exotic I'm afraid, ha, ha. Slainte.�

Re: I'm Stumped!

Thanks. More explanation than I really needed, but useful anyhow. Maybe I didn't recognize them because they're 230 V, 50 Hz., and the plugs and tubes have a different form factor, too. ;^)

Like clamps, you can't have too many light sources, and free is a lot better than full list price.