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Abrasive whetstones for sharpening knives: types and characteristics. Diamond Venev whetstones - set for sharpening Diamond whetstone is ground down

“Who sharpens with sharpening stones these days?” - another reader will chuckle. The fact is that grinding at high speed, for example at high-speed grinding wheel, causes strong heating of the processed material, which in our case is fraught with uncontrolled and unwanted spontaneous tempering of the hardened blade, or at least part of the cutting edge of the blade. A thin strip of steel heats up instantly; periodically dipping the blade being processed into water cannot prevent this. Therefore, never sharpen knives - no matter whether homemade or branded - on a high-speed grinding wheel, most likely you will ruin the blade irrevocably! It turns out that the quality indicators of a hand-sharpened blade can far exceed the parameters of its brother, brought to the average consumer level by factory automated means.

Each sharpening block consists of two mechanically mixed fractions: abrasive grains-crystals - a material much harder than the material being processed (in our case, steel), and a matrix of softer material, which holds the abrasive grains in the form of a given shape, although the same block.

The hardness of the matrix is ​​usually comparable to the hardness of the material being processed, sometimes even a little less. Correctly selected hardness of the matrix allows it to wear off during operation, exposing more and more new abrasive grains from the deep layers, while old ones, with already worn out, dull cutting edges, crumble out of the block. In other words, when the steel is abraded, the abrasive bar is abraded and worn out, and this is a normal process of its operation. And if the matrix is ​​too soft, the abrasive will sharpen less effectively because the force on the cutting edges of the abrasive grains will not erase the material being processed, but will tear the grains out of the too soft matrix. In addition, as a result of self-erasure, the block will quickly lose the desired shape of the contact surface with the material being processed. Processing then will not be accurate. The matrix is, as a rule, something ceramic, from the simplest fired clay to varieties of technical faience.

The abrasive is characterized by the uniformity of the size of the abrasive crystal grains. If the grains are not the same in size, then it may turn out that one end of the bar is small and the other is large. And if small and large grains are mixed together more or less evenly, as often happens in cheap abrasive tools, then the sharpening is not very accurate, and the result is even more random, the greater the difference in grain sizes. However, it is extremely difficult to make all grains the same, so grain size is an interval characteristic. A certain difference lies in the shape of the abrasive grains of various abrasives, namely in the sharpness of their cutting edges, which, in turn, depends on the structure of the crystal lattice of a given chemical compound.

Of course, the quality of the bars is very important for a good result, but I would like to make a reservation right away: the quality of sharpening depends much more on the skills of the master than on the quality of the abrasive. I would like to warn beginners against purchasing expensive bars, the price of which can reach $50-$100 or more. Start with ordinary “boats” and remember that the abrasive itself, even the best, is just a block without your skills.

It is recommended that the whetstone be at least equal in length to the blade being sharpened. Better yet, one and a half times more (although for the “big chef” - the “senior” knife in the chef’s trio - it is almost impossible to find such a block for a reasonable price). The width of the bar is not particularly important.

Marking

If you go to the flea market to buy bars (the easiest way to buy at least something worthwhile), there is a high probability of encountering bars of a domestic manufacturer, moreover, made in the USSR.

2 - type: BP - rectangular block;
3 - bar size: 25x16x150;

5 - grain size: 18 - 200...160 microns;


8 - structure (degree of convergence of abrasive grains): 8;

10 - accuracy class: B;

1 - manufacturer’s emblem;

3 - grain size: 6 - 80...63 microns;

5 - hardness of the abrasive tool: СТ1 - medium-hard degree of hardness;
6 - structure (degree of proximity of abrasive grains): 8;
7 - bond: K - ceramic;
8 - accuracy class: A;
9 - standard that the bar meets: GOST 2456-82;
10 - type: BKv - square block;
11 - bar size: 20x150.

1 - manufacturer’s emblem;
2 - abrasive material: 64C - green silicon carbide;
3 - grain size: M28 - 28...20 microns;
4 - minimum percentage of the main fraction: P - increased;
5 - type: BP - rectangular block;
6 - bar size: 25.16.150 - 25x16x150;
7 - hardness of the abrasive tool: ST2 - medium-hard degree of hardness;
8 - structure (degree of proximity of abrasive grains): 10;
9 - bond: K - ceramic;
10 - document which the block satisfies: TU 2-...;
11 - state quality mark of the USSR.

1 - manufacturer’s emblem;
2 - type: BT - triangular block;
3 - bar size: 16x150;
4 - abrasive material: 25A - white electrocorundum;
5 - grain size: 6 - 80...63 microns;
6 - minimum percentage of the main fraction: P - increased;
7 - hardness of the abrasive tool: СТ1 - medium-hard degree of hardness;
8 - structure (degree of convergence of abrasive grains): 9;
9 - bond: K - ceramic;
10 - accuracy class: B;
11 - standard that the bar meets: GOST 2456-82.

We will not consider the remaining bars in such detail; we will focus only on grain size - the main characteristic. There are several systems of standards for determining grain size in abrasive materials:

FEPA (Federation of European producers of Abrasives) - standards of the Federation of European Manufacturers of Abrasives, adopted in Europe, as well as by the largest producers of abrasives in Russia and the CIS countries, and also in India, Turkey and South Africa. Grit designation for flexible material, such as abrasive paper, and a hard or loose abrasive, such as an abrasive stone, are different - P220 and F220, respectively.

ANSI (American National Standards Institute) - a system of uniform US industry standards developed by the American National Standards Institute, also applies to the production of abrasive materials.

JIS (Japan Industrial Standards) - Japanese Industrial Standards, a set of requirements applied in Japanese industry, which also applies to abrasive materials.

Be prepared for the fact that stores often sell whetstones for sharpening knives not only without detailed markings, as in the photo above, but also without even indicating the grain size. Most likely, this is due to the large variation in abrasive grain sizes and the honesty of the manufacturer. However, if the same store sells fine sandpaper, then by comparing the surface of the bar and the skin, you can at least roughly determine the grain size of the bar.

Grit markings according to various standards

USSR			FEPA				ANSI		JIS		Purpose
Designation according to GOST 3647-80	Designation reading according to GOST 9206-80 (diamond powders)	Size, microns	Designation for abrasive materials, excluding materials on a flexible basis.	Medium size, µm	Designation Application for abrasive materials on a flexible basis.	Average size, microns	Designation reading	Average size, microns	Designation reading	Average size, microns
			F 4	4890
			F 5	4125
			F 6	3460
			F 7	2900
200	2500/2000	2500-2000	F 8	2460							Very rough work. Cleaning of blanks and castings.
			F 10	2085
160	2000/1600	2000-1600	F 12	1765	P 12	1815
125	1600/1250	1600-1250	F 14	1470	P 16	1324
100	1250/1000	1250-1000	F 16	1230
			F 20	1040
80	1000/800	1000-800	F 22	885	P 20	1000
63	800/630	800-630	F 24	745	P 24	764	24	708			Repair work associated with intensive metal removal: restoration and change in the shape and profile of the blade and the cutting edge itself.
50	630/500	630-500	F 30	625	P 30	642	30	632
			F 36	525	P 36	538	36	530
40	500/400	500-400	F 40	438	P 40	425	40	425
32	400/315	400-315	F 46	370	P50	336	50	348
25	315/250	315-250	F 54	310			60	265
			F 60	260	P 60	269
20	250/200	250-200	F 70	218	P 80	201
16	200/160	200-160	F 80	185	P 100	162	80	190
12	160/125	160-125	F 90	154			100	140			Removing traces of roughing operations, grinding and basic sharpening work.
			F 100	129
10	125/100	125-100	F 120	109	P 120	125	120	115
8	100/80	100-80	F 150	82	P 150	100	150	92
					P 180	82	180	82
6	80/63	80-63	F 180	69	P 220	68	220	68
5, M63	63/50	63-50	F 220	58	P 240	58,5	240	53,0	J 240	60
			F 230	53	P 280	52,2			J 280	52
4, M50	50/40	50-40	F 240	44,5	P 320	46,2			J 320	46
					P 360	40,5			J 360	40
M40	40/28	40-28	F 280	36,5	P 400	35,0	320	36,0	J 400	34	Removing traces of grinding on the blade surface, finishing sharpening and finishing of the cutting tool.
			F 320	29,2	P500	30,2	360	28,0	J 500	28
M28	28/20	28-20	F 360	22,8	P 600	25,8			J 600	24
					P 800	21,8	400	23,0	J 700	21
M20	20/14	20-14	F 400	17,3	P 1000	18,3	500	20,0	J 800	18
					P 1200	15,3	600	16,0	J 1000	15,5
M14	14/10	14-10	F 500	12,8	P 1500	12,6	800	12,6	J 1200	13	Editing cutting edges, polishing surfaces.
					P 2000	10,3	1000	10,3	J 1500	10,5
M10	10/7	10-7	F 600	9,3	P 2500	8,4
M7	7/5	7-5	F 800	6,5			1200	5,5	J 2000	6,7
									J 2500	5,5
M5	5/3	5-3	F 1000	4,5					J 3000	4,0
	3/2	3-2	F 1200	3,0					J 4000	3,0
	2/1	2-1	F 1500	2,0					J 6000	2,0
			F 2000	1,2					J 8000	1,2
	1/0	1 and
	1/0,5	1-0,5
	0,5/0,1	0,5-0,1
	0,5/0	0.5 and
	0,3/0	0.3 and
	0,1/0	0.1 and

Properties of abrasives used in abrasive stones

Abrasive material	Description	Abrasive ability	Purpose
Corundum	A mineral consisting of crystalline aluminum oxide Al 2 O 3. Microhardness - from 1900 to 2200 kg/mm ​​2	Low	Finishing operations
Electrocorundum	Artificial corundum obtained by smelting bauxite. Depending on the presence of impurities, electrocorundum is distinguished: normal, white (with increased content aluminum oxide), chromium (technical ruby), titanium (technical sapphire) and zirconium. Microhardness - from 1900 to 2400 kg/mm ​​2.	Low	A wide range of tasks - roughing, grinding, sharpening and finishing of blades made of carbon and tool steels.
Carborundum	Contains 97-99% silicon carbide SiC. They produce two main brands - harder and more brittle green carborundum and dark. Microhardness - from 3300 to 3600 kg/mm ​​2.	Average
Boron carbide	Chemical formula- B 4 C. Microhardness - from 4000 to 4500 kg/mm ​​2.	High	Sharpening and finishing of blades made of wear-resistant steels and hard alloys.
Diamond	Microhardness - from 5300 to 10000 kg/mm ​​2	Very high	Sharpening and finishing of blades made of hard wear-resistant alloys.

Ceramic bars

Basically, ceramic bars consist of grains of electrocorundum (aluminum oxide in the form of the so-called α-phase) or silicon carbide (technical name - carborundum; chemical composition SiC) and a binder material. Nowadays, the most common bars on sale are those made in Germany, Poland and China. They are cheap (from 50 rubles), but finding a fine-grained bar is quite difficult (if not impossible). You can still find products in the markets that proudly bear the inscription “Made in the USSR.” It is recommended to take a closer look at them. The fact is that modern market products are usually of very low quality. The grains have extremely different sizes and discolor catastrophically quickly due to the disgusting binder. The bars have to be constantly leveled, already half an hour after the start of work. In principle, due to their low cost, corundum bars can be bought new instead of leveled. But you can do it this way. Under running water, regularly rub the two bars against each other.

Ceramic whetstones are offered by many companies that manufacture tools and sharpening devices. In fact, it is possible that abrasive bars of a given shape are made for them by specialized companies specializing in the production of abrasive materials; it is even possible that they are the same ones. But they only use custom-made elements in their sharpeners, put their own brand name on them and pack them in their own branded packaging. And, of course, there are different agreements between companies, following which they advise sharpening knives of their manufacture on sharpeners of one manufacturer and not another. Although in reality the sharpening result is determined by the skill of the sharpener, and not by the manufacturer of the selected tool (if, of course, this tool is of high quality).

The undoubted advantage of ceramic bars is that they have a huge resource and wear resistance. Medium ceramics wear out very, very slowly, small ceramics wear out practically not. The other side of the coin is that during operation the bars very quickly become clogged with small particles of worn steel and lose their abrasive properties. Especially small ones. True, they can easily be restored to working properties using an ordinary kitchen pot cleaner or mixed with fine sand liquid soap, which is strongly recommended to do after each use of such bars. Otherwise, they will grind the steel somehow, but form a harmful burr very well.

It should be remembered that when working with ceramic bars, it is highly advisable to use a lubricant: water or soap solution. Otherwise, the surface quickly becomes contaminated with metal dust.

Ceramic abrasives are simply shaped (like a potter sculpting clay), dried and then fired. And here (attention!) during the firing process, some of the products lose their shape. Especially under-dried ones. Those in which defects are visible to the naked eye, of course, are immediately thrown away, because nothing more can be done with fired ceramics. But those on which a slight curvature can be seen only by applying a ruler or two bars with the working surfaces to each other can easily sell. If the deflection does not exceed 0.5 mm, at most 1 mm for every 10 cm of the length of the bar, working on such a bar in practice will not harm the quality of sharpening. It is much worse if the block is curved in a wave-like manner. Within 1-1.5 mm on a 20-centimeter block, this is also not so bad, but such an error can already somewhat deteriorate the quality of sharpening.

Japanese water stones

To a first approximation, these are abrasive grains of hard oxides or carbides deposited in silicate (something like white brick) matrix. The question arises: are our bars from the hardware store or some Chinese ones not constructed in exactly the same way? Yes, exactly the same. This is only in theory, but in practice the dog, as always, is buried in details. How uniform are the sizes of abrasive grains, how uniform is the composition and hardness of the matrix, etc. These stones are quite expensive, but cheaper than natural ones.

Their main difference from Western European and domestic analogues is softness, which is determined by the ratio of the pore volume to the volume of the binder and the abrasive grains themselves. Because of their softness, the bars grind off faster, constantly exposing new abrasive grains, while the already worn grains form a suspension along with water on the surface of the bar. Therefore, Japanese water stones, at higher wear rates, provide consistently high performance with good surface finish. The use of fine-grained stones ensures that the cutting edge is quickly brought to an almost perfect condition without polishing pastes, felt wheels and other accessories.

You cannot work on such stones dry. They should not just be sprinkled with water, but thoroughly wetted. Japanese stones are pre-soaked in clean water. Deep plastic containers, preferably transparent, are suitable for this. It is better to have a separate container for each type of stone so that large abrasive particles do not fall on smaller ones. The “soaking” time is determined by the air bubbles released by the bar. Large porous stones will bubble as they absorb water for about 5 minutes. Smaller, medium-grained ones are saturated in 10-15 minutes. The most dense, fine-grained bars are “soaked” for 15-20 minutes.

The stone is then placed on the holder. There are a great variety of them - from store-bought to homemade. The requirement for the holders is to ensure a stable position of the abrasive and prevent it from moving during operation, since you will need both hands when sharpening. On fine-grained stones, before dressing, it is necessary to create a layer of suspension, for which a block of fine-grained Nagura limestone is used. Now the stone is ready for use.

During grinding and polishing, the amount of suspension will increase. It turns out to be quite dirty work. There is no need to wash it off, just make sure it doesn’t thicken too much. The Japanese periodically moisten it by dipping their fingertips in water and shaking water off them onto a block. You can use a household spray bottle or a disposable syringe - just try not to accidentally wash it off completely. If the blade begins to rust during sharpening, moistening can be done with weak soap and soda solutions. However, it is not recommended to use them when finishing and straightening the blade.

Try to use the entire area of ​​the block. During intensive metal removal when working with coarse-grained abrasive, monitor its wear. As a rule, the middle part of the bar wears out as much as possible, which distorts the working plane and “collapses” the cutting edge. There are quite a lot of means to combat this phenomenon. The Japanese themselves make special stones from hard, wear-resistant varieties of abrasive, with rows of parallel cuts on one side, at an angle of 45 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the block, with the help of which the worn stone is leveled. For these purposes, you can also use coarse-grained waterproof sandpaper glued to the glass. The block is placed on it with the worn side and moves in a circular motion, reminiscent of the number "8", until the flat state is restored. You can use another, coarser-grained stone. It is important that the restoration is carried out with water, after which the abrasive is thoroughly washed with a brush to remove stuck particles of larger abrasive.

The bars should be stored in individual containers - plastic or cardboard. Coarse-grained and medium-grained (up to 1000 grit) - in water, especially if they are used regularly (once a week or more often). Usually they are stored in a container closed with a lid, and disinfectants are added to regularly changed water to prevent putrefactive processes. Rarely used bars are best dried after use. Fine-grained ones, on the contrary, are thoroughly dried after each use. You cannot leave a wet block in the cold - frozen water can destroy it. Regular dressing of the stone will help reduce uneven wear and make it easier to maintain. At the same time, to prevent chipping of the edges of the stone during work, it is worth periodically, as wear occurs, to create a narrow chamfer on its edges at an angle of 45 degrees. It is recommended to glue the thinned block with waterproof glue onto a flat piece of thick organic glass or wood - this will extend its life.

Japanese work water stones- this is an activity that does not tolerate haste and fuss. However, if the sharpening process is perceived not as a tedious routine, but as a kind of meditation and ceremony, then it can not only provide an excellent result, practically unattainable by other means, but also bring a state of peace and tranquility into the soul.

Diamond bars

The king among abrasive materials is, of course, diamond, the hardest mineral in the world. Everyone knows about this. But not everyone knows that the unique cutting abilities of a diamond are determined not only by this property. Compared to the hardness of even the hardest steel, there is no difference between the hardness of diamond and corundum. However, the nature of the crystal lattice gives the diamond abrasive grains a shape with sharper cutting edges. In addition, they do not change their shape during operation. Simply put, don't be stupid. The fact is that every, even the smallest, grain of diamond is always a single crystal, and it simply cannot have a shape other than that determined by its crystal lattice. In extreme cases, it can crumble into even smaller crystals, but also mono and of exactly the same shape.

The great advantage of a diamond whetstone for sharpening knives is that its working surface never loses its correct, flat shape. The thickness of the diamond coating is measured in fractions of a millimeter, so we are not in danger of wearing out the surface of the bar. Even a completely “bald” diamond stone that has completely lost its abrasive properties remains almost perfectly flat. Diamond block quite easy to make easy. Of course, this is not at all necessary if we are talking about large bars intended for work at home or in the workshop; heavy ones are even more convenient to work with: they are more stable. And they are not fragile: from an impact that would crush a natural or artificial stone to smithereens, a thin steel plate reinforced with a plastic base, coated with diamond powder, will not even bend.

Diamond abrasive grains are most often held on a steel surface using electrolytically deposited nickel, and less commonly with other metals such as copper. The technology of deposition of diamond (or corundum) abrasive powder on a steel surface using epoxy compound. This produces cheaper and less durable sharpening tools. You can work on a diamond tool by slightly moistening it with water, or in extreme cases, you can dry it. One way or another, a good diamond whetstone does not tend to become clogged with particles of the steel being processed, and in order to clean it completely, it is enough to rinse it in water; in extreme cases, you can wipe it with a dry rag or even just the palm of your hand. Another advantage of diamond abrasives is that they wear away steel very quickly, and this effectively makes it possible to reduce the working length of the stone by about one and a half times compared to ceramic or natural ones. Of course, the longer the whetstone, the easier the work will be and the better the result, so you shouldn’t skimp on the length of the whetstone; even a diamond whetstone should still be at least one and a half times longer than the blade being sharpened. But it’s still possible to work on a short diamond block, but on a natural stone of the same length it will be self-torture and mockery of the blade, and not work. However, very effective abrasion of steel can have its downside and can easily lead to quite significant and difficult to repair damage to the blade in unsteady or inexperienced hands. Particularly dangerous in this sense are coarse-grained diamond abrasives, used for quickly and effectively profiling the cutting wedge of a severely dull or damaged blade.

The main disadvantage of diamond sharpening stones is, of course, the price. And although a huge amount of artificial diamonds are produced all over the world and approximately the same amount of diamond powder comes in the form of waste from production jewelry However, the technology for producing good, high-quality diamond abrasives remains quite expensive. You should avoid cheap diamond bars, they literally go bald before your eyes! The production technology is theoretically the same, but again the dog is buried in such “little things” as quality. The quality of literally everything - the electroplating process that deposits the nickel, the purity of the nickel itself, the uniformity and repeatability of the granulation of the diamond powder, etc. It may happen that as soon as you bring the "untimely bald" bar to the store where you bought it, you will be told: “Normal wear and tear, nothing special, no warranty covers it, just like a clutch disc, or, say, brake pads in a car. Consumables and that’s it!” Or even better: “You yourself ruined it, you shouldn’t have pressed so hard when sharpening!”

And you really don’t need to press hard under any circumstances. Not for any abrasive, but especially for diamond. With strong pressure, you will break out diamond crystals from a relatively soft layer of nickel. And then you will irrevocably ruin the expensive bar. You need to be especially careful during the first time of use, when the diamond bar is “run in”, or, more correctly, ground in. You may think that a new diamond whetstone grinds steel very aggressively, but loses this aggressiveness literally with every knife sharpened. However, if you bought a really high-quality bar, then do not rush to take it back to the store with complaints. This is a normal phenomenon for all abrasives, only in diamond abrasives, intended specifically for manual sharpening, it is most noticeable. After sharpening 10-15 knives, your whetstone will reach its intended condition and will work as it should for a long, long time. It’s just that at first, abrasive grains crumble out of it, somehow holding on, protruding strongly from the surface layer. It is they who give the block abnormal aggressiveness, and precisely because they protrude strongly, which means they hold weakly. The difference between a branded bar and a cheap nameless bar is that the cheap one will go bald more or less evenly further and further until it goes bald completely.

Natural bars

Natural abrasive stones are almost always more or less small crystals of quartz bound by sedimentary rocks, something like petrified silt. There are actually a lot of natural stones suitable for use as abrasives, and they are found in all parts of the world.

The French geologist R. Cordier called a group of rocks consisting of fine-grained siliceous shales with abrasive properties novaculites, which translated means razor stone. The name stuck, and - an unprecedented case in petrography - spread to entire groups of grindstones of various mineral compositions: mica schists with garnet grains, porous chalcedony, clayey shales with quartz and other rocks. They are united only by their abrasive properties and fine-grained structure. Garnet abrasives have long been widely known in Europe. The best of them is the so-called “Belgian stone”. It is a fine-grained muscovite schist containing extremely fine garnet grains. Novaculites also include clayey shales with quartz from Thuringia - Thuringian slate, mica shales with quartz from New Hampshire and Vermont, chalcedony abrasive from Missouri (USA). The most famous deposits of such abrasives are located in the USA (the so-called Arkansas stone) and in Belgium (the so-called Belgian blue stone). In Russia, some types of shale were used for finishing operations.

In case abrasive stones You can’t say that natural is better than artificial. The size of abrasive crystals in natural stone can vary within fairly wide limits, as well as the hardness of the sedimentary rock holding them together - the matrix. Can you imagine a block that grinds differently in different places along its length and width? And find the blocks from which industrially It would be possible to cut out uniform bars, but it would not be so easy. Yes, and cutting it is also difficult. That is why bars based on natural stones are, as a rule, more expensive than artificial ones. But they often sharpen worse, almost always more slowly, and they wear out faster. Of course, with a properly selected set of good natural whetstones, you can perfectly sharpen a blade even from very hard modern steel. But if the same effect can be achieved easier, faster and cheaper with the help of artificial abrasives, then you have to be a really big lover of everything natural to neglect the benefits.

Arkansas stone (or Arkansas) consists of the most common crystalline silica, that is, quartz. But Arkansas has a special structure. Firstly, this is the purest quartz rock - it contains 99.5% SiO 2. Even rock crystal contains more impurities! Secondly, Arkansas is the finest-grained and most uniform rock. Finally, it has the strongest bonds between grains. This is explained by the so-called implication structure: the jagged boundaries of the grains seem to grow into each other.

The world's only deposit of "Arkansas stone" in the Arkansas River basin (one of the largest right tributaries of the Mississippi River). This is where the name of the stone came from. Once upon a time, the rock lay there in thick layers, but as a result of intensive development, the deposits were depleted.

The larger the Arkansas grain and the greater the porosity, the less hard it is. Stone of different types - hard, medium and soft - lies in separate, often adjacent layers.

If someone decides to purchase a set of Arkansas stone bars, then they should adhere to the following rules. Buy at least three bars - soft, medium and hard. The soft stone contains relatively large quartz crystals, and its matrix has a porous, spongy structure. Therefore, it is easily (relatively, of course) erased, exposing the next “fresh” abrasive crystals. Such a stone grinds steel faster, but more roughly; it can be used to profile the cutting wedge of a very dull blade. But the stone itself wears off alarmingly quickly, especially considering its price. The average stone has a denser and harder matrix, and the abrasive grains in it are smaller. On a medium stone you can sharpen moderately dull blades, it leaves behind a smoother (clean) surface, it wears itself out more slowly, but it also wears out steel correspondingly more slowly. A hard stone is just that, hard, and contains the smallest crystals. On a hard stone, the blade is polished to an ideal razor sharpness. It is the most durable, but it also grinds steel very “gently”. Super-hard Arkansas stones are already art for art's sake, for those who want to polish their blade to a mirror shine, which in practice does not always make sense.

When buying, you should choose the longest bars possible precisely because natural stone wears away steel slowly and the same effect is achieved significantly a large number passages than on an artificial bar. For sharpening most work, hunting and outdoor knives, the length of a natural stone block is 20 cm (8 inches); this is the absolute minimum. For kitchen knives with long blades, especially those made of hard and wear-resistant modern stainless steel, you need an even longer block of natural stone. Working on a short bar can simply turn out to be extremely inconvenient and unproductive.

Along with Arkansas stone bars, be sure to buy light mineral oil, which is most often sold with them (but not always). Under no circumstances should you work on natural stone dry! Its porous working surface will very quickly become clogged with steel particles, and it will be quite difficult to “refresh” it. And the oil is simply “squeezed” between the stone matrix and the steel particles, separating them from each other in the same way as separating a rusted nut from a bolt. Which, of course, does not mean at all that the stone, when used correctly, will never become clogged. On the contrary, after each sharpening the stone must be thoroughly rinsed. hot water with soap and a stiff brush specifically to remove particles of abraded steel mixed with oil. And before the next sharpening, lightly moisten the stone (it is not necessary that it drips) with oil again. When you sharpen on natural stone, it’s easy to get dirty up to your ears and stain everything around with a nasty black mess of oil and particles of worn steel. It is very difficult to wash it off later, and the stone itself is not easy to wash. And under no circumstances should you use vegetable oil for this purpose! It will penetrate into the pores of the stone to an indefinite depth, where it will polymerize over time from contact with oxygen in the air (just as drying oil polymerizes - this is also a vegetable oil), and then your stone can be thrown away. For the same reason, never sharpen a dirty, greasy kitchen knife on a natural stone - always wash it thoroughly before sharpening.

Another undoubted disadvantage natural stones is their fragility.

The advantage advertised by manufacturers and sellers that they allegedly “sharpen, erasing a minimum of steel from the blade” is, excuse me, nonsense, designed for naive rich buyers. How can this be sharpened without washing? Or sharpen “a lot”, erasing “little”? All sharpening is based precisely on the controlled abrasion of steel from the blade in order to give it the desired shape, in contrast to uncontrolled and random abrasion when the knife becomes dull.

When your bar is exhausted from natural stone in your middle, you take a flat concrete slab more, pour it thoroughly with water and rub the working surface of your block again to a flat shape. Of course, you will work hard at this, but again, the less you do, the sooner you take it up and the less you “run” your block. And when the surface is already flat, as you can verify by applying a ruler, throw a sheet of medium sandpaper, also preferably waterproof, onto this very slab, and give your “renewed” block the proper cleanliness of the working surface. And so on until your bar is worn down to such a thin thickness that it simply breaks, but this will not happen too soon, even if you sharpen one or two knives daily.

Using abrasive paper

In this topic, it would be more correct to mention an alternative to abrasive stones. There are many supporters of sharpening knives on abrasive paper. Of course, the service life of a sheet of sandpaper will be incomparably less than a block, but when you want to try abrasives of different grain sizes, it is easier to buy a sheet of sandpaper for testing than a block, especially since a block with very fine grains may not be found. However, looking for very fine sandpaper (for example P2000) in stores that sell power tools or building materials is also ineffective. It’s better to immediately go to the website of the telephone directory “Yellow Pages” (allinform.ru) in the section “Abrasives, tools”, select your city (if you haven’t chosen it yourself), and look for those who sell retail for cash.

The abrasive paper must be waterproof. To sharpen knives, it is cut into long strips 4-8 cm wide, which are fixed on a flat surface, such as a piece of glass. You can attach it in different ways, the main thing is that the skin exactly repeats flat surface. If the base of the skin is made of a polymer film, when wet it will seem to stick to a smooth and even surface. The abrasive paper can be attached with double-sided adhesive tape. So that there are no irregularities, adhesive tape should be glued over the entire surface. You can also do mechanical fastening. You should also take care to secure the device to the table.

To sharpen chisels and plane knives, you don’t have to cut the abrasive paper, and change its working area as the abrasive wears out.

When sharpening, the skin is sprayed with water or soap solution. The blade should be moved over the skin without applying pressure. After sharpening, the skin is washed and can be used more than once.

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Probably, each of us has encountered a situation where it takes a very long time to cut something, for example, semi-finished products for a feast, for a birthday or for another holiday. But, as always, at the most inopportune moment you discover that the preparation is going very slowly, and the reason for all this is a dull knife that rolls over a piece of meat like a toy, although we remember that not so long ago we sharpened this very knife with our own hands . How to avoid getting into such situations and not delaying the start of the holiday, we will talk in this article.

First, let's figure out what it is sharpening stones and what types they are. Sharpening stones are small, usually rectangular products made from abrasive stones or coated with abrasive materials. Abrasive materials from the French “abrasit” - to grind and from the Latin “abradere” - to scrape off, that is, these are materials of high hardness, and they are used for processing various types surfaces such as: glass, leather, metal, rubber, various minerals, etc.

In our case, we are, of course, talking about knives made of metal. Using various sharpening stones, you can sharpen a knife blade to the point where it can easily cut human hair without much effort. So, what types of sharpening stones are there?

Arkansas stone block

The birthplace of this stone is America, Arkansas. It is mined in very rare deposits where natural stone reserves, unique in their structure, are located. The process of extracting this stone is very expensive, which explains the high price for Arkansas stone. Arkansas stones are made up of very small naturally compressed quartz crystals and vary in their level of abrasiveness, which is why they are divided into 4 different groups: soft, hard white, hard black and hard clear.

With the help of these stones, metal is removed from the knife blade in a thin layer, producing high-quality sharpening for a long time. For sharpening best quality, special oil is used. Under no circumstances should you work with this bar without using oil; the working surface of the bar will become clogged with small particles of metal and it will be quite difficult to clean it.

Japanese water stone block

By the name you can guess the country of origin of this stone. Compared to Arkansas stone, these products are softer. Before using such a stone, it should be placed in a container of water for fifteen or twenty minutes. The time depends on the hardness of the stone. Immersion in water is also necessary to cleanse pores, restore abrasive surfaces and remove contaminants. It is also important: if you are going to work with several stones of different grain sizes, then you should place each stone in a separate container, since the surface of a fine degree of abrasiveness may become clogged with abrasives from large stones. When finishing the knife, this may cause scratches on the blade.

The performance of this stone is very high, with its help you can restore any knife, even the most hopeless blade. But the only negative is the rapid wear of the working surface. Some craftsmen grind such a worn block down with hard sandpaper to restore it to its original appearance.

In addition to natural sharpening stones, there are artificial ones made industrially. They are inferior in quality to natural stones, but are much more affordable. The working surface usually contains corundum, silicon carbide or chromium oxide. Crystals from these substances are stronger than steel, and when sharpening a knife, they perfectly cut off a layer of metal with a thin film. To hold the crystals in the grindstone, a special base is used. Its material is much softer than steel and working crystals. The spent crystals gradually fall off from the base with each layer, and gradually, as the surface wears off, the bars resume their working properties.

Diamond bars

Naturally, you cannot take such items to a pawnshop under the pretext that they are a precious stone. Microscopic crystals are applied to the working surface of the bar, which in their strength resemble diamonds, but created artificially. But at the same time, the price of such a bar is quite high. Such diamond coating can be either polycrystalline or monocrystalline.

Diamond whetstones for sharpening knives come in two types and differ in the way the crystals are attached:

Ceramic bars

Ceramic stones made in different countries. The main producers in at the moment are Poland, China and Germany. Such products are made from small grains of electrocorundum or silicon carbide together with a binder material. The main advantage of such stones is their wear resistance. Medium-grain stones wear out very slowly, while fine-grain stones will last a very long time, as they practically do not wear out.

The main disadvantage of ceramic products- rapid clogging with metal particles and loss of abrasive properties. Fine-grained stones are especially susceptible to clogging. Therefore, most often ceramic stones used for finishing after roughing the blade. But a handy mixture of liquid soap mixed with fine sand or a regular kitchen cleaner for cleaning metal products will help restore the original appearance. It is recommended to clean these bars after each use.

And we should also not forget that when working with such products, you need to use lubricant. You can use a soap solution or plain water to ensure that the surface does not become clogged or greasy with metal particles.

So, now that we’ve looked at the types of sharpening stones, let’s figure out how to properly sharpen knives with them.

How to properly sharpen knives with a whetstone

The main thing in sharpening a knife is understand sharpening techniques, because the master will be able to sharpen the blade and ordinary brick, and an amateur will ruin the blade even on a natural abrasive stone.

Before you start sharpening, prepare the following:

1. Comfortable and non-slip working surface.
2. Small bowl of water.
3. Towel.
4. Paper.

The first step is to prepare the knife: wash it with soap and dry it.

Then you need to decide on the sharpening product. For better effect should be done while working alternate coarse-grained and fine-grained bars. The ideal option would be to prepare coarse-grained, medium-grained and fine-grained stone. Using a coarse rectangle, the desired angle and shape of the blade edge is restored. Medium-grain stone restores the edge itself, and fine-grained stone is used for finishing. U different manufacturer fine-grained stone has different degrees of grain, so you need to choose such a stone as needed. It is best for a beginner to purchase a stone with a large working surface; the chances of properly sharpening a knife on it are much higher.

Before you start sharpening, you should put the bars in a container with water. If you choose a diamond stone, then it should be slightly wetted, but when you decide to use an Arkansas stone, you should not forget that it is coated with a special oil and not soaked.

After necessary procedures, you need to choose the sharpening angle. The greater the angle of inclination during sharpening, the more different the purpose of the knife. A blade sharpened at an angle of 30 degrees will find good use in complex work, sharpening at 20 degrees is suitable for work of medium complexity, sharpening at 15 degrees is suitable for light work. For a regular kitchen knife, the sharpening angle is just 15-20 degrees. If at first it is difficult to maintain the desired degree of sharpening, there are special pads with which you can maintain the desired degree.

Once you have decided on an angle, you need to stick to that angle throughout the entire sharpening process. Sharpening process consists of the following steps:

1. Grinding.
2. Polishing.
3. Finishing.
4. Edge straightening.

A sharpening stone is placed on the table, which is removed from a container with water; usually there is a sharpening stone underneath it. special stand, in order not to damage the table surface and fix the stone on the surface. You need to take the knife with both hands: hold the blade with your left hand, and the handle of the knife with your right hand. Then you should select the desired angle relative to the working surface of the block.

The edge of the knife should be facing away from you. Then move the blade along the block in a smooth motion away from you forward and to the right.

In the place where the blade bends, you should raise the handle of the knife so that the specified angle remains in the same position. Swipe the edge of the knife as if you want to cut an even thin layer from this rectangle. It is important to calculate the movement so that the beginning of the movement comes from the handle, the middle of the blade is in the middle of the block, and at the end of the sharpening stone the tip of the knife blade remains. Do not change the angle while sharpening your knife to make your job as efficient as possible. Each side of the blade must go over the sharpener the same number of times, so switch sides of the blade after each pass over it.

You need to repeat the movements until you see fine particles metal over the entire area of ​​the blade, and in the place where you ran the edge along the block, there should be an even shiny strip. Then remove the metal particles using paper and change the stone to a finer grit. Repeat the same steps. When it comes to the finest grain, you will need to sand the surface until a line appears on opposite side, it's called a hangnail.

After increasing the gradation of the bar to fine-grain, the burr becomes smaller, but does not disappear. That's why will need to get rid of it, taking a stone with the finest grain and passing the blade along it with each side once, just like when sharpening, only the last movements should be done so as to almost not touch the surface of the sharpening product with the blade. For this procedure, it is best to take a clean bar or clean the used one in the manner described above.

The quality of a sharpened blade depends on how sharp the edge itself is. After you have gotten rid of the burr, you should take a special block of wood, treated with a special paste and leather, to polish the edge of the knife with it.

To check the sharpness of your knife, take a knife and a sheet of paper. If the knife is able to cut paper without effort, then the knife was sharpened at an excellent level. Do not check the sharpness of the knife with your fingers, as this may cause cuts.

What sharpening stones for knives look like

Using a block manually (with video without SMS and registration) and understand why do this at all. Professionals, of course, are knowledgeable about this topic, but there may be something for them as well. useful information. Or this will be a reason to update your knowledge in order to “keep on your toes.”

If you have to put more and more effort into cutting, then this is a reason to think about sharpening your knife. Because using blunt weapons is dangerous. It can slip at any moment, and believe me, the sharpness of the blade will be enough to cause a serious wound to you or a person standing next to you.

Preparing for sharpening. What needs to be done before this?

Upon closer inspection, the knife blade looks like a saw, and the more often the teeth are located in it and the smoother the transition between them, the easier it is to use the tool. A dull knife loses these teeth, they wear out, bend and crumble.
There are many ways to sharpen a knife using mechanical and electric sharpeners, as well as special machines with grinding wheels. But sharpeners do not give an ideal result, and easel sharpening requires considerable knowledge and skills. Therefore, we will look at how to properly sharpen knives with a whetstone, in a step-by-step guide for independent work in at home. This method will give you two main advantages: considerable money savings and excellent results.

The first thing to do is determine the extent of damage to the blade. It's very easy to do. Place it at an angle to a beam of bright light. This method instantly identifies all the chips and irregularities that you need to eliminate. They will appear as dots or lines on the blade. If the boundary between the planes is uniform, sharply defined, without transitions, then the instrument is in excellent condition.
After this, the knife must be washed in water with added soap. This is done to facilitate subsequent work. It will become easier for the knife to slide along the sharpening stone, and it will be easier for you to maintain the required angle between the planes of the blade and the blade.

Choosing the right bar

The main tool in subsequent work will be a sharpening stone. To get the perfect result, you will need several stones of different grits. The minimum quantity is two, but if you need a razor-sharp blade brought to perfection, you can use up to five whetstones.

There are two types of bars. The first ones are artificial, used for primary metal processing, made from the following materials.

Synthetic gemstones (diamond, sapphire, etc.):

• borazone;
• silicon carbide;
• elbor;
• and others.

The second ones are natural. They are used for final sharpening of the knife:

• diamond;
• pomegranate;
• corundum;
• Japanese water stones.

It is clear that natural donkeys cost a lot of money, but if you want to get a really good result, you will have to fork out a little.
An important parameter is the choice of size suitable for the work of the bar. At a minimum, it should be the same length as the knife with which you will have to work. And ideally – one and a half to two times more. In this case, the width of the stone does not matter and is selected based on personal preferences. Although if you take a wider whetstone, it will be easier for even an inexperienced beginner to work on it.
Before starting, you need to soak the bar in water (artificial) or oil (natural). The liquid will nourish, close the pores in it, reduce subsequent contamination and make your work easier.

Correct sharpening angle

How to sharpen a kitchen knife with a whetstone? Holding it at the right angle. It is this parameter that will subsequently determine the length of the blade’s service life and the frequency of its sharpening. How larger angle you get, the higher the resistance of the metal external influence, which means you need to update its sharpness less often. An acute angle makes cutting easier, but due to the thinness of the metal obtained at this point, it wears out faster.

The determining factor will be the purpose of the knife:

• Japanese culinary blades sharpened at an angle of 10–20 degrees;
• fillet knives and professional chef's knives require an angle of 25 degrees;
• utility knives – 30 degrees;
• hunting blades are processed at an angle of 35–40 degrees.

You will need to not only determine the angle of inclination, but also maintain it throughout the entire work.

Advice! To find and maintain the required number of degrees, it is good to use a sheet of paper folded several times. It is a fast, cheap and accurate meter.

If, after reading the article, you still have questions about how to properly sharpen knives with a whetstone, the video attached to it will completely clarify them. It clearly shows the entire sequence of actions, which means it will be easier for you to repeat them, gaining your own experience.

- How do you sharpen your knives?
- I have diamond bars!
- Ah, you probably don’t know that they are not suitable for every knife...

(From a conversation with a blacksmith)

Quickly correct the sharpening of a knife while hunting or fishing, or sharpen the cutting edge on a newly made or completely ruined knife - with the help of a diamond whetstone you can do this easily and simply. Only two conditions...

• You have chosen the right diamond stone for your tasks.
• And mastered it basic technique editing and sharpening on diamonds.

Let's talk about this. The article will not contain any complex terms and concepts, for example, “deposition of diamond abrasive powder on the steel surface of a bar using an epoxy compound” or “retention of diamonds using electrolytically deposited nickel”)). No, I'm not talking about that today.

The purpose of this material is to teach you how to choose a diamond stone to suit your needs and use it if necessary.

And to make our conversation easier, watch the comic video that we specially filmed for this purpose. Yes, this video is about diamond bars.

VIDEO: Diamond bars. The main thing is not to get carried away))

Well, now let's continue. What is a “diamond block”? Typically, this is a plastic or aluminum base on which two metal plates are attached, onto which, using chemical methods abrasive diamond grains are seated and retained.

Rice. 1 Structure of a double-sided diamond whetstone for sharpening and straightening knives

The great advantage of diamond whetstones is that even a “seasoned” whetstone that has seen dozens of knives remains absolutely flat. “What other advantages do these bars have?” you ask.

Please:

Diamond bars: advantages

• Diamond abrasive grains have sharper edges compared to other abrasives and do not change their shape during operation.
• Diamond stones are not brittle; they will not break under impact, like natural or artificial sharpening stones.
• Sharpening with diamond stones does not require special oil - just lightly moisten it with water.
• The diamond block will not become clogged when sharpening particles of the knife being processed. To clean the bar, just rinse it in water and wipe dry with a rag or fiber.
• Diamond whetstones grind down steel very quickly. This allows you to save the working surface (length) of the bar more long time compared to ceramics or natural abrasives.

But don’t rush to run to the store or surf the Internet to buy a diamond stone. These bars have two disadvantages that may be important to you:

Diamond bars: disadvantages

• Effective grinding of knife steel during sharpening on diamond stones can lead to irreparable damage to the blade in inept hands.
• And the second drawback is the “price”. Yes, diamond bars are somewhat expensive compared to natural abrasives, since the technology for producing good (read branded, branded) diamond stones are quite expensive. And prices usually start at 800 rubles (11/02/2016). Have you seen it cheaper? Avoid this block! After 5-10 sharpenings it will be bald - you’ll have to throw it away, but you don’t want that, do you?

We’ll fix your hands now)) – more on that below. And the second drawback, “price,” is more problematic to correct. Everything is in your hands here. Sorry for the pun.

Diamond bars: designation and marking

But first, let's learn how to choose a diamond stone. Have you seen their designation? Look: 2500/2000, 2000/1600, 1600/1250, 1250/1000, 1000/80, 800/630, 630/500, 500/400, 400/351, 315/250, 250/200, 200/160, 160/125 , 125/100, 100/80, 80/63, 63/50, 50/40 , 40/28, 28/20, 20/14, 14/10 , 10/7, 7/5, 5/3, 1/0 .

Confused? Nothing complicated really. These designations are adopted according to GOST 9206-81 (diamonds) and are divided into:

• 12345 — Diamond bars for repair work associated with intensive metal removal, namely, restoration and change in the shape and profile of the blade and cutting edge.
• 12345 — Diamond bars for removing traces of roughing operations, grinding and basic sharpening work, namely obtaining the specified parameters of the blade and cutting edge.
• 12345 — Diamond whetstones for removing grinding of the blade surface, finishing sharpening and finishing of cutting tools.
• 12345 — Diamond stones for straightening cutting edges and polishing surfaces.

Is it easier now? And the marking is deciphered as follows, for example, “125/100” means that on this side of the bar there are diamond grains of at least 100, maximum 125 microns.

Usually, the manufacturer puts a mark on the bars (on both sides), which indicates its grain size. Like this:

Rice. 2 Diamond stone marking

Considering that we are talking about double-sided diamond bars, you understand that one side is intended for rougher sharpening operations, the other for straightening and polishing the cutting edge.

"Cool! One diamond block for two operations! - you exclaim.

Yes, that’s right, “two in one”. As a rule, the greenish side of the bar is rougher, and the brown side is thinner. If there is no marking, you can feel it tactilely with your fingernail, or take a magnifying glass and feel it visually.

Universal diamond stone

Now, listen to the advice of experienced people. A diamond bar with one side marked “100/80” and the other “50/40” covers 99% of sharpening operations. Believe me, this bar will be enough!

Do you have little experience in sharpening operations or is there no need to sharpen the cutting edge before planing the hair? Buy this particular block! He will always be with you. Put it in your backpack when going “out into nature”, take it with you on hunting and fishing – a universal diamond whetstone will give sharpness to your knife while cutting up a wild boar carcass, a rich catch, or when slicing food in the kitchen.

Do you make your own knives? Or is sharpening knives your hobby? Use our “Abrasives Table” to select diamond or other stones to suit your needs.

Rice. 3 The table of abrasives will help you navigate when choosing a sharpening material to suit your needs

Download it in high resolution from this

Today's review is dedicated to sharpening stones Venevsky Diamond Plant, purchased in the online store of this very plant. More precisely, legally, it seems that 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've already done this before. In that review, I tried to consider in detail theoretical issues: what are the pros and cons of diamond abrasives, what types of diamond abrasives are there, how they differ, why galvanically bonded diamonds and Venev diamonds work differently, etc. To avoid duplicating reviews, I will not review the same questions again, so if you are interested in this whole theory, you can follow the link and watch the first review.
In a nutshell, let me just remind you that galvanically bonded diamonds, such as DMT, EdgePro and many others, are distinguished by the fact that they work much faster and rougher than Venev diamonds, while Venev diamonds work softer, more delicate, if you like, and have a longer service life due to their thick diamond-bearing layer, plus amenable to renewal and leveling.
When I was just studying the topic of diamonds, it was striking to me that in discussions they focused attention, they said not just “diamonds,” but specifically “Venev diamonds,” something in the spirit of “well, for this you need to take Venev diamonds.” I thought then that individuals were promoting the manufacturer this way due to some kind of selfish interest. When I figured it out, I realized that in fact the emphasis was placed on the fact that Venevsky diamonds, in a purely technical sense, differ from others available on the market, and for many discussions it is essential to indicate what kind of diamonds were used to perform this or that operation. So this indication of the manufacturer is actually information about the type of tool, and the indication is important because... In some cases this tool is good, but in others it is not.
Now about today's review. Now I have collected the entire middle part of the line of abrasives from the Venevsky plant, except for the finest and coarsest. And the review will focus on these forms:




This set allows you to fully sharpen your knife. I mean sharpening in the narrow sense of the word, i.e. giving the knife sharpness. The plant's assortment includes even coarser abrasives for roughing - 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, are performed. This is why it is often said that roughing is actually a job of repairing, not sharpening, a knife.
And there are thinner bars for finishing - 3/2 and 1/0. By the time these bars are used, sharpening has long been completed and the knife is already sharp. The main tasks of finishing are to ensure that the cutting edge is brought (hence the name) to a given state in order to ensure durability, etc. Increasing sharpness during finishing is a concomitant effect.
Roughing and finishing are not considered in this review. In my opinion, it is wrong to lump them together with sharpening ones. Firstly, this is incorrect from the point of view of the sharpening technique. And secondly, one may get the impression that all Venev diamonds, from the coarsest to the finest, have identical properties, and the assessment of one of them applies 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 in this review I consider as a single set for the step-by-step execution of a single task of sharpening a knife.

All forms in the review have the same concentration 100%.

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




I don’t see any point in talking about covers in detail. Cases are just like cases, the fact that they exist is a plus, although I wouldn’t say that they surprised me with their quality or anything like that. Well, now, as far as I know, the covers have become completely different. On the manufacturer's website, the bars are 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:




More precisely, it looked like it when he arrived.
Again I praise the Viennese bars for appearance. They look simply gorgeous, the inscriptions are clearly readable - it’s very convenient.

Flatness.
But bars are bought not to admire, but to work with them, so there is a much more interesting question: what about the flatness of the bars? On this point, many disputes and claims against the plant arise. I'm showing you.


On all my bars the saddle is visible to the naked eye. Moreover, the diamond-bearing layer has the same thickness throughout the entire block (measured with a caliper), but forms 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. An organic bond, as far as I know, is subject to exposure to high temperatures during production, and it is possible that the form may bend when heated/cooled. At least, this happens with knife blades if heat treatment is unsuccessful. Well, okay, the plant technologists should deal with this.
For us as users, the condition of the final product is more important. I said that there is some debate about curvature. On the one hand, a representative of the plant, both in personal correspondence with me and in Internet discussions, assures that each bar is tested for flatness, and crooked bars are necessarily rejected. Photographs of the equipment used to check flatness were also provided.




Once the block has passed the quality control inspection, it means it complies with 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 using feeler gauges, 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 plant’s assurances about passing the quality control department. Maybe the bars are leading 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 because the diamonds are clearly visible.




I would like to draw your attention to a couple of points.
First, the shape of the diamonds is visible. Various discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of abrasives use illustrations of this kind.

They are designed to show that diamonds are a superabrasive with sharp edges, very effective cutting metal. It’s interesting that these pictures are used both by supporters of diamonds, showing how wonderful they are, and by opponents of diamonds, showing how terrible diamonds hopelessly ruin knives, leaving terrible cracks on their surface.
In reality, industrial diamonds are not at all like cut diamonds.


They are shaped more like an ordinary pebble picked up on the road.


Secondly, note that the diamonds are recessed differently in the bundle. Recently, while passing by a Khrushchev building, I suddenly noticed that its wall is a very clear model by which the structure of the block can be explained.


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

In progress
Now let's talk about how these bars showed themselves in work. The general conclusion is simple: all bars work well. The markings are not mixed up; each subsequent bar works thinner than the previous one and effectively removes traces of its work. But as always, there are a lot of nuances.

The first example is Andrei 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 through the efforts of my fellow countryman.
M390 is not a very complex steel in terms of sharpening, but it is still quite suitable for the example in this review, since both its chemical composition and hardness are very impressive, it is a much more complex steel than the quick cutter from the previous review, and it is well suited for this purpose. , to clearly show why diamonds are needed when there are much cheaper abrasives.
So, the first 100/80 bar is approximately 180 grit according to the most common classification.
It worked without problems. The block easily and naturally gnaws on the M390, like kitchen stainless steel. As a result, we have supply lines with clearly visible risks.


Under the microscope it is clear that there are no deep scratches that clearly fall out of the general range.




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

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




The main thing that pleases me is the speed. After the last whetstone, sharpening with this one took literally a few minutes with all the settings and preparation.

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

7/5 is approximately 2000-3000grit
Well, everything is clear here - the end result is clearly visible: the leads shine, the knife shaves, the marks are neat, the cutting edge is without ugly, shapeless teeth. Overall, quite a good result, which is quite possible to stop at.

In the end, what do I want to say about sharpening M390 and other similar steels? Venev diamonds sharpen them as if it were some kind of completely trivial steel, one of those that are now a little arrogantly called simpletons. M390 grinds down like kitchen stainless steel. The final result depends solely on your skill. If you know how to sharpen, then with Venev diamonds you can sharpen a quick cutter or powdered super steel to a good result. There are holivars on the Internet that the end result of diamond sharpening is worse, especially in terms of durability. I will not delve into this topic now, because, as the famous daughter of an officer said, “not everything is so simple,” and if you delve into it, you will have to talk a lot about it, and the conclusions and recommendations will not be unambiguous, but depend on the situation. Let me remind you for now that All knives that win the Russian Rope Cutting Championship are sharpened with Venev diamonds. This is significant, regardless of how you feel about cutting the rope. Igor Lukinov generally considers this type of abrasives to be the best. Again, you can debate with him, but his opinion is worth mentioning because he has very rich practical experience.
In general, the result obtained by sharpening powdered high-alloy steels is at least good. Well, the main advantage of Venev 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 simpler and cleaner than when using water sharpeners, for example.
Secondly, for me it is very important resource and stability Venevsky bars. Typically, discussions of the merits of diamonds revolve around the speed of operation. Yes, it's 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 in a soft binder, which work on such steels no slower, if not faster than diamonds. But the speed is ensured by a very rapid renewal of grain and, as a consequence, very rapid 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 worn down to a noticeable saddle, and we need to stop to straighten it, which means we have additional troubles. And at the end of the peeling, you watch with sadness how the stone has noticeably lost weight. And this is after one knife. I haven’t come across any really epic examples yet, but I’ve come across reviews from people who didn’t have enough Boride CS-HD stone to finish stripping a knife.
And here diamonds have a huge advantage, which I would like to especially focus on. Even if they don’t gain noticeably in speed, they will definitely gain in durability. When buying diamonds, you understand that even in difficult cases they will last not for a couple of monster knives, but for a very long time. In amateur format of use - for years, perhaps even for many years.

And if we compare diamonds with each other, then organic diamonds, which by default mean Venev diamonds, have one more advantage. The fact is that galvanically bonded diamonds gradually become bald. You can again show the wall of a house as an example as a model.


The diamonds are gradually torn out of the bunch, like stones from the wall in the photo. For galvanically bonded diamonds, this is an irreversible process. And that's bad. It turns out that on a bald block, lonely diamonds stick out here and there, which leads to very uneven work. But the Venevskys, under the bald top layer, still have millimeters of fresh diamonds that appear outward after the upper ones have been worn out. That is, galvanic ones work worse and worse, but Venevsky ones are stable until they work down to the substrate. Well, Venevsky ones work slower than galvanic ones, but softer and more accurately.

Okay, everything is clear with super steels. What about simpler steels? After previous reviews, judging by the comments, some viewers got the impression that diamonds in general and Venev 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, that's not true. It's not that diamonds are not suitable for sharpening such steels. The point was that they 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 differences in how different abrasives affect steel and how steel affects the abrasive. In short, if you only have to sharpen such simple steels, there is no urgent need to buy diamonds.
But this does not mean that diamonds cannot be used in such situations. As an example, I’ll show you how to sharpen this Victorinox.


It needs to remove the chip on the tip.


In fact, the work is a piece of cake, and diamonds are completely unnecessary here. Moreover, there is no need to use rough diamonds. But since he luckily turned up at hand, he will be a test subject.

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


In general, as I said, there was no point in using a 100/80 diamond here - it was like shooting sparrows from a cannon. It’s simply indicative that a diamond simply cuts such steel as if it were plasticine.
Under a microscope the edge looks relatively good. For me, by the way, this is a surprise.




I expected a deeply plowed inlet and rough, uneven teeth on the cutting edge. It was interesting to take a look myself, since I usually don’t use diamonds on such steels.

Second stage, Venevsky diamond 50/40. Again, an excessive option in our situation. It could have been completely missed. But I'll use it as an example.


If you did not draw a neat edge to show the result of this stage, then after half a minute you could already move on to the next block. The block again cuts steel like plasticine and very quickly removes marks from 100/80.

Let's move on - 20/14. If I weren’t doing a review, but just sharpening this knife with Venev whetstones, 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 a microscope does not require any special comments.

Well, let’s finish with the last bar from today’s review - 7/5. I worked with them a little longer to be on the safe side, that is, not to leave risks from the previous bars, not to leave a burr.
This is what the edge looks like under a microscope. Quite normal. There are no rough marks left, the teeth on the edge are quite uniform.


That's it, sharpening is finished.

By and large, the knife was sharp after 100/80, and in principle, it would have even been possible to stop at that stage. The knife is not razor sharp, but cuts aggressively. Some even like this aggressive sharpening. The problem is that she keeps not for long, especially if you are working on something hard, such as wood. Well, with each subsequent whetstone 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 don’t look very good, especially because of the clearly visible border on the lead after moving to a larger angle, so I lengthened them a little without going to the edge. This took another minute and a half or two.




What did I even want to say with this example with Victorinox? In this situation, it was easy to do without Venev diamonds and use something simpler and cheaper. It’s not even possible, but this would be a more justified option. I used Venevsky ones 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 in just a few minutes, literally effortlessly. The end result isn't good enough? Last time I sharpened this knife with natural stones. If after some time I ask the owner of the knife if he noticed that this time the sharpening was done differently, what do you think he will answer? Will he say that he immediately noticed that something was wrong this time, the sharpening doesn’t hold up at all, the blade is damaged and in general everything is much worse than last time? Nothing like that. With such a blind study, he will not distinguish “diamond” sharpening from “non-diamond” - I have already checked this more than once.

Conclusions
Okay, the review is already turning out to be long, it’s time to somehow summarize and evaluate these four bars. Yes, by the way, let me again emphasize that all conclusions and assessments relate specifically for these bars. I’m not talking about Venevsky abrasives “in general,” but about whetstones for sharpeners with a concentration of 100% and having grain sizes of 100/80, 50/40, 20/14 and 7/5. Why does this matter?
-First. In sharpening, it is customary to distinguish three main stages: roughing, sharpening and finishing. So, these four bars form a set that provides the actual sharpening stage. Coarser for stripping and finer for finishing is a topic for a separate discussion, since some of the points voiced here for stripping and finishing are irrelevant.
-Second. The properties of the bar are affected by concentration. I heard that Venev diamonds 100% and 25% work completely differently. So different that sometimes you can use bars of the same grain size, but of different concentrations, together. I heard, but I don’t have my own experience in this regard, so I speak specifically for 100% concentration.
-Third. Now on sharpening resources you can find serious claims against Venevsky diamonds. In general, by the way, in almost all areas it happens that at first something is unanimously praised, and then the mood changes, and the same product is no less unanimously criticized. The situation is similar with Venevsky diamonds. There was a period when they were extolled. But if a person decides to look at the latest discussions, he will find that they are harshly criticized and may get the impression that the abrasive is no good at all - there are so many dissatisfied people, continuous abuse
So, do not draw hasty conclusions from a superficial study of the discussions. Claims are indeed being made against the Venevsky plant, and the plant admits that there is a problem. But there is one very important nuance. The problem was detected on the thinnest bars and the cause is not yet clear. Initially, it was believed that it was due to the fact that boron carbide was used in the organic binder, which itself is a very effective abrasive, and the size of the boron carbide grains turned out to be larger than the size of the main abrasive, i.e. diamonds Now the plant has stated that, based on the results of their research, the problem is not boron carbide, but what exactly is not clear.
Now the Venevsky plant is experimenting with ligaments, trying to make thin bars that are free of this problem.
But I would like to emphasize that this problem not relevant to those bars that were reviewed 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 will repeat. You shouldn’t give some kind of generalized assessment of Venev diamonds “in general” and transfer the complaints about the 1/0 finishing stones to the entire line. Or, having read about the “screw” bending of whetstones for manual sharpening, you think that this is found on whetstones for sharpeners. I have no complaints about the sharpening stones reviewed today. No, not like that. I have some complaints about the curvature, which I already mentioned. 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 won’t speak for the rest of the plant’s products, so as not to be accused of bias, but about this part of their line, I can say with a clear conscience that I like it and am satisfied with it. I wrote about the shortcomings - decide for yourself how critical they will be for you

We could end here, but experience shows that some scroll to the end of the review and look for direct, clear advice: “Just tell me – should I buy or not buy such bars?”
The short answer for those viewers would be:
« -if you regularly sharpen knives made of complex steels such as high-speed cutters and powder supersteels, then I highly recommend purchasing a set of Venev stones from 100/80 to 7/5. There really is no worthy alternative to them in this category now - this is not praising the manufacturer, this is an objective situation on the market.
-If you don’t know what you will need to sharpen and you want to have a universal set that is guaranteed to handle any knife and allow you to sharpen it quickly and without problems, I also recommend purchasing such a set. In general, it may become the only one. Everything will be fine until you start reading the forums, and then you can lose peace and sleep due to doubts about the influence of diamonds on the resource and wear resistance of the knife :).
“But if you know for sure that you will only sharpen knives made from simple ordinary steels, then I don’t see the point in taking diamonds - it’s not justified either financially or technologically.”

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

This is the conclusion.
As for me personally, I am neither a fan nor an opponent of diamonds. I am not involved in the “diamonds versus natural stones” debate. I have galvanized diamonds, organic Venev diamonds, synthetic stones, ceramics, and natural abrasives. And they all get along well with each other, complement each other, and no one has supplanted anyone.

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