Metallic Bonded Diamond Sharpening Stones from Practical Sharpening - sharpening Rex 121

This is a review of metallic bonded diamond stones from Practical Sharpening. There’s discussion on what the stones are, how they’re maintained, and how they perform. The video also documents sharpening Rex 121 with the stones.
Practical Sharpening can be found online here
/ practicalsharpening
If anyone purchases these or similar stones and attempts to etch them, all necessary safety precautions should be taken. It’s the users responsibility to research what safety precautions should be taken and follow those precautions.

[@harrisquicksilver6595]

U get to the point and dont exaggerate or falsely hype up any product, also u give credit justly. U are a plethora of information and very wise. This is why we love ur videos, thanks Michael

[@corismsyn]

Thanks for reviewing their products. I had been in contact with them last month and they said they were sending stuff out to a reviewer but wouldn't tell me who. I told them they should send it to you but I guess it was you all along they had already sent it to. Looking forward to more reviews.

[@JimiJamesIII]

Thank you for the time and effort that you put in to your vids. I’ve learned so much from you and BBB about freehand sharpening. You guys are miles ahead of me, but I’m able to get knives sharp. They’re not pretty and a this point I don’t care about that. I agree with you about chasing sharpness, not looks. These resin and metallic bonded CBN and diamond stones are really interesting.

[@mikelikesknives428]

There seems to be a lot of new stone technology coming out lately. Thanks for showing these metallic bonded diamond stones.

[@michaelchristy4982]

Mike Likes Knives there is a lot lately. It’s an interesting time.

[@jeffreyweber8006]

Excellent. 16 minutes is pretty mindblowing

[@michaelchristy4982]

Jeffrey Weber yeah, I was surprised at the level of polish given the time.

[@Keith_the_knife_freak]

Thanks for the review 👍👍👍

[@jesseg.2416]

Just gorgeous

[@jesseg.2416]

That spydie ultra fine though!

[@Stahlzee]

awesome review again. i watched this a couple times! I just bought some Nubatama platinum from Ken Schwartz... any interest in trying them out?

[@michaelchristy4982]

Mike Stahl I appreciate the offer, but Ken and I talk about his platinum stones. I’m sure he’ll get a sale out of me sometime soon.

[@neverstoodachancexx1183]

I am a beginner at sharpening what would be a general idea on what too get as a starting hand sharpener

[@kevinfitz3721]

Do they make these and the cbn ones for the kme? Or could they modify them to fit the kme?

[@tomr3641]

Michael, Another interesting pair of videos, thank you. Google's not turning up "Practical Sharpening" as a company. Better name? Re Spyderco's Ultra Fine, 2x8 or 3x8?

[@michaelchristy4982]

Tom R facebook.com/Practicalsharpening/

[@georgeyoung4292]

These are also made by Poltava!!! 😉😁

[@corismsyn]

Michael, what would you recommend to use for progression on S110V after an EF DMT. I'm using the Hapstone M2 sharpener which uses 1x6 stones and I don't think DMT makes the EEF in the smaller sizes. Is the Atoma 1200 a step back from DMT EF?

[@D00MTR33]

Atoma 1200 and DMT EF are the same grit rating. Though atoma leaves a better finish. I wish they had finer grits, a 3k and a 5-6 would be great.

[@carlmartin4146]

Hello Michael, I have a couple of questions for you. You’ve said that you sharpen a blade in the direction of edge to spine, kinda like the letter T if the horizontal line is the blades edge and the vertical line is the axis that the stone moves back and forth along relative to the blade. Do you follow this rule all the way to the tip of the knife? Like for example, if you think of the last ~10mm of the cutting edge (towards the tip) as the horizontal line of the T, would you still sharpen in the direction of the vertical line? My other question is how do you prepare basswood to be used as a strop? Assuming it’s already ~flat, do you sand/smooth it’s surface or do you just apply the stropping compound to its existing surface? Sorry if this is off topic but thanks all the same.

[@michaelchristy4982]

Carl Martin I usually sharpen relative to the edge, not the spine. So if the cutting edge turns, so does my angle of approach. With basswood, sometimes I manipulate the surface before using it.

[@crf450rbulletdavid9]

I need to buy a new course diamond stone. With your experience would you just get another dmt or is it worth spending the extra money to get a couple of these bonded stones? There are so many different micron stones I don’t know which ones to get for a two or three set of these if I decide to go this way.

[@michaelchristy4982]

crf450r bullet david the different stones offer different attributes. I really like DMT and I really like Practical Sharpening’s vitrified diamond water stones, but the two options offer different strong points.

[@georgeyoung4292]

Happy New Year 2021 Michael.. Witch one you prefer, metalic or resin bonded ones? Btw I forgot to add, They are made by Poltava Diamond Tools in Ukraine.. 🤣😘

[@MintVision]

Hey Michael. Are there any premium or super steels you avoid when you are consider buying knives? What are your top 5 favorite steels for EDC?

[@michaelchristy4982]

Adam I don’t like S35VN. Top 5 would probably be something like S90V, K390 (Or 10V), 204P (M390, 20CV), ZDP or XHP, and Rex 45 has been really impressive.

[@collinjohnson7006]

Hello Michael, could you do a video on sharpening s30v on aluminum oxide?

[@michaelchristy4982]

Jerry Seinfeld I generally don’t sharpen S30V on alumina. Might make an interesting video as to why not.

[@kfach123]

Hi Michael, what do you think about Spyderco Double Bench ceramic stone? Btw great vids. Best regards from Poland!

[@michaelchristy4982]

Dmk double “bench” stone? Do you mean Double Stuff?

[@kfach123]

@@michaelchristy4982 www.ebay.com/itm/Spyderco-Double-Stuff-Pocket-Stone-303MF/163079174335?epid=1300180508&hash=item25f846b8bf%3Ag%3A2ssAAOSwFLxZ3plz&LH_ItemCondition=1000

[@bp-hx9ts]

dmk double stuff is a good stone for field touch ups but it loads fairly fast

[@michaelchristy4982]

bp69 any ceramic willload quickly. Wetting it might help. Or oil if you have it..

[@kfach123]

@@michaelchristy4982 I want to you use it at home, not for replofiling blade but fast sharpening. Btw Michael does s30v in pm2 can get good edge ( hair spliting )?

[@volcanowb]

Hey Michael When doing a full up sharpening on 3v or S90, for example, do you always finish by transitioning from diamond and ending on cbn? Guess I would say say feather and blend at the end.

[@michaelchristy4982]

No: Six I don’t typically use CBN.

[@michaelchristy4982]

No: Six 3V works pretty good with diamond or alumina. S90V is a different animal.

[@volcanowb]

Thanks Michael. I find myself maintaining my esee, swiss army with my spyderco double stuff and add in a .5 diamond spray on 3v the finish all on balsa strop and or bare or chrome oxide leather. I've not mastered hair whittling. What do you think of my method and what can I do to successfully whittle hair? Maybe longer on the diamond spray and Co?

[@michaelchristy4982]

No: Six use an UF after the Double Stuff.

[@westsenkovec]

Now that you tried these two types of stones, how would you compare them to venev stones and how would you rank them in terms of price, ease of use and edges you got from them?

[@michaelchristy4982]

West Senkovec they cut much faster then Venev and leave a better polish. Venev’s 1 micron stone is not a 1 micron stone, meaning that the finish it leaves is not on par with other 1 micron stones.

[@cp1532]

Just ordered a 50/40 to replace my coarse DMT as the first stone in my progression. Any final thoughts or advice on etching that stone? Wipe on FC or submerge? Length of time to leave FC on before neutralizing? My goal ideally would be to etch the stone back to a new coarse dmt level of aggression. Thanks in advance.

[@michaelchristy4982]

chris pregent you’ll have to experiment. I found submerging to work best.

[@cp1532]

Thanks

[@cp1532]

FYI, and FWIW, for anyone else who stumbles upon this, I spoke with a rep(owner?) from from Practical Sharpening told me he now suggests etching with a muriatic acid/hydrogen peroxide solution instead of ferric chloride. Says it's much faster, if not more effective. Not sure which route I'll go yet, but figured it's worth mentioning.

[@yaykruser4934]

Can you try to sharpen the Tungsten knife from Sandrin knives?

[@bp-hx9ts]

Yay Kruser I wonder how much of a pain that would be to sharpen

[@kevinhenson5225]

I have also been waiting for this. You would be the first to video it. With a 71 Rockwell its pretty insane.

[@smeefbeef367]

Kevin Henson Pete at Cedric and ada outdoors has an edge testing video of a sandrin!

[@kevinhenson5225]

I saw the edge test. I meant the first to sharpen.

[@francorui2493]

Michael that’s a nice knife , in Rex 121 , what’s the name of the knive maker ? And the website please ,? Regards Franco

[@michaelchristy4982]

Franco Rui it’s a Mako by Creely Blades. Go back through my videos and you’ll find some content on it.

[@francorui2493]

Michael Christy thanks I will check it out ASAP , again great support and thanks for your attention Regards

[@hooliganAvail]

So where are we now vetrified, metallic , ocb? Looking for my first " bench stones " been using my kme stones to learn how to free hand. It's fine for me on my pocket knives but really difficult for my larger kitchen knives any recommendations?

[@hooliganAvail]

Also how did the jende strops work out? To soft ?

[@michaelchristy4982]

hooligan5769 Avail I have been using Venev’s OCB stones the most, and am still also using Practical Sharpenings vitrified diamond water stones and DMT’s. I’ve also been using Ken Schwartz 3K diamond plate quite a bit.

[@michaelchristy4982]

hooligan5769 Avail jende’s strops were too soft for me.

[@kevinfitz3721]

I just ordered some cbn ones you think I should etch them before I use them. Or check first and then see if they need etched?

[@michaelchristy4982]

Kevin Fitzgerald try them out. See what you think.

[@kevinfitz3721]

@@michaelchristy4982 thanks, yeah the only experience I have with any sort of metallic is gold series kme diamonds wich don't require I'm pumped to try them out

[@TheWhisperSmith]

Link to the company’s website? I’m not finding them using Google.

[@michaelchristy4982]

Peter Smith facebook.com/Practicalsharpening/

[@cp1532]

5I 3

[@doluseb]

trying to improve my hand sharpening skills. what would you recommend as your 3 starting stones?

[@michaelchristy4982]

doluseb what size stones do you want and what steels are you using?

[@doluseb]

something atleast 2 inches wide would be nice. Steels range s30v, s35vn, vg10, lc200n

[@doluseb]

Oh, some D2, and of course carbon steels.

[@michaelchristy4982]

doluseb you should look into Shaptons. You’ll still get a better edge on S30V using diamond, but for anything else, Shaptons would be nice. Diamond is good to have around though.

[@frkshw_edc9887]

Are these available yet? Where can they be found?

[@michaelchristy4982]

Jeremy Russell facebook.com/Practicalsharpening/

[@mforrest1508]

That’s cool they are 2 sided. You could use 1 side till it knows off some of the larger particles and use it as a Segway to your next stone. Make sense? Prob not. Anyway you king of have 12 stones of different grit...

[@michaelchristy4982]

Matthew Forrest I see what you mean. You’re right.

[@jovonntrujillo1143]

Which would u Suggest these or cbn bonded stones????????? For best of the best?

[@michaelchristy4982]

Jovonn Trujillo the diamond are harder to use because of the etching and getting used to it. If the etching is a non issue, I suggest the diamond.

[@Stolenives9]

Michael, I'm curious about something and I hope this makes sense. If i work through a progression with some PM steel (say s90v, 30v, 110v) and your goal is a refined toothy edge, as you move through the grits and ultimately use a finishing stone like the spyderco UF ceramic plate that you like. how is the edge anything but that mirror polished razor? In other words, if im moving a burr side to side, ive removed the microscopic "teeth" with the ceramic plate. Im having trouble wrapping my head around manipulating that edge finish to a point where I can get that refined toothy edge. My solution up to this point: finish on a 1200 grit and strop first to remove the burr (3.5 micron) and take it as far as i want (half-micron usually) Apologize for the length of this

[@michaelchristy4982]

Dan Gurgian usually, getting to a mirror polish takes more work then you think. Lately, I’ve been using some really fine stones and strong abrasives on strops, and I’m finding my edges more and more refined. In the case of this video, the edge was completely mirrored. But if we’re just talking about Sharpening lately, I’m finding a very refined (almost polished) edge that still has bite to it. The degree of toothy-ness is up to the sharpener in a given sharpening.

[@Stolenives9]

Fine stones and strong abrasive strops. That's not something I thought about because you would still be abrading the apex with the strop with a diamond wouldn't you...Thanks for the light bulb moment. I searched every forum there was. I'm going to experiment with this, you're very generous with your advise, thank you.

[@bp-hx9ts]

Do you have any idea of the cost of these and the resin bonded stones

[@michaelchristy4982]

bp69 I don’t have any numbers, but I heard the price will be competitive.

[@bp-hx9ts]

Thanks for sharing I’m interested in these types of stones I’m used to diamond plates ceramics and shapton ceramic watertons but thes are very different however interesting

[@michaelchristy4982]

bp69 these could be the future of sharpening.

[@bp-hx9ts]

Michael Christy yeah they seem to have a lot of advantages to plates and regular stones bbb definitely seems to think that these are and I can’t blame him

[@michaelchristy4982]

You can find Practical Sharpening here facebook.com/Practicalsharpening/

[@winstonvkoot]

Send these people a message weeks ago heard nothing from them. So i would love to buy it but if they cant talk then thats that i suppose..

[@bobaloo2012]

Too bad they can't be bothered to set up a real web site, amazing how they're willing to blow off so many potential customers for so little cost.