Start with a lower grit if the blade is in bad shape. Begin with a coarse grit (800 waterstone, gray Arkansas oilstone, or 150 sandpaper) to define the bevel, creating two narrow, flat points of contact above and below the scooped-out hollow grind (photo). ... A comparison of different sharpening grits … Sharpening with sandpaper, stones and films- ... (Rockler plate glass kit available here.) As a rule of thumb, you can double the grit number for each successive step. Next, sharpen the cutting edge on stones or sandpaper grits. While microns isn’t a perfect description, it’s a heck of a lot better than saying a stone is a “fine crystolon” when that stone … Pure opinion: Buying sharpening stuff would be easier if manufacturers used microns to describe the particle size of the abrasive in each product. What are the differences, and which type should you use for tool sharpening? In this photo I'm using 2500 grit … Power sharpening-A First Look at the new Tormek T-8. In fact if I need to really rework or re-profile a tool, I start with 80 grit paper to avoid making grooves in my course stone… The Finishing Stone With 4,000 To 8,000 Grit; Whetstones presenting with 4,000 and 5,000 grit can be considered a bridge between superfine finishing stones and sharpening stones… Yes to the sandpaper! Especially when I’m traveling so much lighter than my wet stones. Oil Stones vs. Diamond Stones. So if you start with 400 grit, progress to 800, then 1500, then 2500. If you make it a habit of sharpening a blade, you will learn how often to use the medium whetstone. No to the wet. Progress through several finer grits, up to 15,000 stone or 1,000 sandpaper…