Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi

I got a decent collection of Two cherries, but now I need a way of keeping them sharp. I looked on ebay.de for sharpening stones but are a little confused. I do not know how they are and what they'll do since I wouldn't know until I get them. Can anyone recommend a good one that can be easily purchased in Germany for not too much?

All I need is a way to hone the blades after going through a 300 grit diamond stone.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

don´t know about street stores, but dick tools has a huge collection of them (natural and man-made, japanese or otherwise, diamond or arkansas, .... you get the picture). nice site altogether....

cheers,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Thanks

I just placed an order for a 8000 grit DMT stone. I hope this is as good as people say because I really like DMT, since I have a DMT stone that I have been using for ages and it just blows all other stones (King, Sun Tiger, etc.) out of the water with its ease of use and result. The DMT 8000 grit stone doesn't even seem that expensive compared to a lot of the 8000 grit stones out there... considering that the diamond stone always stay flat!

I also included a Japanese inlay knife in the order... was hoping to find the German made knife but they didn't have it.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Doing inlay by hand too eh? Can I get a link to the source you got that knife from?

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Can you go from a 300 grit directly to the 8000 grit diamond?

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I am told those diamond stone (specifically the 8000 grit diamond stone) cuts like a 4000 grit but gives the same finish as a 8000 grit. Besides, my DMT 300 grit stone actually gives the same finish as a 1000 grit sandpaper, but cuts rather aggressively. Also since I will only be honing a secondary bevel, there isn't much surface area to grind.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I just received my 8000 grit diamond stone. I have read the thing requires breaking in before they really give a sharp edge, and I think I agree too, because out of the box this thing scratches steel like there's no tomorrow. I tried breaking in with a kitchen knife (lapping its face, etc.) and also took the opportunity to clean up my steel square (as it had quite a bit of rust on it, from being in Taiwan humidity). I found at first it really doesn't give a better edge than a 2000 grit sandpaper, but as I continue lapping stuff with it the edge it produces gets progressively better. I am not sure how much breaking in it needs because I am really tired from lapping stuff with it...

I got it because I like DMT, and I really like the fact that I can hone an edge without having to use stones that are messy. Plus this DMT stone is really cheap, compared to some of the other Japanese finishing stones out there, including Norton. I can also use it for other applications like polishing fret tops....

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com