A great score, cheap whetstones!

There are many ways to sharpen tools, and I suspect not all are as interested as I am. I have gotten used to Japanese water stones. I like the way they perform and I think they're fast and fun to use.

The downside is of course the price - once they reach Sweden they cost an arm and at least a good part of your leg.

But today as I was idling away some time in Seoul I found a small store in a huge market that sold Japanese stones for a fraction of the price I'm used to! I bought three, one coarse combination stone that I will use for flattening plane soles, one 2000 grit that fills a gap in my collection, and lastly an 8000 grit for polishing. I could never have justified an 8000 stone in Swedish prices, but here I paid less for the three than one would have cost me at home!

If I wasn't leaving really soon I'd have asked if anyone was interested but I only have a couple of hours left here.


I also bought some stainless steel chop sticks. For eating, nothing workshop related. If I don't eat in the workshop. Hm... there's a thought. A bowl of rice on the bending iron maybe.

Congrats, great score for you. I also enjoy quality sharpening devices.

Sven,

My son lives in Incheon not far from Seoul. Do you have any more details about the market? Its name? A nearby street?

Thanks in advance,

Bob

I'll try to give you the approximate whereabouts as soon as I can.

To be vulgar, whatcha pay?

The 8000 King will literately make the hairs pop off your arm, if you do your part.

Though, I have to say, for everything other than my substantial selection of Japanese tools, I now use diamond paste, cheap, and sharpens twice as fast. Also, it kinda works better when you sharpen sloppy, which is great for convex edges, and casual situations (say scything in a field). Or for instance, I do some leather work, and my leather shop just has one strop on it. I don't have space for a full wet set-up, and half the time it would freeze. But the diamond is so effective, I sharpen stuff like break off blades and sewing machine needles, in Addition to my knives and dies. I have used one dab of paste in 2 years.

I started out at the Swedish embassy which is in the same building as the UK Visa office. It's indicated in the pic and the address is in the sidebar. I just went across the street and around a few blocks. I'm pretty sure the arrow I made points at the store, but there were several. The one I went into was about 1,8 meters wide and had a selection of cheap garden tools outside. They sold everything in there, and among it whetstones.



ThomD, I'd say I paid around 75 dollars for the three stones. Or thereabouts. The 8000 one is 60 bucks from LeeValley, and 100 in Sweden.