combination stone for sharpening knives?

[Natalijaasbj]

Hi!
I thought I will ask advice from you, guys, as experienced with butchering. I need to sharpen my knives for butchering my next batch of cocklrels.
I was told the combo stone I need to buy for that. I got a Smith;s stone for 30 $ with 3 functions - fine middle and coarse . Then I went to Asian Market and saw one for 6 $. with 2 sides - coarse and fine.
The more expensive one is ceramic, the cheap one is aluminum.
Is there a big difference? Any advice would be appreciated. I would hate to spend 30 bucks in vain
Should I keep the expensive one , or cheap one will do the job?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Snap-On-Dou...867?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51b0522e93

Seriously, one of these cheap (ceramic even) v rod type sharpeners you can purchase as any sport shop work great. A sample of one type posted above has medium and fine. My sharpener from a sport shop has coarse and fine. It's just so simple and you'll always have a sharp blade if the blade was made to be sharpened that is. They don't work with "never need to sharpen" knives.

The big stones are nice but take practice to use. You can work that edge then in an instant roll it over. Those V rod type are a no brainer and will maintain your knives edge. The stones are good for rebuilding an edge and maintenance.

 

[Black wallnut]

I use a hard arkansas stone for most of my sharpening. I sometimes finish with a buffing wheel and jewelers rouge in my bench grinder. It helps to have a knife that takes a keen edge.