Anyone use a stone from”Wild Whetstones”

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 5, 2021
Messages
33
I’ve been seeing the stones that come from a site known as “Wild Whetstones”. The owner/operator goes by Gabriel. He’s products seem to get great reviews, but they seem to be mostly limited to his site. The story behind the stones sounds good, but I’m just not sold yet. Was hoping to get some feedback from the group here. Anything new tends to make me hesitant on making a new purchase. But I do have to say, the idea of a neck pendant natural stone does sound kinda cool.
 
They look interesting. But I always have the same sort of hesitancy in spending the $$ for natural stones. Fairly pricey for their size, and still subject to the limitations of natural stones. Reading the description of the concept on his site, it seems like a lot of emphasis is placed on frequently re-dressing the stones in order to maintain how they work, either as a cutting stone or as a polisher/burnisher, depending on the 'surface prep' applied to them.

As with all natural stones, if I were to buy one, I'd likely limit it's use to simpler steels. Any very hard natural stone will tend to glaze over pretty fast if it's frequently used with more wear-resistant steels, making re-dressing or lapping all the more frequently necessary.

The idea of a natural pendant stone being at hand, while in the wilderness with a favorite blade in something like 1095 or another classic carbon steel, seems like it'd feel pretty 'right'. It's the same draw that I see in my Arkansas stones, and there's nothing wrong with that. But I still don't expect them to work miracles with more complex steels, if that's what one is using.
 
Ocean jasper is a type of jasper from Madagascar, just what Ancient Ocean jasper is I don't know. It looks like a jasper that isn't nice enough for cabochons.
Far as I can tell there isn't much difference between the Agates, Jaspers and petrified woods. I use them as a post finisher for razors. Expect a slow stone that is capable of very fine edges, way finer than I would ever need on a knife.
You can find thin slabs at rock shops at bargain prices but will probably have to do some work on them and that isn't easy. If his stones are truly flat that's what you are paying for.
 
I personally can't justify buying natural stones of any sort except as novelties. They're fascinating, but there are various kinds of synthetics that can replace just about all of them, while being effective on more steel types, and more consistent composition with controllable performance properties. For ultra-fine finishing stones sintered ceramics with the surface dressed to a desired degree of polish will generally be an ideal option.
 
I personally can't justify buying natural stones of any sort except as novelties. They're fascinating, but there are various kinds of synthetics that can replace just about all of them, while being effective on more steel types, and more consistent composition with controllable performance properties. For ultra-fine finishing stones sintered ceramics with the surface dressed to a desired degree of polish will generally be an ideal option.
Your missing out on some great experiences, but ignorance is bliss.
 
Your missing out on some great experiences, but ignorance is bliss.
Your remark is the very height of presumptuousness. I own and have experimented with MANY natural stones. But they are novelties, and I bought or gathered them out of curiosity and whimsy as opposed to for pragmatic functional reasons. My nicest natural stones are ones that I found myself in the wild, being made of a siliceous black siltstone that, for natural stone, is a very nice final finisher. But I typically use a sintered silicon carbide stone for my practical honing applications because it simply works better on a wider range of steels while giving equal or better results. If I were to be buying a stone because I have a true need for it, natural stones are simply a poor value on multiple fronts.
 
Your remark is the very height of presumptuousness. I own and have experimented with MANY natural stones. But they are novelties, and I bought or gathered them out of curiosity and whimsy as opposed to for pragmatic functional reasons. My nicest natural stones are ones that I found myself in the wild, being made of a siliceous black siltstone that, for natural stone, is a very nice final finisher. But I typically use a sintered silicon carbide stone for my practical honing applications because it simply works better on a wider range of steels while giving equal or better results. If I were to be buying a stone because I have a true need for it, natural stones are simply a poor value on multiple fronts
Like your shipping costs or because you don't sell them?

There are lots of reasons some one might choose a natural stone but I won't waste any more of my time to explain it to you.
 
That's out of line, G garry3 and you've just received a warning. There's no reason for personal insults here.
 
I wish the fellow selling them all the best, and I find natural stones fascinating from a historical and experimental standpoint. But strictly on a functional basis, dollar for dollar, synthetics outperform them in almost every respect. As a piece of functional art and as a ritualistic item there is a lot to enjoy about them. There are many dimensions by which natural stones may be appreciated. They are simply not ones based strictly on performance qualities and value and are mostly tied to romantic or aesthetic concerns. It's the same reason why I have many scythe customers who want a steam bent ash snath vs. an aluminum one when the aluminum is lighter, stiffer, lower maintenance, and less expensive. That does NOT mean that you can't get perfectly functional or even exceptional edges from natural stones, depending on the qualities of that stone, the technique used, and the steel/heat treatment of the tool in question. It's just that it is difficult to find any natural stone that would be impossible to mimic in the form of synthetics, and those synthetics would be more consistent, while very likely being less expensive and more suitable to a wider range of applications than the natural stone would be.
 
I get the most enjoyment out of finding a natural stone, literally on the ground, and then discovering it's usefulness as a sharpening stone on my simpler blades. I only have a couple of examples to date, for that. One is a small piece of sandstone/siltstone, very fine-grained, that worked like a waterstone, shedding a lot of grit in the process. Worked well when I tested it on a blade of 420HC (Case), using it to completely reset the edge, then stropping with some of the same stone's slurry on leather, to clean up the burr. Finding stones like this is rare where I live. But it's a great satisfaction when it happens. That's when it feels completely 'right and proper' in the truly natural sense, having spent literally nothing money-wise, but just some time to take a walk outside and look around. Most of the real reward is in what's learned in the process of finding and using them, and less about the real capabilities of the stone itself, other than being able to perform fundamentally in the first place.

It would be very hard for me to derive the same satisfaction from a natural stone, if I'd had to gamble in spending $40 - $80 or more, just to find out if it lived up to my expectations or not. That's the core of my hesitancy with buying these at such prices.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top