Anyone use/prefer Arkansas whetstones?

H

headroom

Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
176
Been using them for years, and after giving the various man made stuff a go for a bit, I'm back to the natural quarried stones.

I always hand sharpen my blades the boring old fashioned way, so maybe I'm just a being a nostalgic putz, but the edges just seem nicer...smoother, lower drag performance. And for whatever reason, the edges seem more durable than the same apparent sharpness done on man made stones. One thing for certain, I definitely find the natural stones more blade friendly. The first time I dragged a knife across a diamond hone I was :eek:

I dunno.
 
I come from a family of cabinetmakers going back several generations, and they swear by their "lilly white" and hard black Arkansas stones. Having seen plane irons that would take a translucent-thin shaving off the end of a piece of wood, I certainly don't question the quality of edge they'll produce. :)

Kind of a related thread going, maybe some comments there you'll find interesting: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=525901
 
On my Moras (1095 & 12C27), my AUS8 blades & down, I use soft & hard Arkansas stones, then a strop. They will work on some of the other "super steels", but it takes more time, sometimes much more. Even on my Byrd Cara Cara the Arkansas stones were slow going so I switched to wet/dry paper. A good diamond stone is a great tool to have, I just seldom need to use it. Don't disregard the diamond hones, they have a place.
If you aren't used to the sound & feel of a diamond hone working I can see how it might be unsettling. My 1st experience was that way. It sounded and felt like I was grinding my blade on rough concrete, the result was VERY different though. Take an old beater blade and just learn the tool, you may just find that you like it. Minus a belt, it is the fastest way to reprofile for sure, and it stays dead flat too.
 
I think it is somewhat of a stretch to compare a diamond stone (which grit by the way) with an Arkansas stone. Unless the diamond stone was a DMT EE there would be a grit grading between the two stones of several thousand....

But agree to the extent that diamond stones really lack any kind of positive feedback to the hand.
 
i use a medium arkansas stone for the final touch on my blades before a strop, and keep half of a bench stone in my back pocket for touch ups. i am looking into getting a really fine arkansas stone

after stropping, the polish is mirror finish. before stropping, the polish is kinda like a mirror with a little fog on it.

if i wanna get really particular, i go up to about 1200 grit sandpaper, but i find that the polish is not substantially higher than what i get with my arkansas.
 
I have a hard arkansas that is easily 30 years old, I really do not use it much since it is hard to use. It was ok for tools like described where you are doing a chisel or blade from a plane that is flat but drawing a knife blade across accurately the number of times needed to do much sharpening is really time consuming.
 
siguy said:
if i wanna get really particular, i go up to about 1200 grit sandpaper, but i find that the polish is not substantially higher than what i get with my arkansas.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my experience with wet/dry 1500 was the same, but then I was a using Hall's Pro-Edge Surgical Black Arkansas for finishing...man, that is one amazing whetstone.

I *really* love the Pro-Edge stones. If you are into manual sharpening and wonder what really good quarried stones can do, these are the best quality stones I have come across. If you happen to own or collect straight razors their Translucent Arkansas will put an unbelievably smooth and comfortable finish on the blades...very expensive stone, but wow. :eek:
 
http://www.danswhetstone.com/

I hand sharpen most all my blades. I have many Arkanasas stones. I got my black stone from Dan's and it is awesome. I had another one that got broken, so I ordered another from Dan. After the black stone, I strop on a piece of leather and...well...watch out, she'll get you quick.
 
I only use arkansas stones. just feel real familiar with them and i can shave with the edge, I doubt I could get a knife any sharper with a sharpmaker.
 
A fun new stone that I recently picked up from Tools for Working Wood was a new Lilly White Washita Arkansas from Norton. This stone is reported to have a friable edge like a waterstone and and cuts steel like the dickens. It looks like a coarser grade of a Translucent and leaves a finish like one also. I finish it with my Translucent or Surgical Black and the edges are like razors. I enjoy using the gambit of stones available from SiC whetstones, Arkansas, Indias, Diamonds, Ceramics and Waterstones. I still think the most enjoyable stones are the waterstones and arkansas for tacit feel while sharpening. If it gets you the edge you desire then more power to you.

NJ
 
I would say that Arkansas stones--the best translucents from Norton/Pike or some other replutable supplier--are great for a finish. At this stage, ability to remove a bunch of metal really quickly is not really an issue. For everything before this, use what will do the job quickly and efficiently, from belt sanders to diamond stones to synthetic stones.

Best,

John
 
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