Natural Whetstones

Z

zmaj

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Mar 31, 2023
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What do you folks think about natural whetstones? Do they really have a place in the modern world?

Me personally, I love them but even though it pains me a great deal to say...it seems like synthetic stones are just better overall. Hate to admit it but its the truth so far for me.
 
Depends on the blade steel.
Any steel containing carbides requires an aluminum carbide or Diamond stone, because the carbides are harder than the natural stone.
So AUS 8, 420HC, 1095 carbon steel are fine for natural stones.
440C, PM alloys, AUS 10, VG10 need sythetic.
 
As stated above, it depends on the blade steel. Myself and many others here have also experienced that some natural stones will actually create a sharper edge than synthetics - in part because they are available at extremely fine grits.

I use natural stones exclusively to maintain my straight razor.

Here’s an example of my finest natural stone vs a Spyderco Ultra-Fine. If you listen closely you can perceive that the natural stone has a higher frequency and is therefore a finer grit…

 
They also tend to remove material at a slower rate, which can be good or bad depending on if your priority is to preserve the life of your your blade or get faster edges…
 
Natural stones are a nice fit for some simpler steels, as mentioned earlier. In some instances, it may be advantageous to gently polish or burnish an edge without actually removing much steel, if any at all. That's where a natural stone might be the better option. A very hard natural stone can also be a good burr remover / aligner as well, even on steels with more wear resistance.

If you're focusing on CUTTING more wear resistant steels, then a synthetic stone in aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, diamond or cbn would likely be the better option by far.

The bigger deterrent for me in acquiring more natural stones is the cost of the quality stones, which can be very expensive. As limited as they'll be on a steel having much wear resistance, you've really got to want it for use in a specific niche to make the purchase worthwhile. For the money, I'd more often opt for a synthetic stone that'll be a lot more versatile on a wider range of steels.
 
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I have a few kitchen knives, 1095 "landscaping" knives, and woodworking tools that sharpen beautifully on natural stones. The feedback and overall feel make it very easy to stay on the bevel, and they do an especially good job in the polishing stages. Going through soft/hard/black-or-translucent Arkansas stones can be a quasi-religious experience with the right steel.

But that gear (softer steel and natural stones) is like boxing and jazz, it's important to a niche group of users, which is probably slowly getting smaller. Modern diamond and CBN products are so good and so reasonably priced that there is certainly no need for natural stones. There is an element of romance to sharpening on natural stones but the proliferation of harder steels is making them less useful for the guy with limited space and funds. Most of my knives are too hard to sharpen on the Arks, although they can be useful for polishing and refining.

I also found it a crapshoot to buy natural stones, most of which I bought over the internoogie. The best stones and the best deals I found were simple Arkansas stones from a few reliable dealers.
 
Not much use for those stones that come out of the ground anymore, they are pretty much worthless.

I will dispose of them for you guys, free of charge.

Message me a pick.
 
I have some because well I guess it’s history, but rarely use them. The Belgian blue I will pull out every once in a while.
 
knarfeng said:
Depends on the blade steel.
Any steel containing carbides requires an aluminum carbide or Diamond stone, because the carbides are harder than the natural stone.
So AUS 8, 420HC, 1095 carbon steel are fine for natural stones.
440C, PM alloys, AUS 10, VG10 need sythetic.
Click to expand...
Diamond or cubic boron nitride particles are a good choice for a steel that contains a lot of hard carbides like vanadium and molybdenum. Not all carbides are super hard. A standard carbon steel blade contains iron carbides, which are not a problem for a natural whetstone.
 
I absolutely enjoy using natural whetstones.They are a perfect for my most precious low alloy high carbon blades. Natural stones usually have a really nice feedback, they are not thirsty and some of them just look great.
 
FWIW, I am a big fan of ceramic stones/rods. They work well for me and the blade steels that I have.
 
Some time ago a had a set of Arkansas stones. Both bench stones and pocket stones as well. They worked good for low alloy steels but I had a hard time with harder, modern steels. If money would not be a factor I think I would buy at least some pocket stones again. I liked the way they look. The Hard Black Arkansas was my favorite stone. The tactile feel / feedback was great. I used soapy water. When I went to the Hard Black stone and wasn't off angle the stone felt great. Sharpening felt so different from any other stone I have tried since. So smooth with the cutting edge almost sticking to the stone. And the edge I got was one of the best edges I've ever had. I think I was a Wüsthof or WMF Santoku knife that I liked to finish on that stone.

So yes, I think within their limits natural stones still have their place in ones sharpening arsenal. It is a traditional way to sharpen a blade. From time to time I like to read a review about Arkansas pocket stones written by a bushcraft guy on a seller's website. He likes to sharpen his bushcraft knives and axes with a set of Arkies. After reading the review I always feel a little bit sad that I don't have my Arkansas stones any longer.
 
For finishing up my kitchen knives and non-super-steel knives, I love a hard black "surgical" Arkansas stone. Mine seems to make these edges just a bit "stickier."
 
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