Sharpening stones

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  • GuitarmanNick

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 9, 2017
    2,221
    Laurel
    Seeing anyone pull a good knife through a cheap sharpener makes me cringe!

    For many years, on the weekend before deer season in West Virginia, I sharpened everyone's hunting knives at my uncle's camp using my hard Arkansas stones, and a leather strap. The one rule that I had,... no cheap knives touch my stones! Several of the guys bought new knives at my suggestion. All received an edge that could be used for shaving and would hold up to breaking the pelvis bone without damage.

    I would also use mine to skin, quarter, and butcher several deer each year and it could still be used to shave if needed. I do not recommend shaving with a hunting knife, especially if your hands are as shaky as mine, but it is the ultimate test of an edge, IMO.
     

    Brickman301

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 23, 2015
    2,534
    FREDERICK, MD
    These are my Welsh slate sharping stones. I don’t use them for knifes, these stone are used for my straight razors, that I shave with. These stones, are awesome. I’ve thought about buying another set for knives, but haven’t done that yet. I just use these stones to get the sharpest edge, and maintaining that edge.
    Want to try some super fine grits, without a huge investment? Use lapping paper. I use it to set the edge/ bevel on my straight razors, don’t know why it wouldn’t work for knives. Before I got into natural stones, I used lapping paper from setting the bevel, to a fully finished blade. .05 micron lapping paper is like 50,000 grit, and it’s super cheap!
     

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    Brickman301

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 23, 2015
    2,534
    FREDERICK, MD
    Can you clean those stones? My whitish Arkansas stone was taken very good care of my when younger and the ends are dark stained from knife steel, I assume.

    To answer your question is yes and no. These are water stones, not oil. They do not need to be soaked before use. I put a little soap in the sink, and dunk the stone in before using it. Yes they will get dark on the ends, but it takes a while for that to build up. In the picture is also small pieces of stone, these are called slurry stones.
    Basically, wet the stones and use the small stone to rub the bigger one, doing so removes the top layer of grit in the stone, some people believe this is the best way to use stones. Most Japanese stones, are used this way. Using the stones like this, they should never darken/stain, as you are removing a thin layer of stone with each use.
     

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