Arkansas Bench Stone

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sign216

Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2019
Messages
193
Location
Taunton, Massachusetts, Usa
Where's the best place to get a Ark. 8" bench stone?

I've got a soft Ark. 8" bench stone, and I'd like to compliment it w a hard stone. Online places are either out of stock, or it's hundreds of dollars.
Where should I be looking?

Joe
 
I would look in the outdoor and sporting goods stores in your area that sell high quality knives. Second best might be a hardware store. Maybe an ACE Hardware store could order one if they didn't have one in stock. Good luck!
 
In stock and some of their hard stones are even on sale.

www.sharpeningsupplies.com

Arkansas Stones

Our wide selection of Arkansas Stones in stock lets you choose the right stone for you. Our sharpening specialists are trained to help you find the right Arkansas Stone to meet your needs.
www.sharpeningsupplies.com www.sharpeningsupplies.com
 
I've got a full assortment of Arkansas stones, from the soft to a 'hard black', and used them for years on all my knives, including those I made.

Now I do everything with diamonds and ceramics in about 1/4 the time, and get a better edge.

Larry
 
I haven't used any of my Arkansas stones in years. Diamond hones have replaced them. Faster, easier, and they don't wear down. No lubrication needed either. For a razor edge I use a couple of rouge sticks I made, one rough side out and the other slick side, and that is mostly for swivel knives when I do leather carving. They put a mirrow polish on steel.
 
I have some type of white ceramic stone that is smooth as glass. Puts a razor edge on my knife. I used to live right next to Spider Co. it might have come from them. Wish I could remember where I got it. Every pass leaves a gray streak of metal on it. Even with hard steels like S30V. When it gets loaded up, Dawn power wash cleans it up very easy.
A course diamond stone and a fine ceramic and your set.
 
Anyone that has a old landline and quit using it in favor of a cell phone can rob the ceramic fuses from the can on your home if the phone company left their equipment in place like they did mine. They make excellent sharpeners. One of my wife's brothers that worked for the phone company showed me that trick.
 
Steel Horse - I've looked at the local hardware stone, and their online sites too. Ace Hardware is often good for hard to find items, but not for this time. Thanks for the idea.

JohnK and JDeere - SharpeningSupplies, like you suggested, has a really good selection. I'll probably buy there, thanks.

MK211 - EvilBay is tempting. There are some deals, and rare items. As Nettle says, it's also a real crap shoot.

DT Guy and DoubleH - I bought a diamond stone early on, and am not impressed. Have later ones gotten better? Better than a natural stone? I got ceramics too, and they are variable; one is fine, the other not useful.

Bob W - McMaster, I was surprised they had a selection, and competitive pricing too. Not the best photos or descriptions, but I will keep them on my list. Thank you.

Caplock - It seems like ceramics are a mixed bag. Some good, some not. Oddly, what works well for me is an 8" strip of ceramic I cut off to make a tile fit. Dirt cheap too.

DoubleH - Thanks. Like my earlier post, "found" ceramics can be better than a store bought piece. Thanks for the reminder.

Joe
 
Every pass leaves a gray streak of metal on it. Even with hard steels like S30V. When it gets loaded up, Dawn power wash cleans it up very easy.
Click to expand...
A white plastic pencil eraser will also clean your ceramic. I agree with your approach. Someone who just wants a knife sharp and isn't enjoying the sharpening process for its own sake can get very good results with a good diamond stone, a fine ceramic stone and I would add a strop for those times when you really want the edge to pop.
I bought a diamond stone early on, and am not impressed. Have later ones gotten better? Better than a natural stone?
Click to expand...
Good diamond stones are really nice. They are fast and that makes it a lot easier to maintain a consistent angle. If you only need to do 20 passes, it's a lot easier to keep the angle consistent compared to doing 100 passes.

Also, with the natural stone prices going up, diamond stones are starting to look like a better deal than they once might have.

There are some keys to using diamond stones.

1. Buy good ones. The bad ones wear out so fast that even if they are cheap, you can't justify the cost. Outdoors55 on youtube has some good input on buying good diamond stones--and good sharpening stones in general.

2. Don't use a lot of pressure. The diamonds are much harder than the steel and will cut it even without a lot of pressure applied. But they are quite brittle and if you press hard, you will just wear the stone faster. Even doing this, a good diamond stone will last a long time.

3. Don't go too fine on the grit size. The beauty of diamond stones is that they remove metal fast. If you're just looking to finish an edge that's already shaped properly, use your ceramic or maybe even a strop. When you need the diamond stone, you're going to use it to take metal off to reshape the edge significantly--might as well have it do that fast.

4. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for use and maintenance. In particular, a lot of the nickel-plated steel diamond "stones" specifically advise against the use of water to clean the stone, or against wetting the stone during sharpening because it can cause rusting, causing the nickel that is holding the diamonds in place to flake off.
 
The premium knife steels are a lot harder now than years ago. Harder to sharpen but harder to dull. I went to diamond years ago. They are expensive but have a long wear life.
 
All I’ll say is you haven’t really enjoyed sharpening until you’ve sharpened an Old Hickory or old USA made Schrade carbon steel blade on an Arkansas stone.
 
Just goes to show how different people are. When I found synthetic stones, that was when I really started enjoying sharpening. Of course I do have some natural stones, and I use them once in awhile. Every time it reminds me why I like ceramic and diamonds.
 
JohnSKa - Thanks for tips on diamond "stones." I'll give them another try. I bought one when they first came out, got disgusted w it, but it seems now they weren't the worthless "flash in the pan" I thought they were.

MK211 - Thanks for link. The sharpening faq section of this forum is interesting too. I'll be looking at both.

Nettle - I agree 100% on the modern steels. Those steels can be a problem w old techniques, but perhaps that's progress.

DMW1116 - You get it! Carbon steel and a natural stone are a pleasure. My wife knew the famous cook Julia Child, and she loved carbon steel knives. She hated the kitchen stainless knives, at least of that bygone era.

Joe
 
I will say the steels I sharpened with Arkansas stones were also soft enough to file for roughing in the bevel. I wouldn’t try them on any modern steel being 420HC or similar steels and even then the edge has to be thin enough to be sharpened in a reasonable time.
 
My buddy’s dad had a black hard Arkansas stone. It worked like a charm on the old Schrade Old Timers and my Buck Scoutlite in 425M. They were cheaper and much easier to come by back then.
 
Just a SWAG, but IMO the demand
( and the production) of natural
arkansas whetstones has lessened
because so many today simply cannot
successfully use a whetstone to
sharpen a knife, and never bothered
to learn. I think that's the reason for
the scarcity and high prices.
I also have the opinion that that's the
reason for all the demand for the
expensive steels used and for the
popularity of the replaceable blade
knives offered today.
I don't fret over most of it and it's
good to me that solutions are available
for many. I guess that I'm part of the
last generations to be able to use
a whetstone freehand and get a
$10.00 knife shaving sharp and
cut up their own game
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ranger99 said:
Just a SWAG, but IMO the demand
( and the production) of natural
arkansas whetstones has lessened
because
Click to expand...
You're correct that when demand drops it is difficult to keep a portion of an industry going at the previous level.

The reason for the drop in demand for natural stones was ceramic sharpeners became cheaper and became readily available. They're cheaper to produce and aren't restricted to a naturally sourced stone. Follow that with diamond "stones". Toss in the harder steels. Now you have a combination making the natural stone a novelty instead of the mainstay of every person that sharpens a knife.
 
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