nateswoodworks Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 I have been looking at getting a new set of stones for a couple of reasons, one of mine is a cheap POS that needs to meet Mr. Garbage man, and 2 because mine are 2" and it would be nice to not have to skew my irons so much when sharperning. I was looking at these http://www.woodcraft.com/Search2/Search.aspx?query=Set%20of%203%20Arkansas%20Stones but was also thinking of using water instead of oil. Have many of you tried this and how did you fair? All my stones were ebay seconds so they were already commited. Also, I have noticed that many people who use waterstones use soap/water mixure and was wondering if that was ok with arkansas stones or of that is a no-no. I do want to stay with arkansas stones because that is what I am used to plus they are cheaper that shaptons and will last my sons lifetime. There are other waterstones that Shaptons but I do not want stones that I have to soak because when I need to sharpen I just want to get it done and get back to work. I do have a DMT diamond stone and I do really like to for flattening the backs of if I get a chip in the iron but I worry about the longevity of it. Thanks for any input or suggestions. Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baok Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 Wow, I just bought those exact stones and went through the same internal debate. I've been using plain water and they've been working fine so I think we're Ok. The consensus here was that it doesn't matter what you Lube with. (null) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwllms Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 Nate, As a frequent advocate of oil stones your selection is one that kinda torques my jaw. If you buy these I suspect you'll either replace them soon or just give up on oil stones. There's no legal definition of "hard black Arkansas stone" so any black colored rock from Arkansas can be sold as hard black Arkansas. I haven't seen these particular stones so I can't say for sure but I seriously doubt that "Surgical Black" stone is novaculite. I happen to have a "surgical black" stone that I believe is from the same source as what WoodCraft is selling and I believe it's actually slate or something else. Here's a photo, the stone on the right is the "surgical black" and the one on the left is "Hard Black Arkansas" novaculite. I doubt you'll have trouble seeing the difference between the grain structure of the two. Real hard black Arkansas stones have the look and feel of paraffin. I haven't even bothered thinking about flattening the "surgical black" and it arrived so out of flat it would have been a problem even if it had been a true hard black Arkansas sharpening stone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baok Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 Interesting. So would this supplier be more likely to have the real thing? http://www.bestsharpeningstones.com/ Whatever the material, the ones I bought at Woodcraft do considerably better than the DMT diamond plate combination I used before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwllms Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 Greg, Because of the other products listed under "Arkansas Stones" I suspect those are novaculite stones. Call them and ask if they're novaculite if you're thinking of ordering but my best guess is that they're getting their Arkansas stones from Dan's Whetstone. Dan's is a good company and delivers what one would want. BTW, I've been to visit Dan's but have no financial interest in this other than selling a few stones from Dan's as a show special at WIA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nateswoodworks Posted December 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 I plan on sticking with oil stones, if not it would be shaptons because I don't want that soaking time delay. I know the guy at woodcraft said these are great stones but you can never be too sure of what they say either. I do want something that will give me about the same results as what I am getting now which is 11 micron before I go to the strop and the black Arkansas should get me to around 8. I have always heard that the surgical and translucent are roughly the same and those come in at 4 to 6 micron. I just want to get the same results I am getting now but without using the diamond stone and having 3" wide stones. Time will tell. Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baok Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 You know I live within two hours drive of the Arkansas state line - I wonder if there's anyplace where I could just go buy directly from a supplier? I'll check into that and report back. (null) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baok Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 Looks like there are several places around Hot Springs, AR that produce them - the aforementioned Dan's Whetstones being one. Funny - I grew up near there and didn't know anything about this natural resource. (null) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nateswoodworks Posted December 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 I asked Chris Schwarz about this and he stated that he like the ones from http://www.danswhetstone.com/ As far as using water for a lube he just said the main reason to use oil is to help with rust. I will just get some Camellia oil if that becomes an issue. It will be a bit before I pull the trigger but I think I am going to get 8x3 Soft Arkansas and Black Hard. These should be the last ones I ever buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.