Acme Oil Stone - how to use?

[SharpeningUp]

I've got an antique 'Acme Oil Stone'

New here, I tried the search engine but no luck!
And the internet has no info on it.

Is it a valid sharpening stone ?
I need to sharpen kitchen knives

Here are a few pics:
Box:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/182520083941?rmvSB=true

The stone:

My item looks a lot like the 2nd stone from the left,
except the top one is a bit darker and almost a blu-ish steel grey
The bottom is black, same as the photo:
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/article/39/how-to-use-a-sharpening-stone.html

Is one side fine enough ? (1000?)?
If so, which side is the fine one?

If this stone is still valid...Do I need to plane down each side to open up the stone's pores ? (ie, put sandpaper down on a flat surface, and scrape the ACME across it?)

Other than a few very small spots with dirt, the both sides of the item are smooth and blemish free. So, in spite of it's age, it looks un-used.

Thanks for any information!

All the best-

 

[bucketstove]

Hi,
? So what did you pay for this ?8x2x1inch stone , under $10 ?

What you have is a common hardware stone, its probably aluminum oxide (corundum), but might be silicon carbide (carborundum)

Usually but also sometimes
the ligher color side is the finer grit ( ex 320 )
and the darker color side is the more holey/porous coarse grit ( ex 120 )
give or take 50-100 grit
the only way to know which side is which is to look at the stone, scratch some steel and look at the scratches.

Both grit numbers are on the coarse end, but perfectly fine to use for knives.

It probably dosn't need stone reconditioning ( "pore opening"),
so put some water on the stone
and try to sharpen a knife with it
and see what happens, ask questions ... enjoy

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Agree with the above. Probably a basic aluminum oxide stone or (maybe) silicon carbide. If the stone looks essentially clean & unused, you shouldn't need to recondition the surface. If it was manufactured to be an oil stone (likely), it may already be filled with oil or grease (to keep oil applied during sharpening from just soaking in or running through it). You might notice an oily residue on your fingers after handling it, or you might even detect a 'petroleum' odor to the stone. The box it came in might look like it's absorbed some oil. Drop a little water on the surface; if it beads up and/or runs off immediately, it's likely already oiled from the factory. If so, use it with oil from here foward. If the water soaks into the stone easily, it's probably not oiled/greased from the factory (some inexpensive oil stones will come this way, completely 'dry'). In that case, it's your choice as to use water or oil. If you start with oil, it likely won't work well with water after that, as the stone will remain at least somewhat oily afterward. So try the water first, before making a commitment to using oil.