Additional stone for my sharpening kit?

I visited one of my ACE stores this week and they didn't have any of the 2 X 6" or 2 X 8" combo stones on the shelf. They had the 2 X 4" and the rest were diamond stones. So, I don't know if this was because the others were sold and the reorders hadn't arrived yet or they are getting away from the larger combo stone.?? DM
 
The last time I was in an ACE store (probably a year or more ago), I'd also noticed they were carrying some 6" DMT bench hones (interrupted surface) in Coarse or Fine grit. I wondered at the time, if they'd eventually transition away from the oil stones in SiC/AlOx, toward the diamond hones exclusively. That seems to be the same path Home Depot took, in eliminating the Norton Economy stones and stocking DMT hones instead.
 
jpm2 typed out the upc number for his stone and I posted a picture of my box. They both have the same number. Though his is aluminium oxide and mine is SiC. I don't know why. DM
 
Swung by our local ACE today and checked what they had.
21169, 3" pocket stone, medium, $3.99
21161, 4" sharpening stone, fine/coarse, $4.99
21160, 6" sharpening stone, fine/coarse, $5.99
21163, 6" sharpening stone, fine/coarse, $8.99
21165, 8" sharpening stone, fine/coarse, $13.99

All aluminum oxide, according to the gray color, and all made in China.
 
I still have the packaging for both of the 8" stones I bought at ACE. One in SiC (bought earlier) and the other in AlOx (more recent). Same identical packaging and stock number (21165) for each of them. The UPC barcode numbers are identical as well on each package (0 82901 21165 5).

I still think they've just transitioned from one abrasive type to the other, in producing an inexpensive stone still made for the same basic uses (shop tools, yard tools, etc). Most purchasers and users of these stones won't know or understand the difference anyway, and probably wouldn't care so much either. And I think ACE and/or their supplier likely knows it; so the 'new' product goes in the same package under the same stock number.

It may be that the AlOx is less expensive to source for the stones, and it'll still get those basic tool-sharpening jobs done. Us sharpening nuts are a little more ambitious in testing the advantages and limitations of each type, but I doubt we were ever the target market for them.
 
If you really lean into a SiC stone it can wear quickly, even some of the rather hard ones, so maybe some people complained after putting their body weight behind a lawn mower blade etc.
 
For yard tools & such, like lawn mower blades and pruners, etc., I've preferred using a mill bastard file for those anyway. Steel on such tools is quite soft and lacks any real wear resistance, so a file will make short work of it.

But I could see customers complaining about the wear and dishing on the SiC stones too.
 
Aluminum oxide stone are next to useless sharpening steels with any significant amount of vanadium carbide.

They do a slightly better with mostly tungsten steels, but fall way short of what's capable with diamond abrasive.
 
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