American Mutt - A Newbie's Review

Spats McGee

Spats McGee

Joined
Jun 6, 2019
Messages
388
First of all, FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades , come on in. It wouldn't be right of me to review one of your sharpening stones without inviting you to the conversation.

Second, everyone please bear in mind that I'm a newbie at sharpening. I was taught as a child how to sharpen, but then I didn't do it for something in excess of 35 years. I only decided to re-learn how to sharpen about 3 years ago. There is a very real possibility that any (alleged) shortcomings that I found in the American Mutt is attributable to my technique. Hence, the invitation above.

I've had my eye on the American Mutt for quite some time. The idea that it was made using "waste material" from other stones is interesting, so I wanted to give it a try. I was prompted to go ahead and buy one when I saw a recent thread here about how the American Mutt has been updated. As a bit of an aside, shipping was quick, the packaging was good (wrapped in foam), and the stone got to me undamaged. Overall, a very good transaction.

It took me a couple of weeks to get around to really trying it out. I think I remembered reading that one could use either water or oil with it. I think I've also read that FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades uses oil with his stones, but I'm not sure about that. I used water, because I've always heard (at least with other stones) that once you use oil, there's no going back. I also find water to be easier to clean up than oil. I don't know how much difference water vs. oil makes in performance. Anyway, I soaked it and my 400/1000 water stone for about 15-20 minutes, clamped her into my stone holder, and went to town. I sharpened a CRKT Offbeat II in 8CrMosomething, and a Lakota liner lock of indeterminate steel. It was a freebie knife given away with an NRA membership, if that tells you anything. Pretty mild steel, in any event. My plan was to put each of them on the Mutt, then move to my 400/1000 water stone, or perhaps an Arkansas stone, then strop.

With all of that out of the way, ..... I really like the American Mutt for coarse work. Until I got the American Mutt, my coarsest stones were: (a) an Ultrasharp 300 grit diamond plate; and (b) a carborundum or corundum stone (I'm not sure which) that I scavenged off of a Tri-Hone. The Baryonyx website lists it as "medium-coarse" with an "extra fast" cut speed. I'm sure it's my inexperience talking here, but if that's a "medium" coarse stone, I'm not sure I need a "very" coarse stone. I absolutely agree with the "extra fast" cut speed, though. It will definitely chew off some steel. I still can't get hair-popping, razor edges (on anything), but I was able to get a sharp, toothy edge in very short order. I then finished the edges as noted above.

The one caution I have about this stone is that it develops slurry like it does everything else: fast. While that makes for faster sharpening (as I understand it, anyway), I have some concerns about scratching up the 'flats' of a knife blade in using it. Perhaps my concern is well-founded, perhaps not. Perhaps it's a solvable problem if one has better technique than I.

I'll also add that the feedback on the American Mutt is fantastic. It borders on "delicious." It's a coarse stone, and you know you're working on a coarse stone. I hope to put an S30V Native 5 on it soon, but I expect that sharpening experience to be delightful.

YMMV.
 
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You can use oil or water on our stones but I actually use water on my stones in general rather than oil.

The slurry effect will subside somewhat as the stone settles into its natural surface as opposed to the as-fired finish so do not be surprised if the coarseness dies down a little bit as the grit protrusion diminishes, but the revised version of the stone now generates a light slurry when broken in and used with firm pressure.

Glad you're enjoying it!
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
You can use oil or water on our stones but I actually use water on my stones in general rather than oil.

The slurry effect will subside somewhat as the stone settles into its natural surface as opposed to the as-fired finish so do not be surprised if the coarseness dies down a little bit as the grit protrusion diminishes, but the revised version of the stone now generates a light slurry when broken in and used with firm pressure.

Glad you're enjoying it!
Click to expand...
Ah, I had it backwards on what you use.

I'll keep an eye on the slurry. If it subsides, I'll try to remember to update this thread. I actually hadn't thought about whether the stone will behave differently after "breaking in."
 
I recently picked up both the Manticore and Mutt as I had been wanting to add a very coarse whetstone to my arsenal. Prior to getting those my coarsest whetstones were a Shapton Pro 320 and Gesshin 400. I also have a DMT XC and Atoma 140, along with the Venev F80+F150. But I wanted to have an extra coarse "normal stone" option if I didn't want to use diamonds.

I haven't gotten around to trying either yet but I was surprised how coarse the Mutt feels right out of the box. I knew the Manticore was going to be a beast but it looks like the Mutt is also going to be a serious metal removing hog as well, which is exactly what I was after.
 
Ok. I worked with the Mutt again. First, I took a cheap filet knife and sharpened it, hoping to get the stone settled a bit. It was one of those awful steels that may have come reasonably sharp from the factory, but you have to absolutely bludgeon it into submission before it takes a new edge. That’s why I chose it. But bludgeon it into submission I did, and then I got out …

My poor Native 5. I really enjoy sharpening S30V, and until very recently, it was my only knife in it. So every time I want to try something new, I drag it out. But I digress. I soaked the Mutt & my cheap 400/1000 water stone in slightly soapy water. Maybe it was the break-in, maybe it’s because I sharpened different steel, I don’t know, but there did not seem to be as much slurry as on its first outing. Naturally, S30V took a bit longer to sharpen than the 8CrMov, but I would not say the Mutt “struggled” with the S30V. With a little patience (not always my strong suit) I got a pretty danged sharp (for me) edge straight off the Mutt. Better than the 8CrMov, but I spent more time with the S30V, too.

I don’t really have enough experience to comment on the scratch pattern, except to say that under 10x, the scratches looked uniform to me. It was not shaving sharp, but it was easily into “useful levels of sharp” territory.

I didn’t stop there, but since this thread is about the American Mutt, I’ll give y’all the Readers’ Digest Condensed version of the rest of what I did to my Native 5: cheap 400/1000 waterstone ->2 Arkansas stones -> Shapton Pro 2K -> loaded rough leather strop.
 
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