Arkansas Stone

Y

Y. Zhou

Joined
Nov 17, 2003
Messages
8
I own a Barry Dawson Millenium sword, with a bevel edge. I was wondering if it would be preferable to touch up the edge with a 4000 grit water stone, or an Arkansas Stone? If the latter is the black-hard arkansas stone acceptable? I have also read that if one has never used water/oil on the arkansas stone, one does not have to. Is this correct? Thank you.
 
I no longer use oil on any of my stones. I do clean them every so often in the parts cleaner at work. They work just fine if not better without the oil.
As for your sword maybe someone else can supply that info.
 
I use a surgical black Arkansas stone followed by a translucent Arkansas to polish Knife edges then finish on a wood mounted strop with CrO rouge.

These stones are wear proof. They are so hard that they do not get hollows. I have used my translucent stone almost daily since 1982 and it shows no wear. It is at least as smooth as a piece of tempered glass.

Manufacturers recommend using oil to lubricate and clean the stones.

See instructions at <http://www.hallsproedge.com/sharpening.htm>
They are very definite in their directions on care and use of the stones as oilstones.

The Arkansas stones are pretty similar from brand to brand. Compare prices. I think Hall's has the cheapest prices, but haven't bought any for several years.
 
Thanks for your quick responses. I've decided to get a Hard Fine Arkansas stone, as this will somewhat reduce the effort and time needed to sharpen the sword, and because since it is a sword it sometimes comes into contact with hard targets which I cut (bamboo etc.) so I will not be putting a razor edge on it.
 
I use a black arkansas stone, and I tried it dry first. Well, it loaded up pretty quick and stopped cutting. I had to keep cleaning it. I then used oil and found that it worked much better for me. It seems to cut faster and better and it's not as messy as some people say. The black stone is so dense that it doesn't soak up a lot of oil right away, and you don't need a lot. And clean up is a breeze. Just like A.G. Russell says, you rub your finger around on the top of the stone to lift up the debris and wipe it clean with a rag.
 
if you want fast sharpening without getting a razor edge, you definitely don't want to use a hard arkansas stone, look into diamond
 
Hard Arkansas is not what you need for a razor edge, use surgical black and/or translucent stones AFTER the diamond hone if you want really sharp edges. The surgical black puts a noticably smoother and sharper edge than the extra-fine diamond hone-it is a polished edge and will take almost all of the wire edge away. After this a small amount of stropping will finish it off.

I gave away my last hard Arkansas stone years ago.
 
Well I thought that the Hard Fine Arkansas was the "Medium" version of the stone, and was a popular finishing stone. The edge is not actually that dull I just want to touch it up a little.
 
Originally posted by Y. Zhou
Well I thought that the Hard Fine Arkansas was the "Medium" version of the stone,
Click to expand...

Hard fine black Arkansas, or for that mater, just about any 'true'
Arkansas stone is for finishing and putting that final touch to a blade.

Due to your comment above, this edge sees cutting action ( bamboo )
so I would just sharpen the extreme edge, taking care not to damage the area behind the edge ( mirror polish ?? ).

I would use diamond in a hand held file ( See DMT or EZ-Lap ) mainly for speed in cutting and you have a sword here not a 2 inch blade.

Pick a wide angle ( 25degs per side , 50 degs included ) as this will give greater longevity to the new sharpened edge.

I would think that the angle would be more important than the sharpening hone as this sword is in use as opposed for show only.
 
I would not use an arkansas stone to sharpen a sword. It would take forever. The japanese developed water stones to handle long blades like this. I would get a couple Shapton Professional Water Stones. I think Knife Outlet carries them. These will cut much, much, faster.

Let me clarify. I don't use arkansas stones to sharpen anything anymore. Unless a blade is as thin as a scalpel the smooth edge that you get from an arkansas stone is not a great slicer. I prefer the finish I get on an edge with ceramic or water stones. The Shaptons are ceramic water stones--the best of both worlds. A fine water stone will cut many times faster than a fine arkansas stone.
 
Thanks for all your help guys. The thing is that this is not to really sharpen or shape the edge as to just touch it up. My sensei recommended a method in which he used a 4000 grit water stone and just ran the edge of the sword, using only the weight of the sword, on the stone to keep the edge sharp. I don't want to cut the edge any more than possible, and I don't have much experience with sharpening, but I would think the wet stones mentioned are all coarser than 4000 grit. Perhaps not, but I'd rather spend a week or two getting the edge right than taking off too much material.
 
Waterstones seem expensive when you compare them to generic silicon carbide or aluminum oxide bench hones, but not if you compare them to premium arkansas stones, diamond hones, or say a Spyderco system. I usually pay more than this for large diamond hones. It is pretty general that the finer grit waterstones cost a lot. I think some of this is due to careful regulation of the grit size in the stone. Here's a link to a website selling US manufactured Norton waterstones, again with high prices.

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/shop/prodlist.asp?BrandID=16&LineID=47

In the case of the japanese stones the falling price of the dollar does not help.
 
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