Arkansas Stones…when do they meet their match with modern steels being used for traditional slipjoints

BDubbs

BDubbs

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I really like Arkansas stones, takes me back 2 generations right away. I like the entire sharpening process and experience, very calming and therapeutic to me if you will. But at what point do you have to put them away and bring out something harder and more abrasive like ceramics, water stones or diamond rods/plates? I assume they are great for 1095 and 440 but what’s everyone’s experience with more modern steels?

gratuitous knife photo
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thanks,

dub
 
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The threshold for me, with Arkansas stones, is at 440C. Steels like 1095/CV and 420HC sharpen up nicely on them. And a little more wear resistance in a steel like 440A probably isn't an issue. But I learned the hard way, years ago in trying to grind one of Buck's old blades in 440C, that my Arkansas stones quite literally wouldn't cut it. Felt like the blade was just skating across the stone, and it didn't remove metal at all, so far as I could tell. Buck's older 440C blades had this reputation and frustrated many others like myself for the same reason (I read about this years later).

This isn't to say that some of the finer Arkansas stones can't still be used with more wear-resistant steels. For refining, aligning and some polishing or burnishing, the finer stones like black hard & translucent can add some additional sharpness and refinement in their own subtle way. But for doing any heavy metal removal, as for setting bevels & such, Arkansas stones will really struggle on steels with much wear resistance at all.
 
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I never could get a buck 440C knife sharp on an Arkansas stone.

The main reason I don’t like the newer steels is their inability to be sharpened on a traditional stone. But, oddly I do like using dmt diamond stones occasionally. Especially for a quick touch up in the field.

I have no issues using Arkansas stones on Camillus stainless, or on schrade+ which is most likely 440A.
 
I was an Arkansas stone guy before I was anything else ... about an hour or more sometimes to sharpen a knife
Then I was a Lansky guy for several decades ... plan to spend a good bit of time on a dull or haggard knife
Got a Sharpmaker for grins and giggles ... it works I guess ... sorta kinda for me
Now I'm a Ken Onion Worksharp guy ... 5 minutes and stronger edge shape profile because it's done on belts

Three knives come to mind off the top of my head, in the last half dozen yrs or so, that I was very frustrated with until throwing on the Worksharp and then a piece of cake
One was a knife in D2, another was 01 tool steel and then there was an Indian River Jack in CPM 154

The thing is, Arkansas stone work (with softer steels) is VERY relaxing but the Worksharp goes so quickly, I have time to relax :D
 
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440C is my limit for Arkansas stones - unless it needs reprofiled, in which case I'll grab my diamond plate sharpener. Why wear out my not inexpensive to me Arkansas stone?
I've never had an issue sharpening 10xx, 5160, 440A or 425HC with an Arkansas stone.
 
BrotherJim said:
I was an Arkansas stone guy before I was anything else ... about an hour or more sometimes to sharpen a knife
Then I was a Lansky guy for several decades ... plan to spend a good bit of time on a dull or haggard knife
Got a Sharpmaker for grins and giggles ... it works I guess ... sorta kinda for me
Now I'm a Ken Onion Worksharp guy ... 5 minutes and stronger edge shape profile because it's done on belts

Three knives come to mind off the top of my head, in the last half dozen yrs or so, that I was very frustrated with until throwing on the Worksharp and then a piece of cake
One was a knife in D2, another was 01 tool steel and then there was an Indian River Jack in CPM 154

The thing is, Arkansas stone work (with softer steels) is VERY relaxing but the Worksharp goes so quickly, I have time to relax :D
Click to expand...
I have a problem imagining a knife that needs to be sharper than what the Ken Onion machine does in a jiffy. You can get the same results free hand on good stones and on hand powered guided systems. But honestly to me no better than what the Ken Onion does in a small fraction of the time. And you can pay a lot more.

I used to be into the zen of hand sharpening. Not anymore. YMMV
 
I've never been a steel nerd, so I guess I don't have any hard and fast rules. I have found that Crock Sticks work really well on the Sandvik steels found in a lot of those Forbidden Knives We're Supposed to Imagine Don't Exist.
 
The hardest steel I have is s30v (spyderco), I use a medium india then a hard arkansas and it seems to work ok.
 
I have a KME system. I use diamond stones to reprofile, then switch to Arkansas to polish the edge. I'm able to get a clean mirror polish without using expensive films that way. I've done this with s30v and m390 as well as Buck.
 
Thanks all for input, modified title to maybe make it more appropriate for this forum.
 
You can use stones to maintain any blade steel. If you really have to sharpen, use a hard material such as diamonds if the blade Rc is >57.
 
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