Arkansas stones...

Joined
Dec 27, 2004
Messages
2,270
Thought this was an interesting interview that tells a bit about the history and info on Arkansas stones...

[video=youtube;1ZMzZMeTJuc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZMzZMeTJuc[/video]
 
Thank you !
That was a great, GREAT vid.
I am glad he and his company is doing well.

I didn't know much about Arks.
I do know there are bad ones out there that are not worth owning. I've had them.
Dan's is the cream of the crop that I could find after a whole lot of looking.

My Trans. Ark . . . one of my prize possessions ! Comes with a nice wooden box / stone holder. I have no complaints; good stuff.

I wasn't aware of that portable four sided tool with the angled ends. Smart.


 
I've got an older but seemingly harder Arkansas Stone that I got from a guy who actually used to work for one of the companies that mined the "novaculite" which most Arkansas stones are made from. The stone I have is one that this guy called the "Blue-Black" Arkansas Stone. It is very fine and possibly could be rated as "ultra-fine" in grit.

I like to use it sometimes when I'm sharpening one of my Spyderco folders that has one of the newer blade steels. It seems to have a polishing effect or even a stropping effect. It seems to work a little better than "steeling" does and with patience it can even have a nice burnishing effect in some cases.

I've heard that the Garrett Wade company sells an opaque Arkansas Stone which I've heard woodworkers even swear it's the best sharpening stone available for a lot of woodworking tools.

Novaculite is an interesting natural material for making benchstones and whetstones. I'm wondering just how many variants of novaculite there are?
 
Back
Top