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williamsld8

williamsld8

Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Messages
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in reading an old post (this forum contains so much shared knowledge I have learned more from her in a week than I have learned in the last 3 years combined) about the comparison of waterstones to arkansas stones I keep hearing people say arkansas stones can't get you the same hair popping edge that the finest waterstone can get you is this true? And everyone says that the metal cutting properties are slower than waterstones, and certain metals that are hard alloys WON't be sharpened by an arkansas stone. Is this true? And finally, I am hearing it takes longer with an arkansas stone but I just keep reading that they take longer. By what comparison? How much longer? Cuz some of us ( by that I mean me :) ) don't know what long is
 
many current knives are more complicated alloys than earlier pieces. some knives are so hard that anything outside of diamonds would take you many hours to sharpen.if you are staying with many of the lower priced carbon steels then you can do the job with soft arkansas. however most of my cutlery requires diamonds to make the job easier. some knives ca'nt be sharpened at all w/o diamonds.
dennis
 
Sharpening methods are almost as sensitive topics as religious and political preferences.

I doubt anyone can answer how much longer is longer...suffice to say few people want to take a single stroke more than they believe is necessary to achieve the edge they want...therefore they select the product that they believe will work fastest assuming it gives the same results.
 
ok so say i dont mind spending 4 hours working on one edge. with a combination or arkansas stones, with one of them find the finest arkansas you can find ( such as black or true black or whatever its called ), can i achieve an edge sharp enough to shave with no drag? or to get that fine by hand will i in the end have to resort to the finest waterstone or micron stropping compounds? time is not the importance to me, if i have to cut fast i can easily locate a cheap diamond grit synthetic stone to strip away metal like its cool, but once i get the approximate edge im looking for, i enjoy taking my time to refine it. thats the joy i get out of it. its just that i have heard claims of people taking days with their ultra-fine arkansas to get to the same point it took another man an hour or two and dont want to work on it for days at a time when something like one day is slightly more reasonable.
 
William, I think we went similiar in another thread . I'll get more specific . I've owned and used Arkansas stones since 1985 about 25yrs.. Their grain structure is such that allows them to cut slowly more polish . Also their hardness is only 7.0 Mohs (the black)like quartz, silica, novaculite, ect.. Whereas many good quality hunting knives are 6.5 on the Mohs hardness scale (close to the same hardness) . But the newer high end steels have elements/ compounds in them taking them to 8.5-9.5 Mohs . Well beyond the abilities of Arkansas to cut these steels . So, what steel ?
Yet if were only talking normal steels 425M, AUS-6 some like these the Arkansas will cut taking 1-2hrs. to sharpen not rebevel . Which is a different matter taking more time . Hence, I suggested enhancing the stone with diamond slurry . If you spend the money to do this one could have taken that original dollars and purchased a decent Norton crystollon or aluminum oxide stone which will cut most any steel quickly . Yes, you can achieve a sharp enough edge to shave with from an Arkansas stone (the hard black) . I've done it you can do it right from the stone . I'd still get a strop as using this really finishes the knifes edge . You should google 'Arkansas stones' for further education also danswhetstones.com is a good site to read about this stone . Good hunting . DM
 
Im going to try and make it as simple as possible. If your sharpening low to midrange steels like 420HC, 440C, Aus8, 1095....etc and you progress from soft to hard to black/translucent youll get a nice polished hair popping edge just like you would with any other kind of stones(diamond, ceramic, water....). If your trying to sharpen hard steel like ZDP189, S110V, M4, S30V then the Ark. stones are not going to do the job and even if they did it would take you days compared to minutes/hours on a diamond or waterstone. Hope that helps.
 
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