Diamond stones or Arkansas?

[Badowski]

Hi, I have to buy a new set of stones and sincerly I don't know which to choose.
Till now, I used the Spy Sharpmaker and some cheap Arkansas stones that worked preatty well.
Is there anyone who has used both methods? Diamond and Arkansas.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Hi, I have to buy a new set of stones and sincerly I don't know which to choose.
Till now, I used the Spy Sharpmaker and some cheap Arkansas stones that worked preatty well.
Is there anyone who has used both methods? Diamond and Arkansas.

Use whatever works for you. Arkansas stones work for simpler carbon & low alloy stainless steels, along the lines of 1095, 420HC for example. The natural abrasive in Arkansas stones, called 'novaculite', isn't as hard as other man-made abrasives, and some cutlery steels will even be harder than novaculite. If you ever find a particular steel to be difficult on them (maybe 440C or D2, and other more wear-resistant steels like S30V), that might be the time to consider something more aggressive like aluminum oxide stones or silicon carbide (such as Norton's 'India' or 'Crystolon', respectively), or diamond hones. Your Sharpmaker should be fine for finishing & light upkeep tasks on most blades; if re-bevelling blades in more wear-resistant steels, you might also consider the diamond or CBN rods for the Sharpmaker as well.


David

 

[Badowski]

Obsessed with Edges! I should trust in your reply just for the nickname!
I don't use only one kind of steel, I go from INFI or sleipner to S30v,154cm or M390 (I avoid 440c in every way) and sometime I have to re- bevell some knives.
To make a good work with very dull and big blades I prefer not to use the sharpmaker because it takes too much time, I prefer a bigger stone.
According to your reasoning, would be better for me to buy diamond stones (like Smith's for example), in that way I'll have no problem with different kind of steels from softer to harder.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Obsessed with Edges! I should trust in your reply just for the nickname!
I don't use only one kind of steel, I go from INFI or sleipner to S30v,154cm or M390 (I avoid 440c in every way) and sometime I have to re- bevell some knives.
To make a good work with very dull and big blades I prefer not to use the sharpmaker because it takes too much time, I prefer a bigger stone.
According to your reasoning, would be better for me to buy diamond stones (like Smith's for example), in that way I'll have no problem with different kind of steels from softer to harder.

For vanadium carbide-heavy steels like S30V and M390, I'd use the diamond stones; they'll work most efficiently on those. For 154CM, it may or may not be somewhat challenging on Arkansas stones, especially if you do some re-bevelling or heavy grinding on the steel. It's got a fair amount of chromium carbides, and although they're not quite as hard as the vanadium carbides, they're still harder than the novaculite in the Arkansas stones. You could also use aluminum oxide or silicon carbide stones for that steel, and they'd do well with it.

At coarser-grit grinding, some 'softer' abrasives can still remove carbides by effectively 'scooping' them out of the steel matrix, without doing much, if any, shaping or polishing of them; at finer grits (maybe ~10µ or finer), when attempting to shape or polish the carbides, that's where the lesser abrasives will start to slow down, or stop working altogether. That's when you'd really notice the difference in using diamond, as it'll still cut, shape and polish the carbides easily.

BTW, regarding 440C, that's the steel with which I first noticed some difficulty in grinding it with Arkansas stones; 440C has pretty high chromium carbide content. Some harder versions of 440C will just laugh at Arkansas stones, if attempting to do any heavy grinding (in my example, it was an old Buck folder in 440C). In my frame of reference, that's sort of the 'threshold steel' at which I start looking for something more aggressive to sharpen it. Silicon carbide eats it for breakfast, when doing heavier grinding, and aluminum oxide will do a great job in the finishing & polishing stages, especially.


David

 

[brownshoe]

I would not buy Smith's diamond hones. They are late comers to the diamond business. IIRC, Tony Bose likes the EZ-lap brand. I've used DMT and they are fine. The Sharpmaker diamond rods are very good as well.

If you sharpen steels <58 RC then natural stones are fine. The higher hardness steels take too long and wear the stones too much. Natural stones take more care (they need to be lapped flat after lots of use) than diamond and offer no real advantage.

 

[Badowski]

Ok, I haven't checked the diamond stones of Spyderco and the aluminum oxide and silicon carbide stones that David says, I'll take a look!
It seems that the thing becomes complicate!
But it's likely I'll try the Spyderco diamond rods.
Thank you! I've learned something new...
If you have some good link for this different stones, please let me know.

 

[Badowski]

Maybe I've found the ideal solution for me and my budget:
3 Arkansas stones, coarse, medium, fine of 8" for big blades in carbon steels.
2 DMT, coarse and fine of 6" for harder stainless steels.
With the other stuff I already have, sand papers, Spy sharpmaker, leather strops etc. I think that I will not miss anything!

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Maybe I've found the ideal solution for me and my budget:
3 Arkansas stones, coarse, medium, fine of 8" for big blades in carbon steels.
2 DMT, coarse and fine of 6" for harder stainless steels.
With the other stuff I already have, sand papers, Spy sharpmaker, leather strops etc. I think that I will not miss anything!

I think you're right!

All of that should cover every blade you'll ever use. :thumbup:


David

 

[Sunyata]

I'd just go with 8 inch DMT plates and strops. Diamonds will sharpen any steel quickly so there isn't a need for the Arkansas stones.

 

[HuntBomb]

I would recommend picking up a set of DMT 6" stones in C, F, and EF because they do work fast and last a long time.
I love my 6" Translucent Arkansas stone (Dan's). It polishes most of my blades and leaves a very fine edge. Great for high carbon steels.
I have noticed that s90v, and M390 take some more time, but it certainly polishes the bevel.

 

[Badowski]

Thank you too for your advices.
Sharpening my knives is not just a mere utilitarian work but it is also a way to relax myself, is to focus and not to think of anything else ...