Do you ever use a Hard Arkansas stone?

rpttrsn

rpttrsn

Joined
Nov 1, 2006
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I have a Kizer Kyre 3 1/2" blade with VG10 steel. It had a decent edge but I wanted to improve it. I have had this stone in a drawer along with my strops etc. and decided to give it a go. After about 20 minutes it has one of the best edges on any knife I have. Hairs fly off my arm and with its own weight push cuts through phone book paper without any tearing. The stone is only 4" L x 2" W x 1". The color could be opaque. Very impressed. Not sure of the grit/micron as I don't think these stones have this type of rating. Lightly stropped on 0.50 and then 0.25 diamond spray on a balsa wood strops. Will add this to all my hand sharpening. Very impressed.

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Here's mine, had this one for over 20 years and is the stone I used to make my first "hair whittling" edge. Doesn't get used too often anymore but I still pull it out from time to time on my woodworking tools of carbon steel. Haven't used it on stainless in long time.

You hard looks like more of a translucent....

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I have a massive Black Arkansas hone, about 12" long, that I inherited from a great uncle who was a carpenter/cabinet maker. Works beautifully on high carbon steels, but not so well on S30V and other high carbide volume steels like D2. I may give it a try, though.
 
I've found they can work pretty well, or even excellently, on steels which might be somewhat burr-prone (VG-10, for example). Not a lot of abrasion going on with more wear-resistant steels, but they're very good at aligning a somewhat rolled or burred edge, and are very forgiving of using a little more pressure to accomplish that end-goal. That is primarily what I've used mine for. I have two: one a small pocket-sized black hard Arkansas, and the other is a 5"-6" translucent (inexpensive, part of a cheap Tri-hone set I bought years ago). Fairly limited in what they can do; but within those limits, they can work very well. They're also very good polishers for woodworking blades in simple carbon steel with minimal hard carbides, like plane blades and chisels.


David
 
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Yes, I use soft and hard Arkansas stones occasionally.

The small one in your pic is a hard translucent, which provides the finest finish of the Arkansas stones. I don't have one of those.
 
It have a small pocket stone but I do not believe it is a hard stone. I am learning how to sharpen freehand and find the Arkansas stones to be pretty nice. Mine is pink and white in color.
 
rpt, your stone is a translucent grade Arkansas. Around a 1000-1100 grit. I have read the the Black grade Arkansas stones are finer than a Translucent. I'm not a Geologist or work in a quarry. The Arkansas stones are graded by Specific Gravity. (weight by volume). I have all the grades of Arkansas stones, Washita up through translucent & black. I use the black mostly with my straight razor. It produces a good edge on it. They polish more than remove metal. Except the washita, a 4-500 grit stone. Being more coarse it removes metal and I sometimes use it to sharpen some simple stainless steels. i.e. 420hc, 425M. Members have posted these stones can refine a edge on many steels well.
army, thank you for serving. I have a stone that looks like the same as Heavy's. Except it has a pink streak or two in it, like you mention. Mine is a hard. I've used it on my hatchet and axe. It does a good job on their edges. DM
 
Arkansas stones are a micro crystaline sedimentary quartz deposited in an ancient sea bed. I have many permutations of them in size and grit. I used to use them quite a bit. Since the advent of powdered steels and the ability to pack Vanadium Carbides into knife blade steels, I have had to resort extra fine diamond stones to shine up my CPM S-125-V (12.5% V) blades. Vanadium Carbides Rockwell at 82 C scale. Most knives are in the 58-60 HRC (hardness Rockwell C) range.
 
armytxn said:
It have a small pocket stone but I do not believe it is a hard stone. I am learning how to sharpen freehand and find the Arkansas stones to be pretty nice. Mine is pink and white in color.
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I have one fitting that description (pink/white pocket-sized), and it works very well with simple carbon steels like 1095 & CV, and low-alloy stainless like 420HC. I think it's more of a 'medium' Arkansas stone, leaving a micro-toothy bite (great working edge) in the finish; not so much a polishing stone like the black hard and translucent Arkansas stones. It's also very easy to recondition (flatten/lap) when it needs it; I just use a SiC/AlOx hardware store type stone ('coarse' side) to do that, with water or dish soap & water.


David
 
Thanks for all the replies. I also have a soft Arkansas and need to play with both since doing a bit more freehand sharpening. Used soapy water with the hard stone. Still can't get over the edged it provided.
Ron
 
Yes I have a hard and a Black Barbers Choice Arkansas Black stone. They make carbon steel hair popping sharp.
 
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