Gunsmith stone for knife sharpening?

Malpaso

Malpaso

Joined
Jan 17, 2000
Messages
129
I have a Norton India stone that I use for gunsmithing work. Is this something that would work for a neophyte knife sharpener, or would I be better served with a Spyderco/Lansky/etc system?
 
Never heard of the stone but I'd imagine a stone for gunsmithing to be able to abrade hardened steel and be reasonably flat which is all it needs
 
An India stone is a great way to start learning sharpening. If most or all of the steels you're using are from simple (1095, CV, 420HC) to mid-range alloys (something like 440C, 154CM, VG-10, etc), then the India should handle them pretty well, or even excellently. It'll be more versatile than something like the Sharpmaker, which really only does well at finishing & simple light touchups (grit too fine & hones too small for heavy work).

If you have any blade steels that are more wear-resistant, like D2, S30V/90V/110V, etc, then maybe a SiC stone ('silicon carbide', like Norton's Crystolon) or a diamond hone will do better with those for basic sharpening/grinding, with diamond doing much better especially at the finishing/polishing end of things.
 
Gunsmithing stones are likely to be abrasive "tool room sticks" (non-standard rectangle type stones--they come in many shapes and sizes) of a sort often known as a silversmith's stick. They're very hard bond as they're intended to hold their shape in use. If this is the case, they'll work but will be prone to glazing so you'll need to keep an eye on it and re-dress the surface as necessary to expose fresh grit.
 
If it's actually a Norton India (as branded), they seem to offer the small hones (flat/round/square/triangular/slipstones, etc) in exactly the same material (rated C/M/F; dark brown 'Coarse', lighter brown 'medium', orange 'Fine') as their bench stones used for knives & such.

After I'd purchased my IB8 (Coarse/Fine 8" combination India) and used it for a while, I picked up a small pocket-sized hone from them in their (orange) 'Fine' grit, which seems to perform identically to the 'Fine' side of my IB8. It's a perfect match in finish, which I was looking for in a pocket hone. I've grown to like the finish coming off the Fine India. I've even recently used that small stone to thin the grind on one of my pocketknives' blades (sheepsfoot in a Buck 301; 420HC), and it grinds just like the Fine side of the IB8, which I'd previously used for the same task. I also radiused one edge on the pocket stone, using the Coarse side of a SiC stone of mine. That was pretty easy, taking just a few minutes of light rubbing. So that stone doesn't seem too hard, in terms of the bond.
 
I have at least 6-8 small Speciality Norton India stones that I purchased to use on specific special use items. These are square, triangle, round, ect.. That I use for smoothing out the slide on a auto shotgun to sharpening pinking scissors. They work great in tight places but I wouldn't
use them to sharpen my knife unless in a pinch. They have to be cleaned after each use. Hope this helps. DM
 
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