Japanese water stones??? What?Where

Well, you can probably cut softer stones (especially the magnesia stones) with a hack saw but it would take some time and you risk cracking it. A lapidary or diamond tile saw might do the trick okay, but it seems like doing things the hard way. Unless the blade has a concave curvature like a rug knife (in which case a round crock stick or a cone shaped gouge stone would be better), I don't see where a narrow stone would be of any benefit over a regular stone on a convex curved blade though... unless you think the wider stone will make it harder to see what you are doing... could you just mount the stone sideways? Think it would be easier to sharpen the straight part in a jig and then finish off the belly freehand anyway... that way you can make semi-circular strokes, starting with the bevel you cut on the flat, in order to keep the same sharpening angle around the curve that you have on the rest of the blade.
 
Hi Yuzuha,

My thinking is that using a narrow stone would make sharpening curves easier with the EZESharp since at anytime only a very small part of the stone is in contact with the knife's edge on the curve. With a wide stone you don't really know which part of the curve you are sharpening. With a very narrow stone like 1 inch you can see clearly and move accordingly. I could be wrong about this, if I am then things would be easier since I just need to use the standard 3 inch stone.
 
I see. Well, a flat stone will be like a tangent on a circle so only a small part, maybe the width of a pencil line, will be in contact with the stone at any given moment, and even a one inch stone will hide the contact point unless you are using a mirror to look up from the bottom. And, unless the stone guide rod is fixed over the center of curvature of the blade, the bevel angle is going to vary as you go around the curve. If it can be set so this is the case then your angle will be the same all the way around the curve and you can just start a stroke on one end of the curve and swing the stone around the curve so the stroke ends at the other end of the curve (or the point in many cases). The contact point should be pretty much along the guide rod and center line of the stone so you only have to guestimate when the blade tip (or the part where the curve meets the straight part of the blade) is in relation to the guide rod, or center of the stone, so you don't swing too far around the curve. Short of having a transparent stone with a line scribed down the center of it (or a different setup with the stone stationary and the knife on a guide arm over it,) I suppose a narrow stone would lessen the chance of overshoot, but you don't really need to see if you set up some reference points to mark the ends of the left-right swing before you begin. There is also something to be said for practicing on some cheap blades until you get the hang of it.
 
Hi Yuzuha,

Thanks for your valuable advice. I should be getting my EZESharp in a week or 2 and then I will try out with some cheap kitchen knives and also with the stone mounted sideways.
 
yuzuha said:
Well, you can probably cut softer stones (especially the magnesia stones) with a hack saw but it would take some time and you risk cracking it.
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You can do it with any fine saw, just make sure the stone is really wet, and go light. You will mangle the saw of course.

-Cliff
 
Hi Cliff,

How long will it take to cut a Norton 4000/8000 combination stone 8 X 3 X 1 to a 8 X 2 X 1 and a 8 X 1 X 1.

Also do I need to use any special hack saw blade and change the blade after cutting a certain depth?

Thanks
 
Minutes, I don't use hacksaw blades, I just use wood saw blades. I have done it about a half a dozen times, just use a cheap saw that you are going to throw out as you will grind the teeth pretty badly. I cut an oil stone up with a hacksaw blade a few years ago, they are harder to cut than waterstones.

-Cliff
 
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