Moraine or Arkansas

S

superc

Joined
Sep 30, 2003
Messages
382
I usually use a hard Arkansas for finishing, but I also have a Moraine. They both feel smooth to the touch. Which one gives the best edge, or are they about equal?
 
Sorry, here's a picture of the stones in question.

stones.jpg
 
Well... I was waiting for some else to ask, but I just can't take it any longer... what the heck is a Moraine???
 
The stone on the left. The company that made them is long gone, but if you look the name is on it. It's probably older than the knife.
 
Ummmh....how about you try it out and see for yourself? How do you expect us to tell you about the finish a stone that is several decades old is capable of producing, made by a manufacturer that doesn't exist anymore? Even if someone might know the product, there is no way of telling in what condition the stone is. You have already the stone, so you are the expert (or should be). Why don't you try it out and tell us what it can do?
 
The Moraine is an old razor hone.
Neither one will do well unless you learn to hold bevels better than is apparent on that knife! This may be a case for one of the jig sharpeners!
 
That was my guess. It is some type of barber's hone meant for touchups to an already sharp straight razor. If that is true then it would be finer grit than the Arkansas. You would wear your arm off before you would bring a rounded bevel to a crisp intersection with that fine of a stone. To benefit from it you would need to start with a knife that is already very sharp. (I couldn't fine a Moraine hone on eboy or google. It must be rare!)
 
The knife was placed there for size comparison purposes, not to imply it is sharpened with those stones. For the record the knife was a $19 dollar Ebay purchase sold as a ""WW2 Commando Knife." I recognized the handle of what was shown as belonging to a Cattaraugas 225 Q quartermaster knife, described as being in "fair" shape and bid $19 and won. The ad didn't mention some idiot had taken a belt sander to it and reshaped the blade in an apparent attempt to compensate for losing a quarter inch at the tip. Yes, I am using my Lansky on it. We are up to arm shaving sharp at this time and it has gone on to the Arkansas (I am not impressed with the white ceramic on the Lansky fine). [Elsewhere I had asked what is the proper bevel for one of those knives is, now you know why I asked. I bought 4 of them on Ebay from different sources, in varying condition, but only one arrived sharp.] I had a suspicion that the Moraine might be a honing stone. It's in pretty good shape. The Arkansas is also. I have had both stones for decades but don't use the Moraine much. In my experience large natural stones from the pre 1960 era are both getting hard to find and better at producing fine edges than some of the newer stuff we find in Lowes, Walmart or similar stores.
 
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