Smith's Dual Grit: worth to buy?

Papilio said:
I think about adding a coarse stone to my set. I know that in the coarse section diamonds are good. I would prefer an aluminium oxide stone.
Smith's has dual grit combination stones like this one https://smithsproducts.com/4-inch-dual-grit-sharpening-stone

What about the quality? Is this a good choice? Thanks.
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I was wondering this too, I bought one Walmart yesterday that was 8” for 9 dollars. It’s a 100/240 I think, I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. Is it an oil stone or can it be used with water?
 
Timing of the post is interesting to me and makes me smile a little bit. ;)

I recently bought one of the 8" x 2" versions of this stone for about $9 at Walmart. I've used it for sharpening some kitchen knives in basic stainless steel, both for my own use and for a family member.
It's actually a decent working stone for such jobs and the Fine side of the stone left a pretty good working edge with minimal stropping - I used clean paper over the stone, for that. Able to cleanly slice through phonebook pages and paper towels, finished as such. I wanted to see how it compared to my Norton India (IB8), which I've used previously for the same purpose and also for some of my favorite EDC knives. I bought the Smith's stone simply because it intrigued me and didn't set me back much $$. It's something new to fiddle with and indulge my sharpening itch on the cheap. All things considered, I'd say the Smith's stone is a good deal for the money - very good, actually, for that money. I've bought other 'inexpensive' aluminum oxide dual-grit stones for roughly the same $$, or even more. And many of those seemed to glaze pretty fast and/or wear to a grit performance much finer than rated (this means they get slower). So the Smith's stone, by comparison to those, impresses me a bit more.

At the price point, it's probably OK to try it out with either oil or water. I experimented with it using some dish soap & water, handy in the kitchen. It remains to be seen how that'll play out, with more use. I favor oil for stones like my India, because it really does work better at minimizing clogging over time with swarf. But for an inexpensive stone as backup to my India, I can push it a little bit without worrying.

With a 4" stone, there'll be some limitation as to how fast it can work for heavier grinding jobs. But a 4" stone could be a decent field/pocket stone for touchup & minor repair work on smaller EDC pocket knives in mainstream cutlery steels.
 
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Obsessed with Edges said:
Timing of the post is interesting to me and makes me smile a little bit. ;)
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My post is right on time then.... :)

The 4'' stone could be nice as an addition to a Fallkniven CC4. If a coarse stone should ever be needed. Or for gardening tools. The 8'' stone for kitchen knives.
Lansky has similiar stones (6'' and 8'') that are described more or less the same (100 and 240).
How does the Smith's compare to the IB8? I guess the IB8 makes a finer edge? Fine India is 360 to 400, Smith's 240 on the fine side. Whereas the coarse side of the Smith's seems to be coarser (100 to 150, as far as I remember).
As the Smith's stone is a new acquisition most likely it will show no wear yet? The IB8 seems to be a very hard stone. Do you notice that the Smith's stone dishs already or is it a hard stone nad long lasting stone, too?
 
Skane24 said:
I was wondering this too, I bought one Walmart yesterday that was 8” for 9 dollars. It’s a 100/240 I think, I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. Is it an oil stone or can it be used with water?
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You can use both oil and water. Oil will work better, most likely. Using water you will have to soak the stone as it is like a dry sponge. And keep it wet all the time. Soapy water could be better, as Obsessed with Edges suggests. Another option would be to fill the stone with petroleum jelly. It will be more a splash and go stone then. Like a Norton India.
 
Papilio said:
My post is right on time then.... :)

The 4'' stone could be nice as an addition to a Fallkniven CC4. If a coarse stone should ever be needed. Or for gardening tools. The 8'' stone for kitchen knives.
Lansky has similiar stones (6'' and 8'') that are described more or less the same (100 and 240).
How does the Smith's compare to the IB8? I guess the IB8 makes a finer edge? Fine India is 360 to 400, Smith's 240 on the fine side. Whereas the coarse side of the Smith's seems to be coarser (100 to 150, as far as I remember).
As the Smith's stone is a new acquisition most likely it will show no wear yet? The IB8 seems to be a very hard stone. Do you notice that the Smith's stone dishs already or is it a hard stone nad long lasting stone, too?
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Still kind of breaking in the Smith's stone. Right now, I'd say the IB8 produces a more consistent, cleaner-looking finish with a nice toothy bite that I like. That may or may not happen in the Smith's stone after some more break-in. But I was actually surprised that the Smith's produced a functionally good edge as easily as it did. With less expensive stones, I've sort of expected they'd be more fussy and in need of more deburring work after sharpening - that's been a consistent pattern among the cheaper stones I've tried. Stones that don't cut the steel as cleanly always tend to burr more, as compared to better stones that cut aggressively and leave the edge relatively clean of burrs, or at least with burrs that are easier to clean up with minimal extra effort.

The Smith's seems to be a pretty hard stone, not shedding grit noticeably and not showing obvious wear. But again, I'm still breaking it in. So we'll see how that holds up.
 
I almost bought the exact same stone locally last weekend. It looks and feels pretty good for the price. I may yet pick one up. I figure I can't go too wrong for $9.

ETA: For that matter, I gots two pretty cool nephews who perhaps need Uncle Spats to add to their stone collections.
 
Spats McGee said:
I almost bought the exact same stone locally last weekend. It looks and feels pretty good for the price. I may yet pick one up. I figure I can't go too wrong for $9.

ETA: For that matter, I gots two pretty cool nephews who perhaps need Uncle Spats to add to their stone collections.
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:)

Sometimes you don't have to spend a fortune for a solid stone.
 
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