Soapstone?

T

TheUSMC2017

Joined
Nov 24, 2010
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Honestly; I know nothing about knife maintenance, but today I was in Lowes and saw a soapstone in the knife maintenance section. What exactly do they do? I've heard of putting a black mark on the edge of your blade when you're sharpening it; is this the same thing?
 
Soapstone is very soft, relative to steel. If anything, it might be useful for straightening/breaking off burrs & wire edges, when used in a stropping fashion (edge trailing stroke). Otherwise, I've no idea what sort of 'knife maintenance' it'd be used for.

I have a 4-sided strop block, one side of which is a very softish stone (blade will scratch it, but not vice-versa). Might be something similar, although I'm not sure exactly what type of stone it's made of. I think it was included on the strop block for the reasons noted above (burr removal).
 
Well it was whiteish in color, and it said on the box that it "Wipes off easily" so that's why I though it might have something to do with marking the edge
 
The more I read about soapstone, the more ambiguous it seems to be, at least in regard to maintaining knives. I might have to drop by Lowe's and see for myself, what the intended or perceived application for it is.
 
Soapstone is used to mark metal being cut to length or shape. It is a heat resistant mark which is handy if you are using a cutting torch. It marks well over mill scale, not so well on smooth surfaces. Not sure why it would be in the sharpening area... and I don't think it would stay on an edge the way a mark from a permanent marker would to test sharpening technique. I suppose you could use it on a file like chalk to prevent chips clogging the teeth.
 
I had a gr8 uncle back in the 60's and 70's that kept his knife razor sharp, i asked him how he got it that sharp and he replied "SOAPSTONE",said it was very soft and would make a blade razor sharp,sure wish i had some,any1 know where to get it,his was about 4 inches long 1 inch thick and 2 inches wide,all are approx size
he was always shaving hair with his knife and cut rope like butter
 
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