Soft Arkansas stone

[augostos]

Hello!

I've got Soft Arkansas sharpening stone, may be 2-3" x 8". (I believe it is around 600 grit.)

From my experience, it is not efficient on my higher steel folders (S30V, 154CM). And I'm starting to get more or less acceptable results with my folders on a diamond stone pad. Even a ceramic rod gives more perceptable results.

So my question -- do I need that Arkansas stone anyway? If I can use it, what are the steel types in your opinion? Carbon? More regular stainless steels?

Thank you very much!

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Don't get rid of it. For simple carbon steels (1095, etc.) and low-alloy stainless (420HC, 440A, etc.), it may still be useful for you. I found the upper limit for one of my Arkansas stones was with 440C; my stone didn't handle it well at all, in trying to re-bevel the blade. As you've noticed, it'll be very slow or ineffective on more wear-resistant steels, as the chromium- and vanadium-carbides are much harder than the abrasive in the Arkansas stone (called Novaculite). The chromium carbides were the factor with my 440C blade (older Buck 112), and they'll also play into it with 154CM, D2 (heavier chromium carbide content) and ZDP-189 (MASSIVE chromium carbide content). Silicon carbide stones, or aluminum oxide stones, such as the Norton 'Crystolon' and Norton 'India' stones respectively, will handle any of the chromium-carbide-heavy steels easily, as can diamond (but it's not necessary for those). S30V is high in vanadium carbides, and they're even harder (a lot) than the chromium carbides. Diamond will handle those best, at any grit level. At coarser grits (maybe ~800 or lower), when the carbides would more likely just be dislodged whole, instead of actually shaping/thinning/refining them, the Crystolon and India stones can work for that as well. The limitations come up when trying to refine to high polish, when grit levels get up to near-mirror levels (~1000 grit or higher). That's when finer grit diamond (~10µ and smaller) will work much, much better to finish them, because the vanadium carbides can be effectively shaped and polished more easily, by diamond.


David