Traditional Knife and Stone Pairs?

[JM2]

I've always kinda had a notion to put a whetstone with a knife and keep them together for life; Either the life of the knife, the stone, or me, whichever comes first.

I've been looking to find the perfect companion for my Buck 192.

Some older pictures, forgive me for not taking fresh ones.

The Buck.

The stones. I do have some DMT stones I use as well. I am going to experiment with the soft Arkansas stones to see which one produces the best edge for my 192 and then pair it with the knife for a while to see how it does.

This is a Case branded stone from the set.

Does anyone else pair stones with knives?

 

[black mamba]

Even with the Schrades that came with their own little stone on the sheath I never used the paired stone to sharpen them.

I sharpen freehand and have gotten used to the feel of my larger stones.

 

[afishhunter]

I am going to experiment with the soft Arkansas stones to see which one produces the best edge for my 192 and then pair it with the knife for a while to see how it does.

I would suggest the Dan's "soft" (medium grit) Arkansas stone to maintain the edge.

I used one to maintain the edge on all my knives from roughly 1963 until I misplaced it/lost it or someone "borrowed" it without my knowledge in 1991 or 1992.
If an edge needed re-profiled I had a Smith's tri-hone set, or their guided rod sharpener ... Except for Cold Steel machetes. Worst factory edges I have ever seen.
Before setting the edges and sharpening the three I had, they would not chop/cut a green (soft) or brown (hard) palm frond ... even with the frond on the 1x6 board I used to cut them to 4 foot lengths (usually took 3 cuts per frond) so the trash service would take them.
I used a draw through sharpener on those machetes to knock off the burrs, and even the grind, before finishing with the Smith stones to set the edge at 30-32° inclusive.

Yes. The Buck 110's with 440C blades that I and two of my friends had starting in 1967, took "forever" to re-profile to a "V" edge and a 10 to 15° DPS edge using my dual sided bench stone.
The blade steel was almost as hard as the oil stones available back then, ... great for burnishing ... sharpening ... not so much.
SiC Wet Or Dry sandpaper glued to a board worked better. I think I had boards with 340 and 600 grit on them.
The Dan's worked great to maintain the edges, however.
Both my friends were in vocational wood shop our senior year (hard to believe the house their class built is almost 52 years old now.)
I am pretty sure they had a Dan's stone in their tool boxes, for keeping their wood chisels sharp if nothing else.
I know my maternal grandfather (1918-1966) who was a carpenter, kept a couple sharpening stones in his tool box.

I plan on getting another Dan's "soft" stone next year. I "need" a few other things more.