Translucent Arkansas Stones. WOW!

MelancholyMutt

MelancholyMutt

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Joined
Apr 13, 2002
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I've always been a synthetic stone guy. I started on DMT Diamonds and Spyderco Ceramics, but I have recently found, for purely collector value, Translucent Arkansas stones. They're extra fine (I would estimate to be the same as the Spyderco Extra Fine) and when you touch a cold stone, the moisture in your hands will leave a mark that fades in a few seconds. Light penetrates the stone and shows veins and marks and makes a nice, warm glow.

I find them to be prettier than Jade and much more functional. And, at fifty dollars a pound, more expensive than "run of the mill" jade.

Does anyone else have experience with translucent stones? should I use oil or water? What should I know about the stone?

I don't think this stone is gonna get any use, but would make a great display piece.
 
Arkansas and Washita are sometimes cut and polished and made into cabochon jewelry. I have one sharpening stone that really is gem grade and one or two more that are almost that pretty. Many of them are just plain sharpening stones, though.
 
I used DMT stones for all my stainless/high alloy blades. However, I have a huge old black Arkansas bench stone from a great uncle that produces the absolute best edges on my carbon steel blades (52100, 50100, 1095) for some reason. It doesn't work so well on ATS-34 or VG-10, but for carbon steel blades it can't be beat.
 
Cougar Allen said:
I have one sharpening stone that really is gem grade and one or two more that are almost that pretty.
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How does one differentiate gem grade and plain sharpening stone?
 
I have a black arkansas stone, which is essentially the same grade as the translucent, and I use oil on it. Works great, because stones of this grade don't really absorb the oil much and cleanup is pretty easy. Plus the finished edge is fantastic.
 
MelancholyMutt said:
How does one differentiate gem grade?
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It's just looks. I have a Washita stone that's mottled several different colors and very translucent and looks very much like agate. That could have been made into jewelry instead of a sharpening stone. At the other extreme I have a couple of Hard Arkansas hones that are a dirty off-white color, a little bit translucent but the color isn't attractive -- if you made it into jewelry and tried to sell it people would ask "Why did you bother polishing that ugly old rock?" It hones just as well though. :cool:
 
I think they rate the black and translucent Arkansas stones around 2000 grit. You can get japanese water stones up to 8000 grit (natural or man made), and there are ceramic stones that go as high as 30,000 grit. :) Would be fun to play with some of those, but they are expensive. I've always wondered what the approximate grit value of the ultra fine Spyderco Sharpmaker rods were.
 
Don't forget a good cleaning every now and then, the natural stones will load up and not give as good service. I have found a vigorous scrubbing with dish soap and an old toothbrush works wonders. Just my .02, Marty
 
MelancholyMutt said:
... And, at fifty dollars a pound, more expensive than "run of the mill" jade. ...
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You can get them from the rock shops in Hot Springs much cheaper than that. Thats where I get all of my sharpening stones. It amazing how much cheaper they are when you get the leftovers from quarrying and shaping that are perfectly all right from a using standpoint.
 
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