Thread: Arkansas stone help

I seen a pretty decent deal on a few stone set of Arkansas stones. It says it comes with one Soft Arkansas, one hard arkansas, and one black all 6" by "2 by 1/2". Anyone that has any experience with these that could tell me a little about them would be appreciated. Would this take me from bevel setting to finishing? Can you use water with these also? Any help would be great. -Mack

they will but they are slow stones and you can ues them with water or oil,for best results ues them with a light oil, but for the best set would be a dmt with a combo cot. it would take you from bevel seting to finishing

Originally Posted by ronnie brown

they will but they are slow stones and you can ues them with water or oil,for best results ues them with a light oil, but for the best set would be a dmt with a combo cot. it would take you from bevel seting to finishing

Yeah I know, I can't afford a coticule, and that set of arkies is around 40 bucks which sounds like a deal. I already have a couple stones. Just need a couple more intermediates between setting the bevel and finishing. Thanks for the info as I have no experience with any type of Arkies.

If you email David at naturalwhetstones dot com - he may be able to make a set of 8" hones that'll suit your budget. There might not be a nice box involved but the extra 2" on the stones will be a HUGE benefit when honing.. esp with the black one.
IF you decide to use water - add a little tinge of dish soap to it.. not enough to make big suds, just a teeny bit. That approximates what you'd get with using oil pretty well.

If you want some sort of pioneer experience, try the Arkies. They'll do the job... eventually... maybe.... The problemis that they are likely to turn a fussy and often frustrating experience into an interminable fussy and frustrating experience.

Woodcraft carries a King 1000/6000 waterstone Buy Combination Waterstone 8 x 2 x 1 1000 6000 at Woodcraft for about $35.00 + shipping. A C12k is about $22. This progression is missing an intermediate grit or two but would get the job done no problem, in about one-fifth the time required with the Arkies.

Originally Posted by stimpy52

If you want some sort of pioneer experience, try the Arkies. They'll do the job... eventually... maybe.... The problemis that they are likely to turn a fussy and often frustrating experience into an interminable fussy and frustrating experience.

Woodcraft carries a King 1000/6000 waterstone Buy Combination Waterstone 8 x 2 x 1 1000 6000 at Woodcraft for about $35.00 + shipping. A C12k is about $22. This progression is missing an intermediate grit or two but would get the job done no problem, in about one-fifth the time required with the Arkies.

This was why I was asking, I have a 220/1000 grit and a Chinese 12k. As I need some intermediates to get the job done well. I can shave with those but it takes forever. I was thinking about that 1000/6000 as it looks like a decent deal. When I have the extra cash I'm pretty sure that's one I'll try. Thanks for the advice guys!

Originally Posted by xMackx

This was why I was asking, I have a 220/1000 grit and a Chinese 12k. As I need some intermediates to get the job done well. I can shave with those but it takes forever. I was thinking about that 1000/6000 as it looks like a decent deal. When I have the extra cash I'm pretty sure that's one I'll try. Thanks for the advice guys!

Why not go for a 3/8k combo, seeing that you already have a 1k - it might suit your budget better

For knives this set may work fine but I doubt it will work for razors.

I've used Arkansas stones for knives for the past 20 odd years and love them. However, personally my experience with them wouldn't drive me to use them with razors (though I know some people do). Again my personal opinion is they don't work with water you really need a light oil to get the best out of them (one of the reasons I don't want to use them for razors)

I use Arkansas stones all the time to sharpen knives and razors. They work just fine for me. I use them dry. They're different than water stones in that they burnish and abrade at the same time. If one takes advantage of that a very fine polish can be achieved. However being natural stones they can vary in performance much more than artificial stones, so generally it's easier to get a good edge with things like the Norton water stones.