Best stones for profiling, sharpening, honing hand tools...

[Sean Rainaldi]

I do a lot of hand carving - mainly cherry and maple. My tools range anywhere from .5mm up to about 1/2" wide max. For sharpening hand tools, what are the best stone(s) to use?


I was wondering what you folks prefer – I have an Arkansas set, was wondering if either ceramic stones, diamond stones, water stones etc etc. are better...so many to choose from whew.


My assumption is that there are several types of stones:

1. Arkansas
2. Ceramic
3. Water Stones
4. Diamond

Did I miss anything?


I also understand there are several types of diamond stones...



I guess what I am looking for is the best stone to cut fast - to repair nicks and re profile gouges and chisels, and to put the finest edge on a blade.


I do a lot of honing with honing compound on strops for my hand tools – can diamond or water stone honing replace strops? Does stropping provide a sharper edge?


For honing my gouges, I think I have settled on making my own gouge honing board, it seems to get my gouges razor sharp – just wondering what's the best way to go now for my knives and chisels for manual honing...

[Stephen Cherry]

I've tried the water stones but did not like them-- too messy. What I have settled on for plane blades and chisels is a 10 dollar woodcraft honing guide, and several diamond stones. I like the two sided ones with the plastic core. The bigger the better.

I use three steps up to about 900 grit, then slightly increase the angle and use a spyderco ceramic stone on the edge. The back sides only see the 900 and ceramic stone. With this setup I can shave arm hair in just a few minutes, and it's pretty clean and easy. I've tried stropping also, and it can work great, but I find that the spyderco ceramic stone is sharp enough for me.