Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 40

Thread: Three New Stones

  1. #1

    Three New Stones

    It must be stone day :

    It is a sickness I know but.....I've three new stones on the bench and one more "in the mail." Two of the stones are JNats and the other is a Norton Hard Ark.


    The two JNats are Suita's from different mines and both can be considered 95% finishing stones. The only reason to go to a finer stone is trying for ultimate sharpness that is usually not needed for day to day work. The one in the mail is also a Suita but courser and will be used as a setup stone.


    The Norton, what can I say but wow. I went against Doctor's orders (in second week of recovery from rotator cuff repair) and tried it on a O-1 western iron. The chisel was set up with a med India then honed on the Norton Hard Ark followed by stropping. I couldn't believe how quickly I had a very sharp and usable iron. The Norton Hard Ark is not cheap for a Ark stone but damn Bubba it is fast and leaves an edge that just needs a little stropping. My new recommendation for any one just starting out is just that combination. For just a little over $200 USD you would have a lifetime sharpening set up. The only kicker is the Hard Ark should be from Norton, I've Hard Ark stones from sellers other than Norton and they are no where near as fast.




    From left to right, Norton Hard Ark, Nakayama Suita, Shinden Suita.


    More once I've two arms to work with.

    ken

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Princeton, NJ
    Posts
    7,254
    Blog Entries
    7
    Now I know what So has been busy doing, hah.

    Awesome stones. Both you and David have started me on an oil stone addiction as well.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Tokyo, Japan
    Posts
    885
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Holcombe View Post
    Now I know what So has been busy doing, hah.

    Awesome stones. Both you and David have started me on an oil stone addiction as well.
    I'm also a victim.

    As of today, I'll have an India and a full set of Arkansas stones

    Fortunately, I think my addiction should end there. No way I can afford JNats in the near future, so I'm doing myself a favor by not even looking in to them!

    > Ken, what other brands have you tried? I'm curious how Norton's hard compares to Dan's, which is what I have.

  4. #4
    The Norton Hard Ark is not cheap for a Ark stone but damn Bubba it is fast and leaves an edge that just needs a little stropping. My new recommendation for any one just starting out is just that combination. For just a little over $200 USD you would have a lifetime sharpening set up. The only kicker is the Hard Ark should be from Norton, I've Hard Ark stones from sellers other than Norton and they are no where near as fast.
    I would go easy on making recommendations for others with such little experience. I remember one guy pronounced the Spyderco stones part of "the ultimate" sharpening set up. He had had them for "several weeks". Another guy was touting the Bester stones which he had used for "quite a while now", "200+ edges".

    I have used Arkansas stones for more than 40 years. A brand new Arkansas stone is sometimes quite coarsely finished and can cut aggressively for some time before breaking in. The downside is the finish it leaves on the tool is coarse also. I am not familiar with current offerings, but here is something David Weaver wrote in 2013:

    I've gotten a fair number of norton stones, and while their fine stones are a little less fine than dan's, they still break in to fine with use (to clarify, the dan's stones are lapped, they start out much finer, but when the smoke clears and you've used both for a while, the dans trans is still quite a bit finer, so is the black, to the point that it's an excellent razor finisher).

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Tokyo, Japan
    Posts
    885
    Quote Originally Posted by Warren Mickley View Post
    I would go easy on making recommendations for others with such little experience. I remember one guy pronounced the Spyderco stones part of "the ultimate" sharpening set up. He had had them for "several weeks". Another guy was touting the Bester stones which he had used for "quite a while now", "200+ edges".

    I have used Arkansas stones for more than 40 years. A brand new Arkansas stone is sometimes quite coarsely finished and can cut aggressively for some time before breaking in. The downside is the finish it leaves on the tool is coarse also. I am not familiar with current offerings, but here is something David Weaver wrote in 2013:
    Initial polish/texture can definitely be misleading. From my impressions (and, they are strictly first impressions), I think Dan's Soft Arks actually come too highly polished, to the point of being finer than the natural grit of the stone itself. After dressing it with a diamond plate it cuts much faster, and has appeared to stay at a coarser grit, though I'll have to use it for quite a while to see if it stays coarser than it comes in the long-term.

    Like you said though, it's way too early for me to draw any conclusions.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Dublin, CA
    Posts
    4,119
    Quote Originally Posted by Warren Mickley View Post
    I would go easy on making recommendations for others with such little experience. I remember one guy pronounced the Spyderco stones part of "the ultimate" sharpening set up. He had had them for "several weeks". Another guy was touting the Bester stones which he had used for "quite a while now", "200+ edges".

    I have used Arkansas stones for more than 40 years. A brand new Arkansas stone is sometimes quite coarsely finished and can cut aggressively for some time before breaking in. The downside is the finish it leaves on the tool is coarse also. I am not familiar with current offerings, but here is something David Weaver wrote in 2013:
    There's also stone-to-stone variability to consider. These are after all natural stones.

    I have both a Dan's translucent ark and the Norton. After working them in I don't see much difference. They're both quality stones.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Neither here nor there
    Posts
    3,831
    Blog Entries
    6
    You guys are killing me with the JNats. This is like telling your friend who is trying to stop drinking, "Hey buddy, I just had the best craft brew ever- here's a picture of it; in fact, here- let me give you a little taste..."

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    Warren,I have been using the Spydercos since about the late 80's. Having tried many others,I have settled on my diamond plate,black,and white Spydercos(and a newly added UF Spyderco) as my final sharpening outfit. I strop on a piece of MDF with LV green compound.

    Compared to the ceramics,white Arkansas stones seem VERY soft. I have very easily re ground new shapes from broken white Ark. slip stones. Could not do that with ceramics. And,I was unable to QUITE raise a razor edge on a D2 steel Bowie knife I made with a white Arkansas stone. A white ceramic stone brought the razor edge right up on the D2 blade. D2 was just too hard for the Arkansas stone to sharpen.

    Hardly any of you will have this problem as woodworkers. But,as a wood AND metal worker, I need stones hard enough to sharpen anything up to and including carbide lathe tools @ 70+ RC. The Titanium nitride coatings on some run to 80 RC. The ceramics will sharpen them all.

    I did use white and black Arkansas stones for many years.
    Last edited by george wilson; 07-28-2016 at 5:00 PM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Cupertino, California
    Posts
    361
    Ken,

    Thanks for sharing pictures of your new stones. My favorite two sharpening stones are both Suita's.

    Here is a photo (from left to right) of my Ohira shiro Suita, and my Nakayama Suita. Neither stone has any provenance, so the quarry of origin is suspect. When wet, the Nakayama Suita is a deep purple color. It is maybe a hair coarser than the shiro Suita. The shiro Suita has a nice gold and purple colored renge pattern in it. I use them both as everyday finish stones. They will both slurry without a nagura.

    Last edited by David Wong; 07-29-2016 at 12:58 AM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Princeton, NJ
    Posts
    7,254
    Blog Entries
    7
    Cool! I like your bases as well, nice work.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Holcombe View Post
    Now I know what So has been busy doing, hah.

    Awesome stones. Both you and David have started me on an oil stone addiction as well.
    Brian,

    You know the drill . So-san is incredible.

    As far as an additional oil stone addiction, good on you or is it sorry about that . I may have posted this before but I think of my oil stones as my 95% stones. With Western O-1 iron they are quick and easy to use and for 95% or more of my work they will get the iron sharp enough and the edge holds up well.

    My current problem with the new stones is I'm one armed and will be for the next four weeks and then I have to drive Ms Daisy and the critters to Oregon for three weeks. I expect it will be a couple of months before I can get back in the shop and have iron meet stone then wood.

    ken

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Warren Mickley View Post
    I would go easy on making recommendations for others with such little experience. I remember one guy pronounced the Spyderco stones part of "the ultimate" sharpening set up. He had had them for "several weeks". Another guy was touting the Bester stones which he had used for "quite a while now", "200+ edges".

    I have used Arkansas stones for more than 40 years. A brand new Arkansas stone is sometimes quite coarsely finished and can cut aggressively for some time before breaking in. The downside is the finish it leaves on the tool is coarse also. I am not familiar with current offerings, but here is something David Weaver wrote in 2013:
    Warren,

    I suspect you are correct.

    ken

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by David Wong View Post
    Ken,

    Thanks for sharing pictures of your new stones. My favorite two sharpening stones are both Suita's.

    Here is a photo (from left to right) of my Ohira shiro Suita, and my Nakayama Suita. Neither stone has any provenance, so the quarry of origin is suspect. When wet, the Nakayama Suita is a deep purple color. It is maybe a hair coarser than the shiro Suita. The shiro Suita has a nice gold and purple colored renge pattern in it. I use them both as everyday finish stones. They will both slurry without a nagura.
    David,

    For some reason I'm not seeing your photos yet Brian must have.

    ken

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm Schweizer View Post
    You guys are killing me with the JNats. This is like telling your friend who is trying to stop drinking, "Hey buddy, I just had the best craft brew ever- here's a picture of it; in fact, here- let me give you a little taste..."
    Malcolm,

    You can get a taste for not much money . What come next is the problem.

    ken

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,347
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by ken hatch View Post
    David,

    For some reason I'm not seeing your photos yet Brian must have.

    ken
    I also see no pictures.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •