Today, I was told by someone (who generally knows way more about woodworking and sharpening than I) that I cannot use an Arkansas stone to sharpen a modern knife because they are stainless steel and the steel is harder than an Arkansas stone. I was told that I should use diamonds to sharpen them.

My interest is that I intended to give someone a set of three 4" x 2" stones to sharpen a Case pocket knife that they have. Case even sells a two stone set of Arkansas Stones with their name on it.

For context, my intent is not to fix or set a new angle, but to use it to keep a knife sharp.

I kind of feel like I was just hit in the head with a brick. Ultimately, I need to just sit down and try it to see how it works with the knife in question, but, it had never occurred to me.

I do not use diamonds much because i always felt like they left a very edge, which really means that I never wore them in I suppose.

I am just trying to understand what I can give someone how knows nothing at all about sharpening something that they can use to keep a pocket knife sharp. Not looking to reshape a blade.

I already have the set of Arkansas stones.