How to select your natural Arkansas whetstone from Dan’s Whetstone

There are 3 aspects that remain constant when choosing a stone to sharpen application, size & grade. Another important aspect to using natural Arkansas whetstones is to use Dan’s honing oil and is a non-food grade mineral oil that is a medium weight oil and is recommend to use on all Dan’s Whetstone products. Why use Dan’s Honing Oil?

First ask yourself: What do I want to sharpen?

For the new sharpening learner’s recommendation: EZ Hone, EZ Bench Hone or Tri-Hone. These products offer 3 or 4 stones that are mounted on wood with an angle reference to assist in angle, stroke and pressure consistency. The EZ Hone & EZ Bench Hone both come in a durable plastic container with 1 oz. honing oil that is convenient to store. Also included is easy to read knife sharpening instructions.

For those that feel like they want unmounted stones they can choose a bench or pocket stones in a size that they might be comfortable with. General rule is that you want to select a stone that is the length of your longest blade. To determine this measure only the area that is to be sharpened on your longest knife blade. An example would be 3 knives in the kitchen drawer measuring 4”, 6” & 8” blades. Recommendation: at least 6” or 8” stone. The objective is to be able to make consistent strokes along with even pressure to match while holding the proper angle. When ordering, the stone width might be another consideration. Bench stones come in 2”, 2 ½” or 3” widths. A wider stone gives the user more surface area for the sharpener to sharpen the stone. Refer the video, “How to Sharpen” on YouTube for more sharpening information. And finally, after sharpening your knives storage is a concern. The bench stones will arrive in a wooden box while the pocket stones will be inserted into leather pouches or plastic tube in 3” or 4” lengths and 1” – 1 5/8” widths. (See grade choices)

Hand implements can be sharpened with Arkansas stones. To begin sharpening a hand implement it is suggested to put in a vise and use the stone on its edge to get sharp. A soft medium stone grade is suggested to get them sharp. Other grades can be used to get the edge polished and sharper. Size of stone is ultimately the user’s discretion. Generally, the size of stone is chosen depending on the size that is comfortable to the sharpeners hand. Close attention should be given to each implement depending on their use and edge angle to get them to their optimum efficiency.

Recommending Arkansas stones to woodworkers is again, user’s discretion but, most will agree it depends on several factors – grade selection, choosing proper sized stone, and versatility of the stones.

Grade selection – Generally, a course (soft-medium) & an ultra-fine (Black) will make a good foundation. The course stone will maintain shape of the edge and the ultra-fine will refine the edge to get it polished and sharp. Here is where sharpening technique of stroke, pressure & angle will come into play. As sharpening technique and experience is gained the question of edge sharpness longevity may be questioned. At this point, it may be practical to add hard (fine) and/or translucent (extra-fine).

Choosing proper sized stone – Again, is personal preference but, 8” or 6” in length are very common. Woodworking tools like chisels and plane blades, the stones chosen will need to be as wide as the blades themselves. Unless a guide is being used. Then a longer & wider stone may need to be chosen.

Versatility – The goal is to be able to utilize stones as your needs develop. Arkansas stones can easily be passed down from generation to generations. So, as needs and sharpening experience expands so can your Arkansas stones collection.

Fact is, men (& women) are taking their skin care and shaving practices more seriously these days so, shaving with straight edge razors, straight razors or cut-throat razors is very much coming back in vogue. Men & women all over the world seek out Arkansas stones to sharpen the straight edge razors. To sharpen the razor, it is essentially removing any nicks and damaged areas of the blade that could pierce the skin. Sharpening a straight edge razor involves the process of smoothing out the bevel, (ie the blade edge). To achieve a proper bevel, the course, Arkansas soft medium and hard fine grades stone are an excellent choice. After proper bevel is achieved, then to give the straight edge blade its polished, sharp edge by using extra-fine translucent and ultra-fine black stones and any experienced straight edge razor user will tell you that not only is technique important but, the size of the stones are very important. Your stones should be at least the width of your blade. Generally, 3” is ample. Length of stone is usually 8” but, longer is ok too. Stroke and pressure are important factors to consider when choosing stones to sharpen straight edge razors. Most experts recommend low/no pressure when making the strokes and strokes are made with the blade flat on the stone. So, when choosing a stone keep sharpeners position in mind. For instance, sharpening table height, right handed, left handed also, thickness of stone ½” or 1”. Bench stones or combination stones are good choices and also come in a wooden storage box.

Archery hunters can also use Arkansas stones to sharpen their broadheads. Note that if too aggressively sharpening a broadhead chances affecting the grain of the broadhead. With that being mentioned, Arkansas stones are known around the world as the best sharpening stone when sharpening an edge that isn’t too aggressive. Like with most any application, users preference on length, width and thickness of stone chosen. A bench stone or combination stones are very good to be able to offer length & widths to accommodate most broadheads. Width it is very important to choose a stone that is ample width for the broadhead being sharpened. Note if using a jig or guide to sharpen the user may need to make sure the width of stone can accommodate it too. Length to be chosen should be one that gives the user enough room to make a nice stroke with even pressure. Thicknesses come in ½” or 1” and the advantages of them are ½” is generally a more economical one and the 1” is heavier in weight to help with more stability. As for grades of stone, Arkansas soft medium to set the edge or bevel and to give it the sharp and polished edge finish with Arkansas black ultra-fine stone. Some experts also follow with a leather stop. Above all, please be safe in sharpening broadheads or straight edge razors and always check with the manufacturer’s recommendations on sharpening.

There are many beautiful custom and handmade knives on the market today. The investment can be substantial and sharpening can be very daunting. Our first recommendation is to consult the maker for their guidance on how to sharpen and specifically the angle of the edge. Most experts choose the Arkansas stones to sharpen their custom and handmade knives because of their reputation for sharpening the blade without taking a lot of metal when used with honing oil.

A general rule is that you want to select a stone that is the length of your longest blade. To determine this measure only the area that is to be sharpened on your longest knife blade. An example would be custom knives measuring 4”, 6” & 8” blades. Recommendation: at least 6” or 8” stone. The objective is to be able to make consistent stokes along with even pressure to match while holding the proper angle. When ordering, the stone width might be another consideration. Bench stones come in 2”, 2 ½” or 3” widths. A wider stone gives the user more surface area for the sharpener to sharpen the stone. Refer the video, “How to Sharpen” on YouTube for more sharpening information. And finally, after sharpening your knives storage is a concern. The bench stones will arrive in a wooden box while the pocket stones will be inserted into leather pouches or plastic tube in 3” or 4” lengths and 1” – 1 5/8” widths.

After a product & size are determined then next consideration is grade.

Dan’s basically has 4 grades of stone.

is the most popular of the four grades and is the coarsest or primary stone. This stone grade is the beginning stone to establish the angle on the blade and can actually get a suitable sharpness for most users. This is a must have for sharpening custom knives and can be used in conjunction with other grades or all by itself.

Still considered a course stone but, finer than the soft medium. It is used for fine polishing and maintenance of a fine edge on your knife or tool. For custom knives application this grade is optional but, will depend on the make-up of the blade steel.

Considered a finishing stone that will give your already sharp edge that polished edge. For custom knives application this grade is optional but, will again depend on the make-up of the blade steel. Translucent can be used as a finishing stone after soft medium and hard fine or alone to freshen up a slightly dulled edge.

The finest and hardest stone that will get the sharpest, polished edge. Again, this grade is optional but, recommended to get the sharpest and polished edge on your custom knives. This excellent finishing stone can be used after soft medium, hard fine and/or translucent stones. Black stone can be used alone to bring a slightly dulled edge back to sharp and polished.
Note on grit:

Arkansas Novaculite stones grades are classified by specific gravity and not the size of the grain. The grain of the silica crystals that form Novaculite are essentially the same size, 3-5 microns, whether the stone is classified as Soft Arkansas or True Hard Arkansas. Using Specific Gravity Testing, Dan’s Whetstone Company measures the density of their stones that is the compactness of the grains bonded together. Therefore the harder stones would then have more grains than the softer stones. Since the grit size of Arkansas Novaculite does not widely vary, it is difficult to compare it with the grit sizes of man-made stones. Grit measurement standards for traditional man-made stones vary internationally. By U.S. grit standards, genuine Novaculite most closely relates to the 600-1200 grit size.