Thread: Lower Grit Naturals?

I am looking for natural stones that fall into the categories below that of the average natural hones typically discussed here. I sharpen many edges other than razors and therefore have a wider range of uses for the lower grits than just the occasional restoration job on an ebay razor.

I have a Chinese hone, Tam O'Shanter, and a Coticule, all of which I would put in the polishing or very fine type category.

My Roszutec, Belgian Blue, Dragons tongue, and Dalmore Blue, I would say are in the fine to very fine range.

I also have a Queer Creek Mud Stone and a Dalmore yellow, I think these would be in the medium to fine areas.

I am looking for stones that would fall either somewhere near the Dalmore Yellow or below in classification. I already have many synthetic hones in that range, but the more I use stones like the Dalmore blue and the Coticule, the less I like Synthetics! I want to finish out my progression with naturals.

Any suggestions?

Member Kevint has a lot of experience using lower grit naturals for sharpening his woodworking tools. At least he's tried such stones. You may want to shoot him a PM or ask him to post here with his opinions.

I would not consider the Dalmore Yellow to be a fine grit stone. I found it unsuitable for razors since it's such a gritty stone. It could work well for coarser non-precise sharpening of labor tools which I believe was its original intended use. I would agree with you on the medium range for that stone since it's not what I would consider to be "coarse".

Chris L

There are a few Japanese naturals - I haven't used any of the lower grit ones so I couldn't venture an opinion. Amakusa is suupposed to be between 400 - 800 grit, Binsu 800 - 1200, Aoto 1000 - 20000 - OldSchool would be the one to ask about these.

Regards,
Neil

Chris,
I know what you mean about the Dalmore Yellow not being fine exactly, and it's definitely a bit coarse for razors, but the edge it leaves on a thicker blade appears to be finer than most medium type stones....I suspect it is from the shape of the grains that make up the stone, if you collect some of the slurry, the grains look to be roughly round though they do have edges on them they remind me a bit of the illustrations on the ardennes coticule web site of the garnets found in coticules....but I'm sure these are a TON larger and not made of garnet, but they appear similar.

Neil,
Thanks for the type suggestions, I am searching out those names in hopes of finding what I am after...

I will contact both Kevint and OLD_SCHOOL about recomendations, but I would love to hear any suggestions on places to buy if you know any.

Wouldn't an Arkansas Wash!ta qualify ? I know that setting a bevel on a pocket knife they were pretty darn good.

the place to ask is the knifeforums
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I dare say the people there are bigger stone junkies than here

Originally Posted by mainaman

the place to ask is the knifeforums
In the Kitchen (Topic list) - Knifeforums.com - Intelligent Discussion for the Knife Enthusiast - Powered by FusionBB

I dare say the people there are bigger stone junkies than here

Don't know what you mean HAHA

I'm looking to get a natural Aoto in a lower grit range and possable another lower than that. It would make my sharpening chores less complicated as I use naturals for razors and synthetics for kitchen knives. One reason for synthetics on my kitchen knives is due to stone wear... hard steel eats stones fast

Jimmy,
I have a set of 4 Arkansas stones to cover the various grit ranges, but I'm not real fond of them for blades and such, I like something that has some feedback when sharpening an edged tool. I do however love them for taking burrs off of something I have machined and for any type of pointed instrument like awls, gouges, screw driver bits, etc. They are just too hard to suit me on blades.

Originally Posted by DwarvenChef

.....One reason for synthetics on my kitchen knives is due to stone wear... hard steel eats stones fast

I hadn't thought of that. I'm sure you're right, lower grit stones would tend to wear out relatively fast unless they were extremely thick......Old_School mentioned that the lower grits are the size of bricks or larger, and I can see why now that you mentioned it.

I think I will end up getting some anyway, just so that I can occasionally enjoy taking a blade from trash to perfection (at least to me ) completely with natural stones.

Originally Posted by mainaman

the place to ask is the knifeforums
In the Kitchen (Topic list) - Knifeforums.com - Intelligent Discussion for the Knife Enthusiast - Powered by FusionBB

I dare say the people there are bigger stone junkies than here

I would agree with you that lots of the guys on KF are just as big on stones as here or more, but the larger majority of them seem to favor the synthetics for the lower grits like has been mentioned above, and most likely for the same reasons.

BUT, unless I am able to find something that fulfills my HAD fix soon, I am sure I will post a similar question on KF also! LOL

I see lots of low grit naturals in hardware stores here, and they're quite pretty...but it's hard to know HOW low they are, right?

I'm tempted to pick one up, but I have so many low grit stones I don't like already...