Thread: the walmart smith's tri-hone challenge :}

I thought this was more about what can be expected of a Chinese outlet store, hone. And how far it can be pushed.

Originally Posted by outback

I thought this was more about what can be expected of a Chinese outlet store, hone. And how far it can be pushed.

Yeah, I agree with that part, but you can't really compare it to the 1k challenge if you use paste.

Keith Johnson has gone 1k, to a three paste progression, to a shaving edge.

As far as how cheap you can go we found the King 1k/6k for about $30. That and CrOx is a workable system, though at this point I don't mind shaving with it, but it's not an edge that I would send out.

The Washita in Joe's kit can almost surely be tuned up to at least equal a 1k, so there is that.

IMO we need to differentiate between how cheap we can get a decent edge, and how crappy of an edge one can shave with.

I'm just in awe of your shaving with that setup for decades, Mike. As I recall, Glenn did something similar.

Not sure I could get a good shave off of the tri-hone. But I used to teach Scouts to hone knives on a tri-hone. Knives, hatchets and fire were always my worry on camp-outs. I used to dread the prospect of meeting one of their helicopter moms at an ER; thankfully, no serious injuries happened on my watch!

I think this thread is about whatever we decide it is :}

I just wanted to play around with different stones and razors, saw the tri-hone at Walmart and thought, well there is a cheap path to entertainment :} I suppose I could have bought a new release dvd and some microwavable popcorn for that $24.97, but stones are never a waste of money are they?

today I shaved with a old Kropp with a dans translucent Arkansas edge on it. I bought the trans ark from a pawnshop for $10 in brand new condition. didn't do anything to it, honed the razor and took it for a spin. then my boy and I worked up half a steer that has been in my homebuilt walk in meat cooler for a bit over 2 weeks now, and I decided to play with the ark from the tri-hone set on 2 of my boning knives with my beloved dmt 325 edge on the third. figured it would smooth out the ark a bit, and its been awhile since I tried out a different edge on one of my kitchen knives.


the tri-hone ark feels much smoother and more consistent now, though I haven't taken a razor to it yet. and that edge did well on the steer. it wasn't as aggressive as my dmt 325, but it was definitely serviceable, and a pleasant edge to work with. so that got me to thinking about oilstones. so...…. I have a soft and hard ark coming from natural whetstone company, and a dan's soft ark/black combo and silicone carbide loose grit in 3 sizes coming from amazon to play with. I usually go through a couple of the dmt's a year, but the last 3 that I have received haven't been all that great, 2 had big chunks of diamonds all over the stone, like the spray nozzle was partially plugged, and this last one just doesn't seem as aggressive as it should. I like Waterstones, but they don't give me that crisp edge feel like the dmt {on a knife}, im wondering if the arks will be an inbetween, keep them lapped with the loose grit like a Waterstone, yet a crisp edge like a dmt.

anyways, I have to finish a couple nice neckers in cottonwood burl tomorrow, and some slipjoints and togglelocks at the beginning of the week, but maybe by the middle or end of the week I can get that razor back on the tri-hone and see if I can get a better edge, and I wont use crox, or do a lot of stropping and see what happens :}

oh, the dan's stone that I have coming seems like a pretty good deal at $80 shipped for a 2x8x.5" combo soft/black if anyone is looking for one.

and scouthikerdad, you must have been a pretty good teacher if you never had any serious injuries :}

I almost want to buy one of these tri-hones for knives because it seems like such a good deal, but I don't need anymore of these types of hones. It would be even better if the hones were not fastened to the triangle base IMO. Does it seem like they could be removed or the base could be cut down easily? I guess I'll check it out the next time I'm at walmart.

Originally Posted by bluesman7

I almost want to buy one of these tri-hones for knives because it seems like such a good deal, but I don't need anymore of these types of hones. It would be even better if the hones were not fastened to the triangle base IMO. Does it seem like they could be removed or the base could be cut down easily? I guess I'll check it out the next time I'm at walmart.

I removed mine from the wood. I think I soaked them in water, then carefully removed them with a couple putty knifes.

it doesn't look like you can remove the stones easily, but they should come off somehow. its got a plastic base, and the base is ok for what it is. for normal knife sharpening, the stones are pretty tiny for my tastes, I really like stones that are as big as I can get them. the soft and hard arks I ordered were 10x3x1. I only got the 8x2x1 dans black with the soft ark on the backside as I shouldn't be using that stone very often. I think these will end up in my work truck for touchups once I get done playing with them.