Thread: Using same stone for knives & razors?

I have a really big Arkansas which is a fantastic bevel-setter for razors, as well as an excellent toucher-upper for kitchen knives. Can I use it for both, or is that a bad idea? i.e. does using a stone on knives put unevenness or whoop-de-doos into the stone that you don't notice with a knife, but might damage a razor? I ask because I rarely need to set a bevel, so most of the time this stone just does nothing.

there should be nor problem as long as you don´t damage the stone while sharpening knives, wich you would notice.
There are only two downsides:
first a big knife will wear down a stone more uneven, so it has to be lapped a bit more often
second especially man made stones like naniwa super can get glazed/dirty from big knives and have to be cleaned afterwards.
No big deal, I use my stone for both all the time

I tend to use my razor stones on razors only. I found that they wear too fast when honing big things, and it is a pain having to lap them afterwards.
And for knives and axes etc it doesn't really matter all that much whether the stones are lapped or not, and you generally don't need to go above 4K.

So separate stones is what I use.

I use my stones not only for razors, but knives, chisels and plane blades. Rougher grits for the axes as well. Maybe i have to lap them more often, but that is no problem. It takes a lifetime to wear stone useless.

Originally Posted by Sailor

I use my stones not only for razors, but knives, chisels and plane blades. Rougher grits for the axes as well. Maybe i have to lap them more often, but that is no problem. It takes a lifetime to wear stone useless.

That depends on the stone and its usage.
The coarse grit stones from norton as fairly soft, and wear down significantly if you really want to put a sharp edge on an axe. My 220 norton is really dished in the middle.

that one will definitely not last a lifetime.

Originally Posted by Bruno

That depends on the stone and its usage.
The coarse grit stones from norton as fairly soft, and wear down significantly if you really want to put a sharp edge on an axe. My 220 norton is really dished in the middle.

that one will definitely not last a lifetime.

That is true of course. Another thing i forgot to mention that i see no much sense using extra fine stones (say finer than 6000) to knives and hand tools, nor using coarse grits (220 - 400) to razors. I have no Norton 220 but some unnamed Chinese ~ 150-250 stone and it is quite hard.

i see no much sense using extra fine stones (say finer than 6000) to knives

Well, then you should probably try my 270mm single bevel Yanagiba handmade in japan,
polished on my Naniwa Super 10.000.
It not only shaves arm hairs abov the skin and against the grain,
but slices Fish like salmon and tuna into thin sheets like it wasn´t even there.

Of curse you could achieve similar results on a 6k hone.
But man, you can shave perfectly fine from a razor sharpend on a 6k hone
with a good CrOx-stropping afterwards

Originally Posted by Lesslemming

Well, then you should probably try my 270mm single bevel Yanagiba handmade in japan,
polished on my Naniwa Super 10.000.
It not only shaves arm hairs abov the skin and against the grain,
but slices Fish like salmon and tuna into thin sheets like it wasn´t even there.

Of curse you could achieve similar results on a 6k hone.
But man, you can shave perfectly fine from a razor sharpend on a 6k hone
with a good CrOx-stropping afterwards

Yanagiba and such fine hitech knives surely deserve to get polished up to how high you can get. I finish my knives (and tools) with large leather wheel dipped with few drops of gun oil. Not so bad either.

Originally Posted by Lesslemming

Well, then you should probably try my 270mm single bevel Yanagiba handmade in japan,
polished on my Naniwa Super 10.000.
It not only shaves arm hairs abov the skin and against the grain,
but slices Fish like salmon and tuna into thin sheets like it wasn´t even there.

Of curse you could achieve similar results on a 6k hone.
But man, you can shave perfectly fine from a razor sharpend on a 6k hone
with a good CrOx-stropping afterwards

+1
My Super Stones are all 2cm thick to be able to lap all I want and still have them for years. I am home cook so I sharpen my knives once a month even less, this does not wear the stones much at all.

I use my lower grit stones for both. I have recently bought a small combination hone that takes my pocket knives to shaving sharp with out issue and can be easily carried. For my axe I use a file and wet and dry. I don't use the kitchen knives we have in this house, I use my own knives, they're considerably sharper.

I wouldn't use something like a coticule to sharpen knives though, they're just too expensive.