Hello all,

Newbie and first post. Here goes....

First I would like to tip my hat to everyone here. There is such a wealth of information, it is truly unbelievable.

Second, I would like to personally thank Tony Miller for the excellent products I received from him. Outstanding.

I recently received a new, never used Pro-edge soft arkansas stone off ebay. I really only bid because a twice used Dovo "Lame Evidee" came with it. So this might have been covered already, but I am unable to find it in the forums, which I have been lurking around as a guest for about 3 months now. The question is this: This stone is an "oil" stone. Does that mean I have to use oil, or can I use water instead? Will soaking it in water damage the stone, will it work as well as if using the oil?

Also along these same lines, the direction sheet that came with the stone says the "soft" is used for preliminary honing. If anybody has this stone, or is educated on it, what would you guess the grit to be? Due to a tight budget, I have this stone and a swaty in new condition. Can these two stones be enough to get started on restoring some older straights I have, and get them close to shave ready? I do have one of Tony Miller's 4 sided paddle strops, pre-pasted, along with two of his hanging strops. I believe in my mind that I can achieve some close to shave ready razor's with this setup.

Also, I understand that the norton is a very popular choice, which I will be getting soon, but, can anybody give me some insight to the quality of the "Pro-edge" Arkansas stones?


I just want to hear some of your opinions before I dive in honing, only to find out that I am just spinning my wheels and getting no-where because of improper or inadequate hones.

Thanks in advance.
Dave "Zeke" Veleke
Eden, WI