Dan's Whetstone Company - Customer Service and Product

[Cory Waldrop]

First of all, the reviews/articles section was closed to new threads so I figured this might be the next best place to start this thread. If i am wrong, I appologize.

This is a review I posted on lumberjocks about Dan's Whetstone Company that I thought a few might be interested in. I wanted to spread the word about my great experience. Enjoy the read........




I have been looking for a sharpening product that I could use between my super fine diamond stone and a leather strop that is different than the Norton 8000 grit water stone I was currently using. I think the water stone is a great product, but I hate the maintenance and mess of a water stone.

When I took a class at the Homestead Heritage School of Woodworking, we learned about sharpening and the system that was used was diamond stones (up through super fine) and then the Translucent Arkansas Stone, followed by the strop. The demonstration and end result looked easy, relatively fast, and very sharp (with minimal mess and fuss). I decided to look into a similar system so on the hunt for a Translucent Arkansas Stone I went.

I sent emails to a few reputable companies and Dan’s Whetstone answered my email the next day. In fact, they were the only one to do so. We corresponded back and forth about what sizes I was interested in, and my price range and after about a week (including a weekend), she sent me pricing and availability on the product I was looking for within my price range. I agreed to order one, sent in my payment and shipping info and was pleasantly surprised to see an email the next day with 2 pictures of the exact stone they picked out for me. This was great because I was interested in a seconds and asked if they could make sure that the natural defects of the stone were not through the body of the stone but around the edges as I would be sharpening plane irons and chisels and didn’t want something right through the middle of a 2” wide stone. She said she included my request on the quote so the guys in production could hand pick me something that would work for what I wanted. The pictures of the stone (both sides) looked great and I was happy to respond with my final okay of the order.

I received my order today and my god is this thing perty. I’ve never used a natural stone before so it is neat to see how beautiful these are. As you can see from the attached picture the stone is a translucent faded pearly white color with small circles of pinkish purple throughout. Gorgeous!!!!! I cant say enough about how great my experience has been with Dan’s Whetsone Company. I give their customer service and product (so far) a huge 5 star rating.. If anyone has been on the fence about this company, I recommend going for it.

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[Cory Waldrop]

Here is a follow up post after using the stone last night. Thumbs up!


I finished sharpening 4 chisels last night that had been flattened and sharpened up to the extra fine of my diamond stones. The sizes were a 1 1/4”, 1/2”, 1/4”, and 1/8”. I started off trying to use mineral oil on the hard translucent stone but the mineral oil I had was too viscous and did not allow the stone to cut, just created a film over the stone that the chisel skated over. Instead of thinning out the mineral oil with mineral spirits, I grabbed some baby oil and tried that. Much better. After about 10 light strokes I started to see very light particles in the slurry on the outsides of the path the chisel traveled over the stone. It seems like the oil was carrying away the shavings like it should. I inspected the back of the wide chisel and sure enough was starting to see a more clear reflection of myself where the stone was cutting. I continued until i had a an even scratch pattern (although you cant see the scratches, they are so small) all the way out to the end. I followed it up with a few strokes on the strop and the surface was nicely polished and flat.

There are a few other observations I should mention about this stone that might be of interest. First off, this thing is HARD and SMOOTH and FLAT. I put the straight edge of an engineers square to it and its flat.

After examining the surface of the stone, I noticed that a few areas of the pinkish purple circles had an exposed core that was softer than the rest of the stone. Picture a knot in wood, similar thing. This might be a defect and one of the main reasons why this stone is considered a second. It did not have an effect on how the stone performed so no worries.

If you look closely at the picture, there is a small crack on the right hand side in the middle of the stone. I tried running my finger nail over the crack to see if it would prevent me from using that side and I couldn’t even tell it was there. I don’t think I will ever be hindered by this small crack. I am very pleased by this.

I guess one of the last things I noticed was how easy it was to sharpen the back of the 1/8” chisel. On the more course surfaces of the diamond stones, I had to be super careful about how much pressure I applied so I wouldn’t gouge the edge of the chisel into the stone. With the hard translucent stone, no matter what kind of pressure I put on it, it glided over the surface smooth as silk. It was a nice feeling and points to how hard and smooth and flat this thing is.

So after an hour and a half of use, I still give this thing 5 stars, and I stand behind my 5 star rating of the customer service I received from Dan’s.

Now I have to go scrounging around the kitchen drawers looking for stuff to sharpen.. I wonder if the girlfriend would mind if her metal spatulas can shave the end grain of soft pine like butter? hmmmmm

[David Weaver]

I have had experience with norton's trans and a dan's trans (getting more than that would be out of my budget for translucents).

I didn't call dan's, I instead got the 8x2x1/2 supposed second from sierra trading post for about $40. I couldn't find why it was a second. I can't remember who I sold it to on here, but I'm sure they will enjoy it.

The particle size in natural stones varies at least in other types of stones, presumably this is the case for translucents also, as the dan's stone was much finer than the norton. There's no guarantee that's always going to be the case, though - i don't know enough about the circumstances of the mining and grading to know if different sellers actually shoot for different densities or if their access to stones means particle size varies geographically, for instance.

It's funny how different people see different markings, I see those markings on your stone (given they don't have a negative effect on honing) as a benefit - they're very attractive. The crack might make the stone a second, but as you found, it's inconsequential if you can't tell it's there when you're sharpening, and if it's something minor that won't move and become larger over time.

Enjoy the stone - it's nice to have at least one extremely hard stone for carving tools and small blades. I used mine with WD 40 instead of oil. they cut so fine that even oil of any type will make them harder and harder to use as they settle in. I never liked to lap my fine stones like those, they create a much finer edge if they're left alone, even though their cutting speed will slow down considerably once the surface is worn.

The dan's stones are nice, but much nicer if you can find them somewhere that they're overstock, etc (as I did), as the base prices for the stones on their web page are pretty high compared to a lot of other sellers.

[Cory Waldrop]

I agree David, I really like the markings on this stone. It amazes me how nature can produce something so beautiful. I might give WD-40 a try and see if I like it better. I think I will enjoy this stone for a long time. I looked at sierra trading post for seconds but they did not have any. So I contacted Dan's directly and they quoted me a fair deal on this second. Given the quality, I am not sure why anyone would prefer to spend more for one from their website when this one is as close to perfect with respect to its honing abilities as I can hope for. But by all means I hope people continue to support them because they gave me all the support I needed (and a little extra).

[David Weaver]

The second quality that I had, like I said, was better than any other black or trans stone I've used, which is only about 5 of them, but it's a sample size large enough to make me wonder what the first are - they must just be absolutely and positively cosmetically perfect even under a laser background or something.

I'd imagine the sierra trading post deal (which I saw on a razor website) was a one time dump of extra stock to STP from Dan's, and not an ongoing deal. At the price, there's no way it could've been - nobody sells an 8x2 stone of that quality for $40, it's a crazy price.

They also had soft arks cosmetic seconds, which were like your stone, the one I got was a mix of pinks and grays and far more interesting to look at than a plain pink or plain white stone. Great stone, very fine for a soft ark, too.

(if you've never looked up natural japanese stones, you should see what karasu stones bring, markings of that type are a rarity and considered very desirable).

[Chris Griggs]

Those sierra trading posts ones were available up until a few months ago. I can't believe I didn't grab one when I had the chance (I didn't NEED it so it seemed silly). Looking back I feel like like I was nuts not too - I wonder if they'll ever have them again at that price. I have my doubts.

Awesome stone Cory! I like the spots too...

My father-in law has an old old very well worn in translucent that I've been playing with this week. Its amazing how much more sharp and polished the edge of the worn in Ark is over my surg. black which isn't nearly as worn.

[Zach Dillinger]

I bought a Hard Ark from Sierra when they had that deal. Bought a 6", cost me $13.90 shipped to me. Great travelling stone, but not my first choice for shop sharpening (too darn small). I use my 8 x 2 trans. Ark that I bought for $5 for my final stone in the shop, but no way I'd take it on the road.

[Cory Waldrop]

Mine is 8" x 2". I really wish it was 3" wide, but I didnt budget for that. 2" should be fine for my purposes.

[David Weaver]

I think in the long term on a stone you don't flatten, you'll like the 2" better. It will be a lot easier to keep it flat just with use. With a 3" stone, you're more likely to end up with a hollow in the middle.

[Wes Harper]

I would encourage anyone with a worn/dished/cupped stone to consider sending it to Dan's. Many older stones can be found in the wild and can be put back into service. I sent a stone to Dan's over a decade ago, they lapped it, did a great job, and were very courteous.