School Me On Novaculite

[Jake Hillestad]

Long story short - I am buying oil stones, not looking for a debate on waterstones, diamond plates, sand paper, or anything else.

I sharpen a lot of O1 and quite a bit of PM-V11 with a smattering of A2 in there. Also have several D2 pig stickers.

What I'm looking for is opinions on which stones to purchase. Whats necessary 3 stones? 4? Soft Arkansas, Hard Arkansas, True Hard Arkansas, Translucent, Black? I understand they're graded based on density and the harder they are the finer the cut - what I'm struggling with is what the equivalent would be in terms of grit or micron ratings if they were man-made stones.

What brands have you had good luck with in terms of both quality and performance? I've run across Dan's, Natural Whetstone Company, and Best branded in my research so far.

Would you recommend a diamond plate for dressing/flattening? If so which? 140x Atoma or 400? Something else?

Any other pertinent gems you'd like to share.

[ken hatch]

Jake,

Two stones and a strop. Add a 400 Atoma for grinding when needed and dressing the stones. For the two stones get a course and a fine. My favorite course is a Med India but a soft Ark or Washita will work as well. The Fine stone can be any of the hard Arkansas stones, Hard, True, Black, Translucent, it makes no never mind. Add a leather strop, some green "stuff" and you are good to go. Both Dan's and Norton have good Arkansas stones, I've used both.

If you have not watched The English Woodworker's video series on sharpening, you should. Richard is a hoot to watch plus you will learn more than you ever will reading forum posts from "experts" like myself.

For "softer" irons good Arkansas stones are hard to beat. Good luck,

ken

[Brent Cutshall]

All I know is I used to flintknap the stuff and now I'm beating myself up for it.

[Scott Archi]

Arkansas stones are awesome. Here's a little back story.

I started sharpening straight razors a couple of years ago. I got obsessed with sharpening stones and spent close to $3000 on them. Everything from waterstones, norton, naniwa, shapton. Then diamond plates, a slew of natural stones. I have sold alll these stones except for a vintage 10" Pike Washita and an 8" Norton Pike Hard Arkansas. These were the absolute best stones out of all the (way too many) different types of sharpening stones I've owned.

If you are buying new you will not be disappointed with Dan's Whetstone. I honestly can't reccomend them enough and their customer service is excellent. I bought a 10x3" true hard Arkansas and a black from them. ( sold both as I prefer 2" width.) I have also used their soft and hard and if I didn't have the washita I would use a Dan's soft.

You really only need 2 stones. A soft or washita and any of the real hard Arkansas (black, translucent or true hard)

I've bought from natural whetstone and their soft and hard are good but their black sucks and so does their lapping process. So if you don't have tennis elbow yet, try lapping the hard Arkansas.


Keep an eye out on the auction site for a Norton Hard Arkansas and a Norton or Pike Washita stone.


Dans stone come so flat you don't need to lap them, and generally I wouldn't reccomend with their black, true Hard or translucent. Just put the tool on the stone and work it. Arkansas do not require flattening often and my hard black has only been lapped once and I can't see lapping it for years. This is one of the reasons I walked away from waterstones...

They force you to obsess over flatness, and then you spend tons of time flattening instead of working...

The soft can be dressed with sandpaper or loose grit on glass or a diamond plate when it loses its bite.

[Tony Zaffuto]

I'm an accumulator of stones, having many dozens, but my interest is more the carved storage boxes. At flea markets, tool sales, auctions, etc, these are available on the cheap. most of those boxes held gems of stones-washita's, black Arkansas, etc. I'm of the camp of a washita, hard Arkansas and sometimes a strop, is a do it all combo.

BUT for some of the advanced steels (PM-V11) of today, I find other combos to work better, namely the three Spyderco's, which are ceramic.

[Kees Heiden]

Allthough I have two Washita's I prefer fine India on the coarse side at the moment. It just works harder! Because they are so cheap you could get an India just in case and see for yourself what you prefer. I like the Washita more like an intermediate stone, until I get to a Norton Translucent.

But I am not so sure about A2 and PMV11. You might want to incorporate a grinder in your schedule when you want to do these with oilstones.

[Jake Hillestad]

Gentlemen, thank you all for the responses so far. You've given me something to think about and given me some direction.

One last question, any preference in regards to thickness 1/2" vs full 1"? I'm a hobbyist so I really can't see myself wearing out a 1/2" stone but I'm all ears if you've got reasons for or against either.

[ken hatch]

Not much chance you would wear out either. I have both, in use not much difference.

ken

[Scott Archi]

Allthough I have two Washita's I prefer fine India on the coarse side at the moment. It just works harder! Because they are so cheap you could get an India just in case and see for yourself what you prefer. I like the Washita more like an intermediate stone, until I get to a Norton Translucent.

But I am not so sure about A2 and PMV11. You might want to incorporate a grinder in your schedule when you want to do these with oilstones.

Yes, great suggestion. I also have a vintage Norton Fine India and I love it too. I use it interchangeably with my washita. I had forgotten about it.

Also Tony's comment about the strop is bang on. Do not forget the strop. Makes it a real killer progression.


OP, some prefer the 1" for knuckle clearance if they do no use some sort of base/holder. I have found my vintage and most vintage novaculite stones around 1" in height. The 1/2" are cheaper and you will probably never wear one out in your lifetime. It's all personal preference.

[Jim Koepke]

Check to see if there is a lapidary supply in your area. That is where my green stick (compound) was purchased. They would also likely be able to sell you a small piece of jasper. It is about the same hardness as novaculite but has a smoother surface. It will put a slight polish on a bevel after using the novaculite.

jtk

[Jake Hillestad]

Ordered a soft Arkansas and a hard Black - will update when I've had a chance to test.

Thanks for the insight gentlemen.

[Scott Archi]

Which vendor did you go with if you don't mind me asking?

[Jake Hillestad]

Dan's Whetstone