Can an Arkansas Stone sharpen a Pocket knife?

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Today, I was told by someone (who generally knows way more about woodworking and sharpening than I) that I cannot use an Arkansas stone to sharpen a modern knife because they are stainless steel and the steel is harder than an Arkansas stone. I was told that I should use diamonds to sharpen them.

My interest is that I intended to give someone a set of three 4" x 2" stones to sharpen a Case pocket knife that they have. Case even sells a two stone set of Arkansas Stones with their name on it.

For context, my intent is not to fix or set a new angle, but to use it to keep a knife sharp.

I kind of feel like I was just hit in the head with a brick. Ultimately, I need to just sit down and try it to see how it works with the knife in question, but, it had never occurred to me.

I do not use diamonds much because i always felt like they left a very edge, which really means that I never wore them in I suppose.

I am just trying to understand what I can give someone how knows nothing at all about sharpening something that they can use to keep a pocket knife sharp. Not looking to reshape a blade.

I already have the set of Arkansas stones.

[Mel Fulks]

I think Case makes knives of carbon steel and stainless and all are clearly marked

[bridger berdel]

I don't think that case ever made knives with such excessively hard steel. The arks will not only work, they will work very well.

Steel like your friend is talking about is only for show as a knife steel.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Thank you, that eases my mind a lot.

[lowell holmes]

Diamond hones are my preference.

https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=m...harpening+hone

[Robert Hazelwood]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJw3fFp54_M&t=653s

Sharpening a K390 (64 Rc with tons of carbides- a ridiculous steel) knife with a soft ark. There is an interesting discussion of the hardness of quartz/novaculite. The basic quartz crystal is considered to be in the low 60s Rc, but apparently it is not a consistent hardness, and some faces of the quartz crystal are over 70 Rc, which will be harder than any steel (but not harder than some of the carbides in exotic steels- but that doesn't mean you can't sharpen those steels).

The stainless in a case knife is probably some variety of 420, extremely mild compared to K390, and should not be particularly difficult to sharpen. Due to the chromium it will be a little slower than carbon steel would be, and may generate a more tenacious burr. It can be difficult to completely remove the burr on an Ark, so I recommend a follow up with a strop (bare leather is fine, you can just use your belt, being careful not to roll the edge).

[Richard Jones]

Sounds like your guy may not know all that he professes to.................

What knife/steel are you trying to sharpen?

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Sounds like your guy may not know all that he professes to..

I am pretty sure I know exactly who told her this.... since her previous boss had a sharpening business and he had a strong preference for diamond stones.

What knife/steel are you trying to sharpen?

Case knives are manufactured from US steels and incorporate many of the Company’s patented production processes particularly with heat treatment. The most common steels used are Case’s own Tru-Sharp stainless steel which carries a high carbon content to promote edge retention and Chrome Vanadium which is Case’s own unique formula allowing for easy re-sharpening (though this does require frequent oiling to avoid discoloration). In addition, many Case knives use premium ATS-34, 154CM and even BG-42 steels.


That said, I do not own any knives with the premium steels, at least not from Case for sure and not of which I am aware in general. Most of the knives that I have from Case use the "Tru-Sharp stainless steel". I did not try it last night since I have not been feeling well so I have been trying to get a lot of sleep. We do not get sick days at work. I can take a vacation day if I have the hours.

All of my Case knives are in sufficiently good shape that I have either not sharpened them at all, or I touched them briefly to a Spyderco v-type sharpener with ceramic stones. I have had that thing for many years (probably less than 20 though). OK, really, my daughter did it, and she made the knives sharper.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJw3fFp54_M&t=653s

Sharpening a K390 (64 Rc with tons of carbides- a ridiculous steel) knife with a soft ark. There is an interesting discussion of the hardness of quartz/novaculite. The basic quartz crystal is considered to be in the low 60s Rc, but apparently it is not a consistent hardness, and some faces of the quartz crystal are over 70 Rc, which will be harder than any steel (but not harder than some of the carbides in exotic steels- but that doesn't mean you can't sharpen those steels).

The stainless in a case knife is probably some variety of 420, extremely mild compared to K390, and should not be particularly difficult to sharpen. Due to the chromium it will be a little slower than carbon steel would be, and may generate a more tenacious burr. It can be difficult to completely remove the burr on an Ark, so I recommend a follow up with a strop (bare leather is fine, you can just use your belt, being careful not to roll the edge).

That video was very enlightening.... I think I need to watch more of this guys videos.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Diamond hones are my preference.

https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=m...harpening+hone

How long does it take to wear them in so that you do not get deep scratches? Or have you had yours for so long you have long since forgotten?

Mine probably do not leave deep scratches anymore, but I so rarely use them except to flatten my water stones. I have a couple I have not used, but I purchased those for something specific and have just not gotten around to it.

[Jacob Reverb]

Can't comment on the Arkansas stones issue, but re: Case knives, I bought a yellow Case Sodbuster several years back that has the nicest steel I've run across on a pocket knife. It gets really sharp, and holds an edge well. I've tried to keep up with it over the years by using those ceramic "crock stick" things (I stink at trying to sharpen a pocket knife on a stone otherwise) and it still comes back almost razor-sharp, and still holds its edge really well.

Since then, I've contacted Case to try to find out what type of steel it was (didn't get a definitive answer) and I've bought various Case knives over the years, looking for that same steel, but the only success I've had was in another Sodbuster, and in a Case sheath knife. The Sodbuster is a "stainless" steel (not the vanadium, which blackens/rusts) but I'll be darned if I know what alloy exactly...and I keep the sheath knife greased (it's only used for gutting deer) so I'm not sure what steel is in that, either.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

So I pulled out an untouched Case knife and the angle seemed to be about 20 degrees. My biggest problems were related to my ability to sharpen, not the stone. The totally straight edge went wicked sharp pretty fast using three grades (medium, hard, surgical or Translucent). Huge difference.

One of the knives had a "dip" near the base of the blade, which is a problem with a stone since it is hard to register there if there is a dip. I assumed it was not intentional on a spay blade. The knife was probably sharpened closer to 22 degrees, but, it is more uniform now and I was shooting for 20 degrees. I still struggle on those turns. Well, I don't with the worksharp knife sharpener, but the test was to see if the Arkansas stones would sharpen the blade. Yeah, no problem.

[lowell holmes]

Look at these.

https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/D...Hone-P501.aspx

I have a similar set and they work.

[Allen Read]

Arkansas stones will handle even S30V steel which is very wear resistant. However, the 4" stones are very un-handy. I'd hate to try to sharpen any knife with such small stones.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Arkansas stones will handle even S30V steel which is very wear resistant. However, the 4" stones are very un-handy. I'd hate to try to sharpen any knife with such small stones.

I tried the Case branded Arkansas sharpening set, which has a 4x2 Medium and a 3x1 Hard stone. I was able to use the 4x2 with a pocket knife, but the 3x1 was annoying at best. I obtained two of the Case branded sets before I realized how unwieldy they are. The nice thing about the set is that it is small and easy to transport. I have a 6x2 set for my friend. For my personal use, I have an 8x2 and a 10x3 set.

With all that said, I agree with you absolutely Mr. Read!