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Offline jamaldog87

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sharpening stone
« on: December 17, 2009, 04:43:23 AM »
I have a sharpening stone with one light gray side and a darker gray side. What does these 2 color sides mean?
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Offline ShadowMover

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Re: sharpening stone
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2009, 05:23:27 AM »
The colors are to help you recognize which is the roughest or coarse side, and which is the smoother side. Usually the rough side is used to get the edge of the blade close to it's final shape, and the smoother side then smoothes out the final edge. I recommend getting a book on knife sharpening, or find one of the sites on the web that do a good job of explaining this.

I'm almost guessing you already know this, and are just having a little fun. ;-)
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Offline Black Eagle

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Re: sharpening stone
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2009, 06:02:42 PM »
With Arkansas stones, the dark side is almost always the hardest side for final polishing. I take my knives down to the black Arkansas and then I finish them off on a razor strop.  If you can't find an old razor strop, you can make one from a strip of heavy tanned leather that you can get at any leather shop. You can get the chalk that goes into the strop at any woodworkers shop that sells high quality chisels and carving tools. [The blacker the strop gets from use, the better it works.] Frankly, the razor strop doesn't improve the blade that much over the very fine Arkansas stone for practical purposes but I've always thought it was a nice touch. ;D 
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Offline jamaldog87

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Re: sharpening stone
« Reply #3 on: December 18, 2009, 06:48:47 AM »
i have been just useing the light side with a little water on the stone.  I know how to sharpen a knife on stone but i did not know what the 2 sides mean.  I use it for all my blades from folding knifes to my swords.
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Offline Black Eagle

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Re: sharpening stone
« Reply #4 on: December 18, 2009, 07:44:53 AM »
You do have to be careful because sometimes the darker side will be just a course whetstone. You can tell by running your fingers over the stone.  If the darker side feels hard and smooth, then it is the very fine Arkansas stone used for final finishing. Nevertheless, you can put a very good edge on a knife by just using the lighter side only.
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Offline S.S.

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Re: sharpening stone
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2010, 04:14:16 PM »
Use a light oil such as 3 in 1 instead of water.
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Offline OUTTAGAS

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Re: sharpening stone
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2010, 12:32:32 PM »
Liquid dish soap works good also
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