I have recently acquired a couple of new stones and was reading up about them, when I came across the following advice from the fine folks at Norton Abrasives:
'It is common practice to use a Crystolon stone for initial coarse grit sharpening before moving on to an India stone and finishing with an Arkansas stone.' Indeed such a progression is apparently a surefire way to 'give you a winning edge over the competition.'
This came as excellent news, as I now had each of the stones required to take my sharpening game to the next level. I felt sure that all of the experts out there who had bested me in the past were shortly to have their comeuppance.
From the top: Norton Coarse and Fine Combi (SiC), Norton Fine India (AlO), Norton Hard Translucent Arkansas. The knife btw is a cheap carbon steel bunka that I use when trying out stones:
The only thing I was lacking in my pursuit of the Ultimate All-American Sharpening Experience was a small vial of BEAR Oil, for lubrication. I will instead be using water with a touch of soap:
I scuffed the edge up rubbing it on the coarse SiC and went to work...
First up - the same coarse side to get things back in order, this feels around 150, and is very fast. But with super-light pressure de-burring strokes I can get a workable edge. It'll cut through paper quite nicely, and 99% percent of the population would probably consider it very sharp indeed. But on your finger it feels pretty ragged, you can actually see it in the picture below. It has been de-burred here, that's just what the edge looks like:
Next the 'Fine' side, which feels about 500 to me. This is slower (duh), and a bit more tricky to de-burr on for some reason. But the final edge was great, proper sharp, and will have a fair go at some crappy budget kitchen towel I bought, not all cuts were clean slices, but not bad:
Now for the old Aluminium Oxide Fine India. This stone is finer than the previous - I can feel that in my hands - maybe around 800. But it acts a bit coarser; burrs form and flip very quickly, and it also produces a kind've swarfy, scurry mud, which the previous stones don't really, and the edge is not as fine or sharp. It's still ok, but the kitchen towel cuts are not as easy.
After trying the edges on paper I have also been cutting up a carrot, because that's what people do. Though I'm never entirely sure what I'm meant to be checking for - something to do with the noise it makes? It is called 'wedging'? Anyway it makes a kind've 'thwack' noise, as it did the previous times.
But the knife is not as sharp as after the Fine SiC... am I about to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?! Or do I have a trick up my sleeve...?
Now I know the jump up to my nice NOS translucent Arkansas is quite a big one. But I've been playing around with this kind of thing going from med-coarse to very fine recently, and often I quite like the results - things can be very sharp while maintaining some bite. And happily, that's what happens here. After a few pretty light strokes on the Arkansas, we've refined the edge back to an extent it'll now glide through the kitchen towel, and even do little curvy patterns. I did try the HHT, it didn't work.
It still makes a 'thwack' noise on the carrot, which I conclude is the sound of a carrot being cut. Though it has served a purpose, as I then ate the carrot, to help me sharpen my knives in the dark.
All in all - I quite like Norton stones tbh. The combi in particular is a great coarse stone. The Arkansas I'm sure I'll never be good enough to get the full potential of, but it actually worked very well here; the knife is really pretty sharp, and it has a kind of edge that I rather like.
'It is common practice to use a Crystolon stone for initial coarse grit sharpening before moving on to an India stone and finishing with an Arkansas stone.' Indeed such a progression is apparently a surefire way to 'give you a winning edge over the competition.'
This came as excellent news, as I now had each of the stones required to take my sharpening game to the next level. I felt sure that all of the experts out there who had bested me in the past were shortly to have their comeuppance.
From the top: Norton Coarse and Fine Combi (SiC), Norton Fine India (AlO), Norton Hard Translucent Arkansas. The knife btw is a cheap carbon steel bunka that I use when trying out stones:
The only thing I was lacking in my pursuit of the Ultimate All-American Sharpening Experience was a small vial of BEAR Oil, for lubrication. I will instead be using water with a touch of soap:
I scuffed the edge up rubbing it on the coarse SiC and went to work...
First up - the same coarse side to get things back in order, this feels around 150, and is very fast. But with super-light pressure de-burring strokes I can get a workable edge. It'll cut through paper quite nicely, and 99% percent of the population would probably consider it very sharp indeed. But on your finger it feels pretty ragged, you can actually see it in the picture below. It has been de-burred here, that's just what the edge looks like:
Next the 'Fine' side, which feels about 500 to me. This is slower (duh), and a bit more tricky to de-burr on for some reason. But the final edge was great, proper sharp, and will have a fair go at some crappy budget kitchen towel I bought, not all cuts were clean slices, but not bad:
Now for the old Aluminium Oxide Fine India. This stone is finer than the previous - I can feel that in my hands - maybe around 800. But it acts a bit coarser; burrs form and flip very quickly, and it also produces a kind've swarfy, scurry mud, which the previous stones don't really, and the edge is not as fine or sharp. It's still ok, but the kitchen towel cuts are not as easy.
After trying the edges on paper I have also been cutting up a carrot, because that's what people do. Though I'm never entirely sure what I'm meant to be checking for - something to do with the noise it makes? It is called 'wedging'? Anyway it makes a kind've 'thwack' noise, as it did the previous times.
But the knife is not as sharp as after the Fine SiC... am I about to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?! Or do I have a trick up my sleeve...?
Now I know the jump up to my nice NOS translucent Arkansas is quite a big one. But I've been playing around with this kind of thing going from med-coarse to very fine recently, and often I quite like the results - things can be very sharp while maintaining some bite. And happily, that's what happens here. After a few pretty light strokes on the Arkansas, we've refined the edge back to an extent it'll now glide through the kitchen towel, and even do little curvy patterns. I did try the HHT, it didn't work.
It still makes a 'thwack' noise on the carrot, which I conclude is the sound of a carrot being cut. Though it has served a purpose, as I then ate the carrot, to help me sharpen my knives in the dark.
All in all - I quite like Norton stones tbh. The combi in particular is a great coarse stone. The Arkansas I'm sure I'll never be good enough to get the full potential of, but it actually worked very well here; the knife is really pretty sharp, and it has a kind of edge that I rather like.
Last edited:
.
