Oilstone Question

[Toadflax]

This may seem a really dumb question, but I just found my old Black Forge oilstone in the shed and was going to sharpen my knife, as it is a lot bigger than my little DC4 stone...

...but I can't easily tell which is the coarse side and which is the fine side. One side is green and the other side is dark grey/black. Does anyone know if there is a standard for the colour of these types of stone - or any other obvious suggestion to find out which is the honing side.

I've tried rubbing bits of the grit between my fingers, but I'm still not sure.


Thanks



Geoff

 

[addyb]

Geoff,

Sometimes it can be difficult to tell with stones that you're unfamiliar with. I'd say your best bet is just to sharpen something, even a cheap knife and take a look at the edge bevel when you're done. Other than that, you might be S.O.L!

Adam

 

[Tadpole]

This may seem a really dumb question, but I just found my old Black Forge oilstone in the shed and was going to sharpen my knife, as it is a lot bigger than my little DC4 stone...

...but I can't easily tell which is the coarse side and which is the fine side. One side is green and the other side is dark grey/black. Does anyone know if there is a standard for the colour of these types of stone - or any other obvious suggestion to find out which is the honing side.

I've tried rubbing bits of the grit between my fingers, but I'm still not sure.


Thanks



Geoff

my oil stone has dark grey as the course side and light grey/greenish as the mediium side, however, I'd suggest that if the grit does not feel much different to you you might have a medium/course and a medium/fine combination, try a flat piece of metal, hold half of it flat on one side of the stone, and run it down the full length, then turn the stone over, and do the same, check to see which scratches are closer together, and that will be the 'finer' side.

 

[Longstrider]

From what I can see from here , i.e. not a lot ! I'd say your stone is probably like a couple that I have used in the past the green sidde is probably the "Fine" and the black/grey is the "Coarse".
If one colour is a thinner layer on the stone than the other, that thinner layer is almost always the Fine. Finer grits tend to be made of harder stone than the coarser ones and therefore wear less (They also tend to get less use) Manufacturers allow for this uneven wear by making the Fine bit of the stone thinner so that both sides will wear out at about the same time.