Rocks for knife sharpening

[Scottishwanderer]

What are good rocks to use for sharpening a knife?

I managed to break my DC3.

I have a piece of slate and sandstone which i flattened and shaped to resemble the size of the DC3.

The slate works great, and i'm just assuming sandstone will work but be a lot rougher.

Are there any better rocks to use for this?

Also will pine resin be adequate enough to glue them together?

 

[Toddy]

Sandstone's not the best idea tbh. Not unless you really, really want to scour your knife.
Basically, when you sharpen you're removing metal. You only really want to remove as little as you possibly can.
For most of the time a good strop is all that's needed. An old mousemat and something like Tcut or better yet a bit of stropping compound, and it'll work very well.
If you pm me an address I'll send you a bit of the compound. It's like a kind of slightly waxy clay and you can buy it in different grades, from gold to steel A little bit lasts a long while. I just strop my knives before I put them away and the only time they're actually sharpened is if I've pinged off a tiny wee bit of the edge....or I find Graham_S or Warthog1981 sitting idle (that doesn't happen often I have to say )

Loads of good stones that work though, search for hone and there'll be threads here as well as elsewhere on the net.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[blacktimberwolf]

My grandad used to sharpen the carving knife ( & his penknife) on the stone front door step ( after spitting on it)....no idea what is was, but it worked.

 

[Graham_S]

Rocks for sharpening.
Well,
There is sandstone and there is sandstone.
You're looking for a harder variety, with a fine grit size.
You also want to true the surface. You do this by rubbing two chunks together until they wear each other away to flat.
Slate is quite good.
I've got a few natural stones that I've sourced in the wild, and they're quite good.

How exactly did you manage to break the DC3?

As to the resin, mix it with some beeswax and some powdered charcoal, although it'll have to be trial and error for the mix.

 

[Toddy]

That's a good point....that slurry of stone dust makes a good grinding and polishing paste

cheers,
M

 

[Retired Member southey]

I have a stone from the bottom of Canisp, only small but works fine it seems only slightly corser than the morton whet(another natural stone from the dales) stone QDanT sent me,

 

[Tjurved]

perhaps mixing dry clay powder and resin and make it flat, might work for sharpening

 

[Everything Mac]

Slate is pretty good.
Try and find yourself a decent bit of metamorphic rock - something with very fine grains and a homogeneous composition.

My mate Richie66 was having a play with this very thing so it might be worth giving him a PM as he has been having a go with quite a few things recently.

All the best
Andy

 

[shaggystu]

i've been using a stone that i found in the brook near me as a hone for a little while now, mainly as an experiment, and it's pretty good. i'd guess that what i've got is derbyshire millstone grit. i found a fairly flat stone and spent a couple of hours in the sun rubbing it round in circles on an old paving slab to flatten it, really strightforward job and as a bonus i'm now the proud owner of a beautifully polished concrete slab!

stuart