Soft Arkansas Whetstone

Dan's Whetstone Arkansas sharpening stones are used for sharpening knives on Hapstone sharpeners. Arkansas stones are made of novaculite, a naturally abrasive material of high density. All Dan's stones have a thickness of 6mm and are mounted on high quality aluminum blanks with laser engraving.

Arkansas stones are mined in the Ouachita Mountains in the state of Arkansas in the United States. Arkansas stones consist of silica, but unlike synthetic abrasives, do not consist of individual abrasive grains of the same size. Arkansas quartz structure consists of fused crystal grains of different sizes.

Dan's Whetstone offers Arkansas stones of the following types:

• Soft - medium grit range
• Hard - fine grit range for pre-finish sharpening
• Translucent - ultra-fine grit range for finish sharpening and honing
• Black - ultra-fine grit range for finish sharpening and honing

Specification

• Product size: 160 x 25 x 9mm (6" x 1" x ⅓")
• Working surface: 152 x 25 x 6mm (6" x 1" x ¼")
• Weight: 60-100 g (2.1 - 3.5 oz)
• Abrasive: Novaculite (Microcrystalline Quartz)
• Extra materials: Aluminum Blank, 3M PSA

How to use

Arkansas stones should be used with one of these lubricants:

• Refined olive oil
• Oleic aсid
• Dan's mineral oil

Translucent Arkansas stones may have the following minor defects:

• Small caverns.

Arkansas stones usually have moderate variations of shade and color. This is normal for natural stones and not treated as a defect.

Arkansas stones do not require any preparations. Black and Translucent Arkansas stones are naturally lapped to ultra-fine grit. This is a big advantage because the difficulty of lapping Arkansas is very high.

Q & A

• Which type of arkansas is better for finish sharpening and honing - translucent or black arkansas?

  Translucent and black Arkansas stones have the same density and lapping quality. They are of equal value as ultra fine finishing stones.

• How about other arkansas types - 'true hard' and 'black translucent'? 

  We are sorry to note that Dan's Whetstone does not sell black translucent stones. The true hard Arkansas from Dan's combines features of hard, translucent and black Arkansas. True hard is overpriced so buying black Arkansas makes more sense.

• Are Arkansas stones really original? Why they are not available on the web site of Dan's Whetstones?

  We buy Arkansas sharpening stones directly from Dan's Whetstones and mount the stones to blanks. However Dan's Whetstones does not offer Arkansas stones in Apex format to purchase online.

• Can I buy a sharpening stone without a blank?

  We don't sell sharpening stones without blanks.

• What grit do Arkansas stones have?

  Grit terminology is not applicable to natural sharpening stones, including those composed of novaculite. The behavior of a natural stone depends on its density and how good it was lapped. You can find Soft and Hard Arkansas stones in a Grit Chart, but they are there for reference only