On Jan 1, 5:33*pm, wrote:
* *When talking about abrasive stones what is the difference between
"Arkansas" and "India" stones?

Thanks in advance.

Arkansas stones are natural products, mostly quartz, finer grain than
the finest India stones. India stones are a man-made product, mostly
aluminum oxide. You can get a finer surface finish with an Arkansas
stone, they cost more and good ones are getting scarce, particularly
the black(super-fine) variety. Right now, I use diamond hone plates
for moving a lot of metal, ceramic hones for finer work, I save the
black Arkansas for producing the very finest finish. Arkansas stones
need oil for removing the metal from the pores, they're a bugger to
clean up once the surface is plugged up and doesn't cut anymore.
Ceramic stones can be cleaned with water or used with oil, India
stones are best used with oil but they can be used dry. Arkansas
stones come in three varieties, Wa****a(coarsest and softest),
white(fine and hard) and black(hardest and finest). The deposits in
Arkansas are playing out, it's hard to find a stone equivalent to what
you could get 20 years ago. Most of what is sold as Arkansas stones
these days would have been graded as Wa****a back then and pretty poor
ones at that. It's hard to wear a white or black one out, usual
problem is they get dropped or chipped. This is a real problem when
you depend on that stone's edge being sharp and straight for stoning
sear notches. I usually keep mine wrapped up and boxed when not in
use and don't leave them on the bench. Ceramic stones are a good
substitute, just not quite as fine as a black Arkansas, not as
expensive, either.

Stan