Author: jendereedknife
Date: 2007-11-26 21:40
Elmore,
I looked at the Tina knives, and they do resemble reed knives. The prices are similar, too. That should give credibility to some of the reed knife prices.
On the sharpening stones, don't let your touch fool you when it comes to grit level on the finer stones. Many synthetic stones use more bonding resin than abrasive. Some stones even use talc and other "low on the Mohs scale" abrasives. The bonding matrix can be hard or soft, but it will be smooth, and can make a stone "feel" finer than the abrasives in it really are. Also, our touch sensation can only tell a slight difference once you get to #3,000 grit and finer. The difference is best felt by comparing stones side by side.
If your stone is over 50 years old, then it is probably an oil stone. The smoothness is actually the product of the build-up of oil, metal and abrasive that has created a skin on top of the stone, which is definitely coarser than the skin itself. This is a desirable trait if you are just touching up the edge of a knife. Personally, I would recommend using a strop in between using your old stone. It is essentailly the same thing as using your "impregnated" stone, but removes less metal, making the knife last longer.
If you were to use your ceramic stone, you would need to buid up a paste (unless it is a Shapton stone) before getting that polishing effect. There are 2 ways to do this. 1 is to take passes over the stone for a while, and don't add water to the stone. You'll get a pastey glob that you can use. Add only minimal water from then on. The second is much faster, and that is to use a nagura stone. Simply rub it into the stone so you get a paste and begin sharpening, using the paste and adding only minimal water. The nagura stone is "low on the Mohs", and will help create a polished finish.
On both methods, however, the knife must already be correctly shaped and have an edge, or the fine stones won't be effective aside from making a nice mirror finish on a dull knife!
This is a great conversation! I hope more people can join!
Sincerely,
Tom Blodgett
President,
Jende Industries, LLC
www.jendeindustries.com
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