Some sharpening stones are an inexpensive and easy way to keep many of the tools in your shop working at their peak efficiency. You can use sharpening stones to care for fine woodworking tools such as chisels and planes, or you can sharpen heavier duty tools like chainsaws. Many different types of stones are available, and in fact, you might use several different types to sharpen a single tool.
Sharpening or also called honing stones are made of many different materials.
Diamond Honing Stones
Diamond stones are made by mixing ground diamond powder with a stone material. The resulting sharpening surface can hone even the hardest of metals.
Two of the most useful types are the Arkansas sharpening stone and the ceramic one. A look at the attributes and composition of each of these two will show their uses.
Arkansas Honing Stone
Arkansas sharpening stones are simply Novaculite, sedimentary stones mined from quarries in the State of Arkansas, which are then cut and shaped as whetstones. Considered to be some of the finest honing stones available, they are best used to hone a fine edge on a blade after it has been pre-worked with another type grinder. Although the Arkansas is an natural occurring sharpening stone, manufacturers sift through the raw rock to find different grades of grittiness. Interestingly, the finest of these are used to hone surgical instruments.
Ceramic Stones
Ceramic sharpening stones are produced by kiln-firing gritty particles with a ceramic bonding agent. Because they are manmade, ceramic stones tend to have greater accuracy in the grit rating. Additionally they use metal particles such as alumina or steel, which makes them last longer than naturally occurring once.
Quality honing stones are an essential part of any wood shop and with a good set of these a woodworker can put a fine edge on most cutting tools. The time saving and quality benefits of having sharp tools are what make it important for any woodworker.