The_Real_Self
Well-Known Member
I've grown quite curious about this bit of trivia on stones. It seems something like 8" x 3" or 8" x 2" is the norm both in Japan and USA but I can't help but wonder why this is the case. I've used 8" x 2" stones quite a bit for sharpening knives and really do not find them lacking in any way. I almost prefer them to some degree just because they are easier to handle with my short fingers which affects how thick of a brick I can easily pickup without straining my fingers (especially with the large brick sized soaking stones which can be a bit heavy and definitelly bulky).
I recently become aware of this line of stones by Shapton that Lee Valley sells and they have an interesting bit of marketing copy :
"The smaller format of this series makes it ideal for freehand honing of the longer edges found in most households (knives, shears, scissors) or smaller edge tools such as carving or turning tools.
The stones are 160mm × 37mm (6 5/16" × 1 7/16"), weigh about 180g (6.4 oz) each and are 12mm thick, about 7mm of which is usable abrasive."
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/sho...assstone-seven-series-gs7-stones?item=61M0201
These stones fall well under this 8x2x1" minimum dimension and they advertise to be ideal for more common household tools. I can say with certainty that I've used DMT Diafolds (which are much smaller surface than GS7 series) in the role of setting the apex finish on knives up to and including 6-8" heavy duty field knives by simply anchoring them down to a thick cutting board for stability... with quite satisfactory results. I wouldn't argue they are ideal for most knives but certainly serviceable if that's all you can afford. I actually do feel that using this for apexing has improved my ability to focus my grinding better to make sure I'm steady on apex.
I am tempted to pick up some of these for apexing just to see how I feel about them. In this role having a full size benchstone is really more than I need to give 1-2 minutes of grinding at very light pressures to bring out high sharpness. So that being the case, what are your thoughts on smaller stone dimensions than standard? Does anybody think they understand why such large format stones have become the standard?
At what point do these smaller format stones start to become the wrong choice? I'd guess somewhere over 8-9" blades, personally.
I recently become aware of this line of stones by Shapton that Lee Valley sells and they have an interesting bit of marketing copy :
"The smaller format of this series makes it ideal for freehand honing of the longer edges found in most households (knives, shears, scissors) or smaller edge tools such as carving or turning tools.
The stones are 160mm × 37mm (6 5/16" × 1 7/16"), weigh about 180g (6.4 oz) each and are 12mm thick, about 7mm of which is usable abrasive."
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/sho...assstone-seven-series-gs7-stones?item=61M0201
These stones fall well under this 8x2x1" minimum dimension and they advertise to be ideal for more common household tools. I can say with certainty that I've used DMT Diafolds (which are much smaller surface than GS7 series) in the role of setting the apex finish on knives up to and including 6-8" heavy duty field knives by simply anchoring them down to a thick cutting board for stability... with quite satisfactory results. I wouldn't argue they are ideal for most knives but certainly serviceable if that's all you can afford. I actually do feel that using this for apexing has improved my ability to focus my grinding better to make sure I'm steady on apex.
I am tempted to pick up some of these for apexing just to see how I feel about them. In this role having a full size benchstone is really more than I need to give 1-2 minutes of grinding at very light pressures to bring out high sharpness. So that being the case, what are your thoughts on smaller stone dimensions than standard? Does anybody think they understand why such large format stones have become the standard?
At what point do these smaller format stones start to become the wrong choice? I'd guess somewhere over 8-9" blades, personally.
