8" x 3" x 1" Jasper Whetstone Large Bench Size
This sharpening stone can be an all in one whetstone solution! When the surface texture is
prepaired semi coarse to coarse it sharpens at a sub 1000 Grit level, flip your stone over and the finer side can polish up to 30,000 grit or a mirror level of finish. As the stone loads with steel it gets finer and finer, we recommend that you scuff up the surface on occasion with a fine or rough diamond plate (120 or 600 grit) to acheive the dual grit surface effect. Also when slurried with a fine diamond plate, the stone can quickly make the transition from the bevel setting grit to fine finishing. You don't have to use slurry because the stone cuts very fast even with just water or sharpening dry.
The 8x3x1 size is an excellent full sized bench stone that will last lifetimes. The large surface area provides faster sharpening sessions by allowing more blade to touch the stone at once.
This jasper bench stone is a must have for experts or total beginner sharpeners. This material thousands of my customers find superior to ceramic hones that require you to buy
3 to 5 extra stones just to cover all the grit ranges between low grit for fast cutting and finer grit for polishing your edges to super sharp finish.
Owning this stone automtically will save you money big time, because it doesn't wear out, or require you to own multiple other stones for the stages of sharpening.
This strata of stone is incredibly hard, fine and fast cutting. It will never require the surface to be reflattened because it simply doesnt dish out, or gouge like softer stones.
The surface of this rock burnishes finely when you sharpen on it. You will see it eat a streak of metal
each sharpening stroke.
Jasper is such a tough stone that it can be surfaced prepped to cut like a coarse grinding stone as well as a fine polisher. When the stone eats metal it slows down. You can dress the surface
quite quickly, to refresh the speed, and this removes such a very small amount of material, so it won't compromise the life of your sharpening stone. You can do this surface dressing as little or as often as you like. Within 30 seconds using coarse or finer sand paper,
a nother piece of jasper, a diamond plate, or softer slurry stones.
When lightly slurried with a worn in diamond plate, the pores of the jasper stone
are opened up again, also you can work up an incredibly fine slurry.
using this method there is no reason to buy whole sets of sharpening stones,
this one is fast enough to do chip removal, then bridge the gap to mirror polishing.
With use the stone starts to get loaded up with metal from previous
honing sessions, you can play with letting one side burnish and skip
the surface refreshing. This takes the burnished side of the stone
to a glossy polish which will get you very sharp edges.
Burnishing means the stone is getting finer and finer, with use.
if you like to get a razor sharp edge, the fastest...
I find the stone benefits a lot from being slurried with a mellow
diamond plate like a worn in 325 or 600 grit.
About The Jasper Whetstones
The Ancient Ocean Jasper is a versatile finishing stone.
It is very good for doing one stone honing as
well as for refreshing edges, since it has impressive cutting speed
when it is freshly flattened. This stone comes ready to go
right out of the box and can bringing back a slightly dull edge
in a short amount of time.
This stone very quickly gives a mirror polish to any steel,
at best it is in the 30k grit ball park or finer.
Due to the stones unique geology, it also works very well as a
semi fast mid range stone that can reclaim dull edges with a
bit of extra time spent sharpening.
The reason for this is that if the jasper stone
has a semi-coarse surface preperation it really will
act like a fast 1k or sostone as it is starting to smooth in.
Because the stone is over all quite dense, hard
and fine this effect
lasts for a few sharpening sessions before your
steel polishes the stone up again. I would
suggest trying a worn out coarse diamond stone,
200 grit sand paper or a a coarser slurry stone
to reopen the cutting action on the side of your jasper
that you are not keeping burnished.
if you are doing chip removal in an edge it is important
to take a minute and resurface your fast side of the
whetstone. This will remove very minimal thickness,
these stones will last for generations even if you lap it
lightly before every sharpening session.
When you are close to your basic edge profile,
and the chip is gone switch to the fine side
of your Jasper stone. This stone is special because it
doesn't wear out, and when you slurry it with
a worn in diamond plate it creates an incredibly
fine and fast cutting power. The stone is almost just as fast,
without slurry and works great with just water.
You don't need to soak it, or use oil.