Abrasive Stones & Files

Sharpening stones, oilstones, water stones or whetstones are used to grind and hone the edges of steel tools and implements.Examples of items that may be sharpened with a sharpening stone include scissors, scythes,knives,razors and tools such as chisels, hand scrapers and plane blades. Though it is sometimes mistaken as a reference to the water oftenused to lubricate such stones, the word "whetstone" is a compound wordformed withtheword "whet",which means to sharpen a blade, not the word "wet". The process of using a sharpening stone is called stoning.Sharpening stones come in a wide range of shapes, sizes and materialcompositions.Stones may be flat, for working flatedges, or shaped for more complex edges, such as those associated with some wood carving or woodturning tools. They may be composed of natural quarried material, or from man-madematerial.Stones are usually available invarious grades, which refers to the grit sizeof the particles in the stone. Generally, the finer the grit, the denser the material, which leads toa finer finish ofthesurface ofthetool.Finergritscut more slowly because they remove less material. Grits are often given as a number,which indicates the density of the particles with a higher number denoting higher density and therefore smaller particles.