A Jade stone and a rex45 blade are in a boat…

I have the chance to receive a beautiful gift from my friend Gene who lives in Grand Rapids.
It is a jade stone made to hone sharp steel handmade by Gabriel J. Warren.
Gene has been able to put a mirror edge on his Kapara and he wanted me to try this wonderful portable tool.

I have tested it on the bevel of my Rex45 and immediately a beautiful mirror line is visible.

True jade is transparent. It is a beautiful object. It is also cold on the skin. Very unique feeling.

It’s made to be a pendant. The shape is inspired by Viking stones even if Viking did not used jadeite stones.

Some steels are easily mirroring on it like on this Spydiechef.

Or the razor steel of this Urban sprint run.

It is also the perfect companion to the Wolfspyder.

M390 is one of the mirror edge friendly steel.

I have tested my Shaman edge on dry chestnut wood compared to Pekka Tuominen Puukko and Wolfspyder.

It is a razor but the whittling ask for a lot of force. The edge is too thick.

The little Wolfspyder is able to go deeper and easier.

So diamonds ere used to thin the edge and remove the “shoulder”.

The jade was then put to use. I have found that holding the stone that way prevent my finger to be cut.

If the blade goes a little to far, I won’t cut my finger pulp.

Jade Stone by Gabriel J Warren:

“Small whetstones often were worn as pendants by many northern peoples, including Vikings. This Jade whetstone is a replicant of softer slate whetstone pendants found in archaeological digs in York, England, but similar pendants have been found in Gotland, Norway, Kalåstad, and Birka.

Jadeite was not available to our ancestors, I find it is a superior honing stone to the slate or jasper used historically. Jade is extremely strong and has a very fine grain. Thus it is excellent for final honing and also stronger than those aforementioned stones. However there is a technique to use this stone for rough grit sharpening, see below.

This Viking Pendant comes highly polished on all surfaces. If you would like to increase the cutting grit for more rapid steel removal when sharpening, you can take the polish down on the back of the pendant or the sides with 200 or 400 grit sand paper, just rub it on a flat surface for about 30 seconds to a minute. This lets your stone cut at the grit that your surface is prepared at. For example these come polished to 30,000 grit and will easily give steel a mirror polish.

This ability to change up the surface lets you decide if you don’t mind the stone being fully polished, or not. The back surface can be used to sharpen coarsely if you like. A less polished surface on jade is fantastic as a rough dressing stone for initial sharpening or refreshing a dulled blade.

Jade is way harder than steel, so you never have to worry about gouging your necklace and it will never wear out in multiple lifetimes. Your great grand children will inherit this.

These stones are roughly 2.75” long, just under an inch wide at the bottom, and 0.30” thick. They come in a variety of colors, ranging from blue to green with hints of yellow and white. They should be used to sharpen dry, no water or oil needed, but you can sharpen either way.

This stone comes with an adjustable 550 paracord necklace. If you’d like guidance on sharpening please check out the group on Facebook Wild Whetstones or visit my website NaturalWhetstoneSharpening.com“

So far it is very nice to be able to carry a little jade stone in your pocket. In Asia, it brings luck, wealth and protection.
Blessing is always good to take.

Also honing a blade is easy.
On short blades you move the blade on the stone (be careful with your finger)
On bigger blades you move the stone on the blade like a stone on a sickle.
With such a ultra fine grit you won’t be able to ruin your edge but soon find the best way to adapt your free hands technique to your tools. It is a learning curve which is fun.

As Gene told me:
“On short blades (i.e., shorter than the stone), with a hand-held stone I move the blade on the stone without alternating hands (because I can flip my hand over and still have my wrist follow the curve of the blade). With a bench stone, I alternate hands on the opposite side of the blade so my wrist rotation can match the curve of the blade. On longer blades (using a hand-held stone), I move the stone along the edge of the blade, changing hands for the opposite sides (which makes it easier for wrist rotation to match the curve of the blade). Generally alternating 5-10 strokes per side (moving away from the edge with each stroke) to polish away from the edge, until I reach the desired polish), then alternating 3-5 strokes per side focused on the edge (until I am happy with it…or bored), finally alternating 1 stroke per side for the final edge finish.”

But REX45 is a very hard steel and ask for more time on it.

Eventually moving the stone on the edge is the best way I have found as my edge are convexed and rounded. SO the natural movement of the hand is bringing a mirror finish on the edge very easily.
It is fun for sure ! 🙂

2 thoughts on “A Jade stone and a rex45 blade are in a boat…”

Tim Thomas says:

11/03/2020 at 15:06

I love that you put your own edge and use all your knives. Looks very very sharp! I would carry one of these jade stones I think it looks great. I always read your reviews, thanks for posting.

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1. nemosandman says:
  
  11/03/2020 at 15:31
  
  Thank you for the nice words.
  Yes it is a game of patience and learning. 🙂
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person