Dan's Whetstone Company, Inc. Genuine Arkansas Translucent (Extra Fine) Pocket Knife Sharpening Stone 3" x 1" x 1/4" in Leather Pouch TAP-13A-L

I purchased several of Dans Whetstones in 2016 and they are awesome. My review for them is at the bottom. I am keeping that part of my review JUST IN CASE I HAPPENED TO GET A BAD STONE THIS TIME.I am using the older stones strictly for gunsmithing, so now in 2020 I purchased another (soft/medium) for knives and a hatchet while camping. I don't know if I got a bad one or the stones are now cut different but all the edges on it are beveled. This is fine for sharpening blades or polishing flats for gunsmith projects but useless for certain smithing where you need that perfect 45 degree angle (like hammer hooks)The sheath quality is also now lacking. Used to be a nice dark and supple leather. New sheaths are off white, thinner and feel like plastic. Even the stitching has been cheaped out. The stitching does not go far enough up the sides and the stone slips out easily. What are they trying to do , save a penny on thread for every 10 sheaths made? Dropping rating to 4 stars, it's still a great stone for the money, just not what they used to be. I wish the price went up and the quality remained the same. Remember to check out the bevels on the newer stone in the photo.2016 REVIEWFirst class and what a beautiful stone! Cut perfectly with sharp edges at exactly 45 degrees and all surfaces are perfectly flat.All corners come to a sharp point with zero chipsPrice even a smaller Translucent Arkansas stone at a gun smith retailer and you will pay twice as much.I am using this stone for a few 1911 trigger jobs. The stone is large enough to easily polish the sides of parts such as hammers, sears, even a trigger bow.It takes a perfect 45 degree cut of a stone to smooth & polish hammer hooks, this stone can do that too!Make sure to use a light oil when working, wipe clean and reapply often.I purchased this one in extra fine and another in fine (only $13, are you kidding me!?)My next Amazon order I will be purchasing one in medium. (only $10!!!!)The cool leather pouch is a nice touch, great job Dan!

This is a decent honing stone. I've used it in combination with a diamond sharpener. This is very fine and gets gummed up with metal material after use. I use my diamond stone to shave it back down to shape and clear the debris. I've used it maybe 30 times for sincere sharpenings (plus hones) in the 3 years I've had it. It's still holding up pretty well. It's got a few hairline cracks on one side, but I think it will last me another 3 years.In my opinion it's a pretty cheap item and I've used it hard and it's performed it's duties. It's basically $3 per year of abuse and doing its job like it should.

It's a nice pocket stone. I wanted to try this type of stone but didn't want to spend a lot. It works well. I used it after the hard arkansas stone. It does put a nice edge on it, enough to shave with. I plan on getting the full sized one next. If you're new to honing then try a set of small stones to get a feel for it and later you can get full sized. I would recommend this product to newbies. Dans whetstones are very nice and cut well. No cracks or chips.

Great little pocket stone. Works just fine with water too, so long as you have not used it with oil previously. If you ever need to clean it, you can boil it in some water for 10 minutes.

I spent 50 years looking for a replacement after the stone broke during a move while in the army. I used it to make my bayonet razor sharp. Thank you Dan, for having these available. Sharp knives at last.