SPI Arkansas Stones

Bring your old scalpel blades, tweezer tips, and other tools back to life!

What are Arkansas Stones?
For those of our customers outside of the USA, Arkansas is one of the fifty states. It is in the southern part of the USA and in one small area of the state is found a unique kind of stone that for years has been recognized as the ultimate stone for sharpening fine tools and instruments. Perhaps it is like diamonds are found in South Africa and no where else and this unique kind of stone is found in Arkansas and no where else. But you can be sure that what you purchase from SPI Supplies as "Arkansas stones" really are from this unique area of the state of Arkansas.

What they will do:
The SPI Arkansas Stones will hone just about any dull edge and bring it back to life. Developed for a variety of different tools, it is used for sharpening scissors, scalpels, lab knives, picks, just about anything that should be sharp but which gets dull with use. When using the stones, the special honing oil should also be used.

Do they really work?
Yes they certainly do work, however, not all customers find their expectations are met or exceeded. About 5-10% of our customers are less than completely satisfied with the use of these stones. Now it is a fact that there is a wide range in qualities of the basic stone itself, however the SPI Arkansas Stones are made from the very highest quality stone, grade for grade that can be purchased commercially. Consider the case of fine tweezers: For the finest tweezer tips, such as a Style #5 (the style with the sharpest tips) if it is a matter of restoring the sharpness to otherwise fine tweezers, this approach could come close to doing that. But if the tips were bent, then you can be sure that the tips will never be returned to the state when they were new.

Avoiding disappointed customers:
Since we don't like to have customer returns(!) consider this: If you are looking to extend the useful lifetime out of your tweezers and other worn instruments, these will work for you. They might not be able to be used for the most demanding of tasks, but they surely should be useful for less critical tasks. But if you are the perfectionist who is expecting that the use of the SPI Arkansas stones will return your instruments to their original state, then we would suggest just purchasing new instruments, because you will not be happy with this product.

Note: Remember that there is an "art" to sharpening, and you will definitely get better at it with more experience. Don't give up on your first attempt!

Maintenance tips for your Arkansas stone:
It has been our experience that the best maintenance protocol is to wash vigorously with soap and water after each use. It should literally be scrubbed with some kind of a stiff brush, such as a stiff Nylon brush. It is important to keep the pores in the Arkansas stone open and free of stone and metal and other residues. The stone should then be allowed to air dry until its next use.

What our customers say generally:
For the most part, in our phone conversations with customers, both satisfied and not 100% satisfied, there is agreement that the stones do work and that even if a tool it not returned completely to the specifications when it was new, the resharpened instrument can still be used for "rough" cutting, saving the new instruments for the final precision cutting.

The SPI Arkansas Stones are offered in two different sizes and are sold one per package.

Type	SPI #	Each	In Stock
Square 100mm X 12mm X 12mm	01585A-AB	$ 40.62	Yes
Triangular 100mm X 8mm X 8mm X 8mm	01585B-AB	23.06	Yes

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