Here lately I've been doing a lot of experimenting with features of the 204 Sharpmaker stones and the GOLDENSTONE too. For all of you who have a Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker you all know that each stone has one side with a "groove" right down the middle of it>> also the GOLDENSTONE has a grooved slot on the front side of it.
Here lately I've used the slotted/grooved sides of the 204 Sharpmaker stones to sharpen blades that are just starting to get dull with some encouraging results. I've noticed that VG-10 blades that are slightly dinged up respond somewhat faster than they do on the flat sides. I've also played with the grooved/slotted side of the GOLDENSTONE with some interesting results as well. I've just kind of wondered first of all what sharpening jobs do you guys use the grooved/slotted sides for? And what if any results have you noticed from that side of the stone versus the flat sides?
From a function standpoint I find the groove/slot on the face of the GOLDENSTONE actually better to sharpen pointed tools with than I do with the groove on the 204 stones. I find that the slot/groove on the GOLDENSTONE to be great for ice picks, fish hooks and darts>> even better than what I can obtain from the slots on the 204 stones. It's something I've overlooked and not really paid any attention to for some time. But I do think it's an overlooked option we need to discuss because I do think that there are more viable uses for the grooves than we know about.