What the heck is a goldenstone?

[tonydahose]

i was checking out yourcornerstore and i saw this, i checked the main spyderco website under sharpeners and there is nothing there and i did a search on the forums...nadda. is this just some misprint or a double secret probationary product :p

http://yourcornerstore.com/index.php?ma ... ts_id=1758

[phaust]

It's in the 2009 catalog, iirc. There's a description here (first result for a google search, I'm not trying to favor this site over any other :) ) http://www.thespydercostore.com/Spyderc ... p/308f.htm

[tonydahose]

guess i could have searched outside of this site...lol my bad

[Pneumothorax]

Looks basically to me like a fine ceramic duckfoot type sharpener. I had to look it up earlier this year when Sal mentioned that he travels with Duckfoot and Goldenstone. I too looked on the site and couldnt find it. Like Phaust, I found description on vendor page. Seems its been out for at least 2009, but dont know when it was introduced...

Tony, per your last email, it's not intuitive to go looking on vendor sites if it doesn't show up on the Spydie site, but I've since learned that not all things are on the Spydie site and go search about 5 vendor sites for info/availability/pricing, etc.

[phaust]

Tony, per your last email, it's not intuitive to go looking on vendor sites if it doesn't show up on the Spydie site, but I've since learned that not all things are on the Spydie site and go search about 5 vendor sites for info/availability/pricing, etc.

I guess it's because everyone's always backed up (it's probably worse at the beginning and end of the year), but the Spyderco site often seems to be one of the last places to update. A Google search often turns up vendors and forum posts with relevant info. The forum posts are the best usually because they lack the marketing blurb and get right to the point (but I suppose I'm preaching to the choir in some respect, since we're on a forum :D ).

edit: whoops I forgot to add that wasn't a jab at you Tony, I'm just not sure the rules on posting links to dealers, so I wanted to make it clear I wasn't trying to favor the one I posted.

[The Deacon]

It's also shown and described on page 51 of the 2009 Spyderco Catalog. (Page 28 if you're using Acrobat's page thumbnails on the PDF version).

U.S.A. made fine grit Golden Stone polishes and
professionally finishes using a variety of curves and
angles. Holding the stone vertically on a tabletop,
and tilting it from one side to the other, raises one
edge off the table, creating a 20° angle (40° total
angle) for sharpening knife blades. Elliptical sides
have a large radius for sharpening PlainEdges, a
smaller radius for SpyderEdges (serrations). Position
it on its’ side (horizontally) to create a 12.5° angle
designed for sharpening scissors. A groove down
the length of the stone de-burrs and hones pointed
objects. Suede carry case doubles as a non-skid
counter top pad for tabletop sharpening. Cleaning:
Wash in fresh water, scrub using a powdered abrasive
cleaner and scouring pad. Rinse and dry.

[yablanowitz]

It's the white thing next to the Duckfoot in this picture.

[Eazy_tom]

There was thread about this on THIS website, someone on here thought of the name.

[jezabel]

Iv'e been waiting for some feedback on this one, as Paul said it's been in this years catalog, however Yab's mention of it is the first I've heard of it actually existing.

Jez

[yablanowitz]

Mine is a factory second, the regular ones were in the showcase at the SFO when I was there for the sale. They are a bit pricey, so I doubt there are a whole bunch of them in the field yet.

[Peter1960]

Hi yablanowitz,

Sir, assuming this Goldenstone belongs to you and assuming you used the sharpening tool, could you tell me (us) what your thoughts of this nice piece are? Thanks a lot ... you are known as hard user of your knives and you have sharpening skills, your position has meaning and depth for me :)

[yablanowitz]

Yes, it is mine and yes, I have used it some. As a companion to the Duckfoot diamond sharpener, it works quite well. It works even better since I built a base to make the Duckfoot lean 15 degrees off vertical instead of 20, so I can use the diamonds to cut a 30 degree backbevel and the fine ceramic to polish a 40 degree microbevel. The flat face is large enough to make a respectable bench stone as well. The larger radius edges fit the large scallops of a Spyderedge quite well. The smaller radius is a bit too small for the smaller scallops, but does work well when used SharpMaker style.

Overall, it is a very nice piece of sharpening equipment, and would be worth the money if you travelled a lot and weren't comfortable with freehand sharpening.