how coarse is the stones????
68764
Not very coarse. I used it to sharpen some really old chisels. The instructions are very vague. Few words and you must be an expert in interpreting hieroglyphics. As far as coarseness goes, I can't tell which side is which. I think the lighter side is the fine side. In retrospect, I wish I had bought a water stone or a diamond sharpener (like the DMT W7EFC Diamond Whetstone for about $20. I did not have the knowledge or the cash. It's OK. I will sharpen chisels and rather nicely, but with much effort. The little bottle of oil will last quite some time. I use an old flat file to flatten the stone occasionally. Not very coarse. I used it to sharpen some really old chisels. The instructions are very vague. Few words and you must be an expert in interpreting hieroglyphics. As far as coarseness goes, I can't tell which side is which. I think the lighter side is the fine side. In retrospect, I wish I had bought a water stone or a diamond sharpener (like the DMT W7EFC Diamond Whetstone for about $20. I did not have the knowledge or the cash. It's OK. I will sharpen chisels and rather nicely, but with much effort. The little bottle of oil will last quite some time. I use an old flat file to flatten the... » Read More Not very coarse. I used it to sharpen some really old chisels. The instructions are very vague. Few words and you must be an expert in interpreting hieroglyphics. As far as coarseness goes, I can't tell which side is which. I think the lighter side is the fine side. In retrospect, I wish I had bought a water stone or a diamond sharpener (like the DMT W7EFC Diamond Whetstone for about $20. I did not have the knowledge or the cash. It's OK. I will sharpen chisels and rather nicely, but with much effort. The little bottle of oil will last quite some time. I use an old flat file to flatten the stone occasionally. « Show Less
68765
The sharpening stones are course enough to do the job that they are designed for. I have used this tool to sharpen my hand planers and they are very effective. I am not sure how course this potential customer is anticipating as a "sharpening tool", but this is designed to accomplish sharpening at various angles that are listed in the instructions. There are settings that are given for these angles to adjust the sharpener to which I found are very helpful.
68766
I really don't know exactly. However, if the stone is an oilstone, and I believe it is, then its probably 240 grit for "medium" and 280 grit for "fine". There doesn't seem to be a specific grit noted on the stones or packaging for oilstones, and just using "fine" or "medium" terms to describe the abrasiveness seems to be the norm. However you can get more info if you search the web for woodworking, sharpening etc.
1766082
Well, I wouldnt call it a stone. Its some sort of thin plate used for sharpening. I didnt like it very well, it felt kinda cheap. So I bought a nice stone seperately. Hope this helps.
140546
rock size is limited due to tumbler size (obviously). Largest single stone I have polished was (it turns out) to be a stony meteorite 8x8x4 cm. All others were smaller. It takes a LONG time to do the polishing and multiple phases -- running about 3-4 weeks of constant tumbling in various grits. This is not an "easy" project, but worth while ultimately. JSH
1350864
Go to the Emile Henry website. There is a use and care menu. It explains everything about the stone.
1596454
Hi - I'm not a grit expert, but these look pretty coarse to me. Hope this helps.
622474
I'd say coarse. It's the texture of sand. It works well for pasta (white, whole wheat, pumpkin noodles, etc) and for pizza dough.
989569
I didn't notice any. I would estimate 400-600 grit. It is good for knives that are in fair sharpness. For really dull knives you would need to start with a more coarse grit. It is a good stone.
555955
I use a 300 & 600 grit stone before I use this and am very pleased with the results. I hope that helps.
485991
I have this and I love it.. it looks like a piece of granite actually - not a round smooth rock.. it's jagged and rough.. my yard and drive have gravel and big pieces of gravel so it fits right in..
970825
Actually, none of them are really black. The small and medium sized stones are more of a slate color with green and blue tints. The largest stones are closer to being black, but are not as dark as the image suggests. They aren't uniform in color, but the stones in person are way more aesthetically pleasing than the image portrays. For $20 it isn't a bad set at all.
1264821
The outer stone section is probably made of some sort of thin cement. It's heavy. The bowl is disappointingly shallow.,, maybe 14"
1386724
Yes it is ... however be careful of which type you buy, there are a couple options such as coarse (which needs to be ground up into usable crystals) or finely ground. They're both the same product but one has already been ground and ready to use, the other one hasn't (some folks prefer grinding their own cuz they like to choose how coarse/fine they want the crystals).
1437909
My gravel pieces vary from 1mm to 3mm. Very smooth pebbles. The color is very close to the picture.
740986
The stones were from about two inches up to about 4 inches. This package had a nice variety to do lower back with the bigger stones and nice sizes to do the palms, calves etc. TAV
1255793
I don't know that they measure stones in grit. I can day that it is very fine, maybe 1200+
1341379
The particles are not regular enough for them to apply a normal grit rating, but they are sorted by maximum size in microns, I think. At any rate, I think the rough equivalents are Coarse: 250, Fine: 600, X-Fine: 1200. There is an XX-Fine, but even that doesn't get you anywhere close to 8000. If you want a finish like an 8000+ waterstone with diamonds, you have to get the paste and spread it on a substrate of your own. I'm sure I've seen diamond paste as fine as .5 micron, and it may go finer than that; I don't think they can bond particles that fine to the DMT plates.
125574
Yes, these stones are the best I've purchased for the size, I've ordered large stones from a different company but they were really medium in size and weren't as smooth as these. My stones were very smooth perfect for my hands the 2 xl stones are great for a larger person ...i use them on my athletes. My clients have loved them. No complaints. I will be ordering more soon.Lynn