1. SILICON CARBIDE CARBO-ARK tm. (coarse) for very dull or nicked blades.
2. WASHITA OR SOFT ARKANSAS (Medium) for preliminary honing.  
3. HARD ARKANSAS (Fine) popular finishing hone.  
4. SURGICAL BLACK ARKANSAS (Extra Fine) finest finishing hone.  

Put a small amount of Hall's Honing Oil (or any light mineral oil or water) on your stone. Using a Natural Stone without oil or water will damage and clog your stone.

1. To sharpen, always hold the handle with rod facing down. Then place the heel of the blade on the ceramic rod close to the handle as shown in the illustration. No lubricant is required.
2. Hold the blade of the knife at the manufacturers suggested angle.
3. Push the knife away from you on the ceramic rod applying pressure as you push the blade toward the end of the rod. Draw the knife down so the tip of the blade comes off the ceramic rod close to the end as shown.
4. For the other side of the blade, repeat the technique above with the same number of strokes.
5. After several uses the surface of the rod will began to fill up with metal particles. To clean the rod, simply clean rod with warm soapy water.

HOW TO SET UP YOUR SYSTEM

1) First you need to lift the three stone carriage out and pour Hall's knife and honing oil into reservoir.  

2) Replace stone carriage into unit.

3) Select the proper stone for use.  On the W/H 11 1/2" unit, there are six stones that are available for that unit.  You have 3 synthetic stones and 3 natural stones.  

The synthetic stones include a: 80 grit (coarse), 180 grit (Medium), and a 220 grit (Fine) 

The natural stones include a : Soft Arkansas (Medium) - for preliminary honing, Hard Arkansas (Fine) - Popular finishing hone, and a Surgical Black Arkansas (Extra Fine) - One of the Finest finishing hones. 

4) Rotate the stone carriage through the oil onto the stone you selected and then position it on top so you can use it to begin your sharpening.  Now you ready to begin.

5) Now follow the general instructions on how to sharpen your knife starting with Fig. 2.

1. Place knife blade on the inside of the left rod approximately three quarters of the way up the rod from the base. Hold knife at a 90 degree angle to the base.

2. Pull the blade down and across the left rod from the back of the blade to the tip as shown in (Fig.2).

3. Repeat the stroke on the inside of the right rod to sharpen the other side of the blade.

4. Do 4 or 5 strokes on a side then a like amount on the other rod. Usually after about 10 to 15 strokes on each side your blade will be sharp and ready for use.

5. After several uses the surface of the rods will began to fill up with metal particles. To clean the rods simply detach from the base and clean each rod with warm soapy water.

• Always use a light oil while sharpening on our Natural Arkansas stones.  Hall's honing oil protects the surface of the stones and prevents them from being clogged with metal particles from your knife.  Using a cooking oil may damage the stone by forming a thick gel coat on the surface, making the stone unusable.

• There is no need to soak your Arkansas stone in any type of oil.  Before you begin sharpening each time, apply a thin stream of honing oil to the surface of the stone, then spread that oil over the entire sharpening surface.

• Don't use a lot of oil - just enough for a thin film of oil between the stone and your knife blade.  Using too much oil will make your knife blade glide over the surface of the stone and will prevent the stone from sharpening your knife. One application of honing oil while sharpening a knife is usually enough.  However, you may need to apply additional oil to your stone, especially if you are sharpening for a long time.

• When you're finished sharpening, be sure to clean your stone each time.  When using oil while sharpening, you may also use honing oil to clean it by applying a small amount and rubbing it in a circular motion all the way down the stone.  You will see the metal particles start to rise from the stones pores, just wipe them off with a clean paper towel or rag.  Hold the stone under running water to finish cleaning it, then dry with a paper towel or rag.  If you don't clean your stone after each sharpening, then small metal particles from your knife will dry on the surface and clog the pores of the stone.

• The Hall family has seen and worked with various types of oil during the past 30 years, and we have found that this mineral based honing oil is the best available for cleaning and working with on the stones.