I need to stone the flat sliding surfaces for the jaws and don't want crap stones but don't want super expensive stones for this one time use. Any suggestions?

I've been using my vertical band saw for over 15 years without an issue. Well Monday I was cutting a contour on a piece of angle. The blade was worn out and I should have changed it but instead I just pushed harder on the work piece, that was mistake #1. I was holding the work with my bare hands...

Supposedly if you wrap your pinky around the lead like this its supposed to make your hand more steady? Do you guys believe that? I couldn't really tell