Hard and soft Arkansas stone?

[KingHooper]

I have a set of hard and soft stones and I am wondering if I can use them to hone my razors?

[Blistersteel]

the short answer is most likely yes but with provisions of course.

[Blistersteel]

you'll need to dress them with a piece of flat metal to debride the surface of lose particles if they haven't been prepped already .the flat ness of your stones is important also.

[eddy79]

Yes but as said you will want to lap th flat and they might only make part of the honing progression and the hard will likely need to be properly prepped to get the best out of it.

[Blistersteel]

here is my washita arkansas , i have been using it as a bevel setter.ymmv.

[Blistersteel]

here is my washita arkansas , i have been using it as a bevel setter.ymmv.

it is a thirsty booger.

[KingHooper]

Nice stone though. I have reading on the Norton leveling stone would that work in my Arks or would it be to agressive?

[Blistersteel]

i have a norton leveling stone.in my use of it i have not had any success using it on hard stones like my arkansas .i use a piece of granite tile and sand paper to flatten my arks.

[KingHooper]

After looking at the research and all the advice on here from everyone it looks like a ceramic tile from Lowe's might just do the trick. I am going to give it a shot in the next few weeks, I will do before and after pictures if it does or does not work lol.

[Euclid440]

Yes, you can, folks used them for hundreds of years with good results… But there are much better options now.

Lapping stones are useless on Arks. Loose silicone carbide grit, a cookie sheet on a flat cement floor, to get flat and wet and dry once flat, to polish, GotGrit.com for SC powder. You don’t need much to do a stone.

Good synthetic stones, 1,4/8 K, will make your life much easier and shorten you honing learning curve.

Much is written on novice stones in the wiki that will enhance your learning.