Thread: Arkansas stones

A month ago, I purchased an Arkansas combo soft/hard stone, and a transclucent stone. These are used with oil. Is it safe to hone my razors on the translucent stone...it is approx.6-8k in terms of grit.

The translucent is definitely good for razors
as a finishing hone.
You can also use it with water.
Be prepared that its not too fast.
You'll need a couple of strokes but then its fine.

Hey Razorman,
I use the hard white w/ a slurry to set my bevels, the surgical black as a 4K, the translucent as a 6-8k and finish off with the charnley Forest stone. Although im new to honing, i do get a razor edge that passes the HHT test, every time...six individual razors so far. (Shumate barber, Dovo Soligen, ERN 'ator,' Fredrick Reynolds wedge, Geo. Worthington Clearcut and a Joseph Elliot frameback.)
However, i do have the Shaptons and they are very much quicker...very much quicker and may be your best bet cost-wise.
I love Arkansas stone, but ya have to be patient and experiment for what works best on each individual razor...this may take a couple hours sometimes for me.

Mac

Totally agree on the Translucent. It is a fun stone, but it ain't quick as mentioned already.

Lynn

Lynn; What do you recommend to burnish a Dan's Arkansas Black? Don said to use the diamond 325 but I don't know if I like you guys enough to kill that plate. Dan's said to burnish, just run an old razor over it about 25-50 times and it will be smooth as glass. I've seen in the posts using old knives, cleavers etc and lapping 100-300 times.

I've lapped one Washita, one Soft Ark, one Hard (translucent) Ark, one Black Hard Ark with my 9 year old DMT D8C 325 ........ + a ton of other stones, and it is still going strong. All stones done in the kitchen sink with water running (dribbling) on the plate/stone. So far so good.

I am more concerned about burnishing the Black stone. I can't believe you need to lap it 100+ times to get it smooth.

Lapping is done until it is flat. Burnishing is done until it is smooth. Each take as long as they take. In the case of an Ark, each takes quite a while.

If you want it to perform optimally as a finisher, that means lapping it flat, polishing it up, and burnishing it. Downside is it takes time. The bright side is, they're a hard stone so this doesn't have to be done every time you hone a razor. Just keep it oiled so the stone doesnt load up with swarf and let it ride.

Originally Posted by jkatzman

I am more concerned about burnishing the Black stone. I can't believe you need to lap it 100+ times to get it smooth.

Y'know I bought vintage Pike/Norton Arks off of the bay. All in boxes, all in fine condition. I had no clue about burnishing, or anything else but flattening. I flattened the stones once. I have used the lesser grits (Washita, Soft Ark) on my pocket knives to good effect, the translucent and black on razors. They work great giving me a comparable edge to a fine coticule. Not to an Escher or a 12k superstone. That is simply my hands on experience, YMMV.