Thread: pre hard black arkie stone

So I currently have a coticule and a hard black arkie and a few others but they are hardly used. I am not really using the hard ark because I havent quite cracked the code on it yet. I feel like there is too big a gap in grit range between the coticule and the ark and on top of that with the arkie being such a slow stone that its not worth it to use. I have read that you should get a fast stone of equal or close grit to the arkie and do a lateral jump and basically just use the arkie to polish and smmothen the scratches from the stone into a wavy scratch pattern.

My question is what stone would you suggest to go between the coticule and the arkie. I was thinking a naniwa 12k but thats just what I was thinking and am open to suggestions.

Many members on here shave right off the coticule, personally i would not add another stone to the mix. Like you said with naturals you need to crack the code. Same with other stone as well, you have to take the time to figured them out, then you will be nicely rewarded.

Is the black arkie a Surgical Black? I.e. a translucent?

Originally Posted by Oakeshott

Is the black arkie a Surgical Black? I.e. a translucent?

yes it is.

I like the shaves of the coticule. They are very smooth and sublime. Of course if I stopped at the coticule and did not explore other options then I would have nothing to spend my money on haha. No but seriously the reason why I would like to use the arkie is because other members have said that the edge it gives iisthe best theyve had

You might want to talk to Glen aka Gssixgun. IIRC, he used a Black Ark almost exclusively for a while.

Go ahead and max out your coti edge on a razor you know and can hone well. Then take that SB and do a couple hundred or more laps on mineral oil or glycerin. Then shave. I think you'll be surprised. I find my best arkie edges sharper than cotis (naturally) and very nearly as comfortable(surprise).

Originally Posted by cosperryan

yes it is.

I like the shaves of the coticule. They are very smooth and sublime. Of course if I stopped at the coticule and did not explore other options then I would have nothing to spend my money on haha. No but seriously the reason why I would like to use the arkie is because other members have said that the edge it gives iisthe best theyve had

And you want to add 2 stones after 'smooth & sublime' ?
Can't really see such a big gap myself.

Originally Posted by zib

You might want to talk to Glen aka Gssixgun. IIRC, he used a Black Ark almost exclusively for a while.

Thanks Zib, as always a help.

Oakeshott- I will try that. Usually I take my edges as far as I can on a coti including usuing oil after water only. My SB is a 4x2 though so the lap count will be double. Not that I mind it gives me something to do while watching the tube.

Oz- If I could have only one of the stones that I currently have it would be the coticule. I do love the edges and its a great stone.... but because I have the arkie I want to learn to use it. If after I feel I have mastered it and come to realize that the edge is not all that much different from the coti then I will keep it out of the rotation. But like I said I have it therefore I want to learn to use it. Maybe it will give me better shaves once I learn to master it. Who knows? Not me but I want to know.

One quick note. I've not tried the Arkie after coti and it may be too big a jump to make a difference, but it would be interesting to hear about the results you get. I could never really max out an edge on my cuticles (my fault, not theirs) so I haven't been able to test it, but when I do this after Jnats, the improvement is obvious.

Originally Posted by Oakeshott

One quick note. I've not tried the Arkie after coti and it may be too big a jump to make a difference, but it would be interesting to hear about the results you get. I could never really max out an edge on my cuticles (my fault, not theirs) so I haven't been able to test it, but when I do this after Jnats, the improvement is obvious.

yeah thats what I think too so thats what I was wanting to know what a good stone would be to use before the arkie. I dont have to use a coticule. I am really just wanting to know what other peoples progressions are that use a SB