I Found It Over There

That reminds me that I have some slate samples to test. I'm going to be driving right past the place that I got them next month. If they're promising I'll pick up a few more.

It is awesome when they work. Hand picked hones beat antique store finds! :-)

For sure! I use mine all the time.

I never thought I'd have a reason to post in this thread. But I received a gift from a neighbor this evening. She knew I worked on razor and she went on a 4 wheeling trip to Arkansas. Her group knows of a trailings pile area where they ride.

The big one looks hard or translucient. Its pretty flat on both sides -- Not honing flat. The black one is just a little something for me to play with.

Attachment 281564

I told her I'd figure out how to lap it and let them know what works. I don't want to wreck a diamond plate on it. Can anyone tell me where is the definitive Arki lapping thread?

There are some serious Arkie fans here. I suggest scroll through the hone of the day thread and PM a couple of them. I know some people really like sic powder on a hard surface for lapping really hard rock. You can get lapping plates and sic powder at Lee Valley. I have lapped some really hard rocks on diamond plates.

I recommend going with the SiC also. Some really hard stones end up lapping the devil out of a good diamond plate.

Alx

I use SiC on my arkies as well.. got a kit from Lee Valley. This is what RezDog was referring to.

Lapping Accessories - Lee Valley Tools

Also a granite surfacing plate with some wet/dry sandpaper works well once you get past the finer SiC grits.

https://www.amazon.com/Granite-Surfa.../dp/B006JYKIE4

I would say the SiC setup is essential if your gonna mess around with arkies.

The granite plate is helpful with putting a nice polish on finishing stones before burnishing.

MW76 brings up an interesting point, with very hard hones the characteristics change with the lapping and burnishing. The finer it is lapped and the better it is burnished, the finer it will finish. That is not to say that every Arkie that is finely lapped and well burnished is a finisher, but a very fine Arkie that is coarsely lapped and not burnished will be a mid range hone and not a finisher.

You can send Arkansas stones to Dan's Whetstone and they will lap them for you for a very reasonable price. They can smooth out the sides too. Pretty quick turnaround and professional flat finish. I've done this with several Arkansas stones and Washitas too. Just email them the size and they'll quote you a price.

Thank you for the help.

I bought 4 oz each of 120/220, 400 fine, and 600 fine SIC powder from ebay (seller Oregon Rockshop). I've got a granite flat tile at home that I use with larger pieces of wet/dry.

Then I'll take it to a 1000 grit diamond plate. Will I need to go further? I've got some higher grit wet/dry.