Thread: Arkansas Surgical Black

Originally Posted by Maladroit

My black Arkansas stone is a very fine finisher and I'm more than happy with it. I would rate it as near equal to a Shapton Pro 12000 as a finisher, although a fair bit slower It certainly improves the edge of a razor that has been worked on the so-called Chinese 12k (the PHIG). My example has an s.g. of 2.8 (calculated from its mass of 377g divided by the volume of 134 cm3). I have used both thin mineral oil and detergenty water as the honing medium - I can't say which is better.

As always, YMMV: my results pertain to my razors, my hones and about 4 years experience honing and shaving - I make no claims to honemeister status, I'm just a bloke who hones and shaves with his own razors.

Lol. Just like the other 99.9% of us!

Originally Posted by Iceni

The effective grit size is about 1000 grit.

Arkansas hones work a little differently to a regular hone. They don't shed grit when they abrade.

What actually happens is the grit is held fast in the matrix, and you slowly grind through the grit. This is why these stones take a super polished finish and glaze up on the surface like glass.

As such Arkansas stones don't have a grit rating. They have a "level of finish". The smoother and more coherent the finish is, the slower the hone will work, and the finer the outcome.

There are a lot of people who have an Arkansas hone, I have one myself. And most people either have Translucent or Black as a finishing stone with the highest level of finish they can achive.

The level of finish is attained by firstly leveling the hone on wet and dry paper or lapidary compounds. At about 400 grit.

Then they take that through the grit system to as high as they can get it.

Then they abuse the hone with a chisel or blade till the glaze has taken hold.

You can spend several hours on every step and no 2 hones finish in an identical way.

Please Iceni,,,some of us only made it through high school because we could play sports,,,

Damn - all this time I've been spreading peanut butter on toast when I should have been honing on it! Maybe I could combine the two by cutting a barber hone sized piece of toast, spreading the peanut butter on it, honing the razor then eating the the toast.

Man, it even comes in grades! Spread one side of the toast with the one that has lumps of peanuts in it for the coarse side and the other side with the superfine variety to finish on, it just keeps getting better and better!

A cheap combi hone AND a tasty snack, but you only get to eat the snack as a reward if the razor passes the TPT - the Peanut Test, in which a peanut is dropped on the blade and is noiselessly split asunder.

And heres foolish me with a chinese wall of honestones when I could have had a larder full of peanut butter. I think I am going to go and lay down in a dark room now as my wife doesn't like to see a grown man cry.

sob,
Neil

Yep. Does.

I just wish I could have come up with something better than peanut brittle to explain it....

Avatar of shame now

Personally… I really like Cashew Brittle, and I do like me some dark chocolate Almond Bark… not the milk just the dark.

Originally Posted by Iceni

I just wish I could have come up with something better than peanut brittle to explain it....

Avatar of shame now

I am impressed you have kept your "avatar of shame" for so long now! Peanut brittle man lol!!

It was a pretty good description if you ask me though!