Thread: Hard Arkansas

I had emailed David at NW earlier this week and he informed me that they lap each stone on a wheel before shipping. I subsequently ordered a black translucent which was shipped today. A lot of work ahead of me when I receive it.

I received the translucent from NW. Dave picked me out a real nice one. More translucent than the last one I got from him. Got it cleaned up and polished up to 2500 grit. After that I took the clever to it.

Put the same razor on it as I did the black. Was rewarded with a very nice shave. I'm thinking a bit thinner oil next time.

Went back and did another 100 laps with Dan's honing solution. It indeed improved the hht. I'm betting the shave will be even better.

As I mentioned to you all I was in negotiations with Hall's

- I originally asked if their black/soft combos used the same quality Surgical Black as their stand alone Blacks.

- they said no, so I asked them to price out a 3 x 8 Surgical Black matted to a soft of the same size. I was quoted a price for a 2 x 8 that was more expensive than the individual pieces in 3 x 8.

Maybe they ment to say 3*8 when they quoted, but I figured whatever. So I started to place things in my cart. When I got to billing - PayPal only.

I hate PayPal!! I mean hate!

I guess I could call and order... But now you guys have me second guessing lol! Is Dan's Blacks that much better??

I can't believe how I stress over this stuff lol!

I only have the one Dan's, they wouldn't take paypal so I went with Naturals. I read that Dan's blacks are more like the black translucent's from NW.

I really can't say for sure but the black from NW was a pretty good improvement over Dan's hard, as it should have been. The black trans from NW is a pure finishing stone for sure. I also went with NW because of the price difference. They say Dan's come with a better finish but imo to get the ones from NW up to par is really no big deal

BTW, Natural will take other forms of payment. Just call Dave.

Originally Posted by Wid

I only have the one Dan's, they wouldn't take paypal so I went with Naturals. I read that Dan's blacks are more like the black translucent's from NW.

I really can't say for sure but the black from NW was a pretty good improvement over Dan's hard, as it should have been. The black trans from NW is a pure finishing stone for sure. I also went with NW because of the price difference. They say Dan's come with a better finish but imo to get the ones from NW up to par is really no big deal

Who is NW?? Do you have a link?

Sorry, Natural Whetstone.

Natural Whetstone Co Sharpening Products 3

Originally Posted by Wid

Sorry, Natural Whetstone.

Natural Whetstone Co Sharpening Products 3

Thanks man. Never heard of these guys before. I'll scope em out.

Nice guy to deal with and the prices are real good.

I personally never dealt with NW but they are a bit cheaper except for... you know... if you check the specials at Dan's. Can we say 10 dollar Trans Black? Its only a 4x2 and has a toxic line on one side (the side I don't use) and one side is thicker than the other but I hold it in my hand and correct for that issue. Like you said earlier, Its a stone that I could live with as my only finisher. In fact only finish with it. I have other finishers but never use them. Actually I am starting an experiment to see the difference and see what techniques can make my other finishers feel like my trans black.

I also got a 12x2-1/2 soft and it actually is a great stone. I got it for 30 bucks. It has a divot in one side....so I don't use that side. I mean really unless its a combo stone you only need one side.

Keep working it with that carbon clever. I can see myself without oil in mine. Try doing using different oils to and see what the result is. Try WD-40, mineral oil, 3 in 1, sewing machine oil, etc... Theres a lot of different variables to try now. You could even just use water or lather. I like the lather sometimes when I can see the stone is starting to glaze up. You should definitely get that suction feel on a trans or black. I get it every time at about the 50 lap mark and keep going to till 300 (my stone is smaller than yours.... you know what, I don't like the sound of that).

Its nice to see more people starting to get arks and experiment with them. A lot of people would swear against them saying arks were good for knives but too rough for razors. I would always just want to say that they didn't know what the potential of a good ark was.