Thread: Hard Arkansas

I'd have to agree, it was just timing. It's been a good ride so far.

I like this topic here. I wanted to say I got a new razor from Germany in the mail today. Sharpened it and honed it with Arkansas stones. Finished it on a translucent, and stropped it on nylon webbing, and then leather. No paste, no powders, just leather and it gave and awesome shave. I don't think you can go wrong with the Arkansas stones. I also wanted to post so I could play on this site.

I got a new (to me) Franz Swaty 2 line. I cleaned with Barkeeps Friend, then knocked the edges off with 320-400 W/D, touched up the name side with a very fine lapping paper. I need to check it against my Black Arkansas and my Dan's translucent. I am trying to work the Arkies with an old kitchen knife and later with a hatchet I am reprofiling. Is there any visual means to determine when they are ready for razors? Should I do anything to prep the the Swaty? Thanks in advance.

some folks rub in a non petroleum grease on the barbers hone.not certain so be carefull.i do an initial prep on my black ark with a metal bar wrapped in 1500 grit paper to accelerate the breaking in of the surface.

i think the member called geezer has a few posts on the subject,do a search for barber hones/reconditioning etc.

“What did you do years ago to wake up the coarse stone? On woodworking sites, people get upset because the soft arkansas stone will begin to cut slowly as it goes to sleep, and they put it away and that's that.”


Low grit Silicon Carbide stone and kerosene.

I can't say much about a barber hone other than that I do as little on the surface of one as possible. If they're in relatively decent condition, I don't do anything other than clean them and use them. If you abrade the surface of the swaty, it will probably be aggressive at first because they are some kind of aluminum oxide like an india stone (otherwise they wouldn't be so red).

As far as the hatchet, it would be a good tool to grade your arkansas stone (since it's hardened steel), especially if you finish it with other stones first and then just use it to grade the arkansas stone. At the risk of sounding like a jerk, you'll know that the ark is ready to use on razors when it does a good job honing them. When it's not settled in enough, you'll get a harsh edge and not very good polish. A fully settled in ark stone will put a bright polish on a razor, even with pressure.

As far as reprofiling edges on hatchets, if there is a lot of heavy work, it's customarily done with a grinding wheel, then the moderate work is done with files (and if the file quality is good, you can get a finish edge with it), followed by carborundum or india axe stones (that are in the 220-320 grit range). It's uncommon for people to go past that for actual working hatchets and axes, though I usually work mine on an arkansas stone just for the last few steps (it's nice to have an old axe and an old hatchet around if you have any trees). Most of the people I've talked to who grew up with hand saws and axes said they functionally kept axes sharp with files only - and if you ever use an axe on a tree, they're green wood tools and the geometry is more important than the final polish. (they sure do look nice if you polish the bevel with an arkansas stone, though).

If your hatchet is marginally hard, it may not do quite the job of grading that you want it to. If it doesn't and you don't have anything else that you can abuse, pop in to home depot and pick up one of the "buck brothers" plane blades that are 2" wide and cost 2.99. They are plenty hard and they're really cheap...and flat.

At the risk of sounding like a jerk, you'll know that the ark is ready to use on razors when it does a good job honing them. When it's not settled in enough, you'll get a harsh edge and not very good polish. A fully settled in ark stone will put a bright polish on a razor, even with pressure.

As far as reprofiling edges on hatchets, if there is a lot of heavy work, it's customarily done with a grinding wheel, then the moderate work is done with files (and if the file quality is good, you can get a finish edge with it), followed by carborundum or india axe stones (that are in the 220-320 grit range).

Thanks. Kind of figured the first, just didn't want to use my face as a hone. I did that with a Dovo Best Quality 6/8 that was sold as shave ready. Used a CrOx strop vigorously then linen and latigo until it shaved well.

As far as the hatchet goes, it is a test case using hand tools starting with a big a$$ Pferd chipbreaker, working through a corundum stone, etc. I want to see what it will entail. I have grinders, but don't want to ruin temper etc. It will give me a platform to break in the Arkies. I have used them on knives, but assiduously cleaned and swarf. Won't do that again.

if you have a soft ark i'd flatten it and then rub it with a rough cloth for maybe 5 minutes, imo that will pull any rough particules up and out of your stone...hard arks are a different case imo, use a piece of HARD and FLAT steel to rub it till you get a nice shine and or can see light reflecting (without oil on the stone) the reflection shouldnt be mirror like IMO ! Leave the mirror for your trans/blacks. And as always ymmv. Hope i've helped and not hashed it up for anyone. Cheers and shave on.

Burnish with a Carbon Steel cleaver, you can pick them up for under 5 buck at antique stores and flea markets. They are also handy to have in the kitchen.

With that you can really put some pressure on the stone face and get across the whole stone.

I do heavy pressure half-laps with Smiths and water until it is slick like glass.

Put a razor on the stone and as you burnish it the feel will get slicker, until it is almost like wet glass.

Here’s an old 10X3 black.