Thread: Hard Arkansas

Wid,

How does NW black translucent compare to their hard black?

I bought the black (the one they rate at 1200) 8x3 a couple of months ago, but haven't had a chance to play experiment with it much. If I'm not mistaken, that's the stone you you have pictures of on the first page. Seems like a really tough rock (SG 2.68; took me many, many hours to lap and break in) and I feel it is perfectly suitable for razors. Did you find the two markedly different? It's fair to note that the price difference is substantial between the two. It'd be interesting to hear if you noticed any difference in performance.

Alex.

I can't answer the hard black from NW vs their black trans, but I do have two dan's hard blacks, had a dans trans and have a NW black trans.

The dans stone is lapped finer when you get it. In the long term, it probably doesn't make much difference as long as you:
* break a stone in and never lap it again
* use the right lubricant (remember, more viscosity should be an easier path to a finer cut, and less to a faster)

Either in this thread, someone said they verified that NW laps their hones, which is not surprising (commonplace in the natural stone industry is to use a rotary lapper that laps the face of a stone to get out saw marks). They are just stopping at a coarser step than Dans does.

I bought my dans black off of the seconds page. Anything they sell on the seconds page has at least one good side. It was probably about the same price as the NW stone. I like them about the same, I guess - in the end I could get the same edge off of either once both are broken in.

IF someone here is using an arkansas stone and not getting an edge they'd like to get, hone your razor, linen and leather it and then shave. The next day, give the razor 20 of the lightest laps you can possibly give on the hard ark again if the stone is still a tiny bit aggressive - true weight of the razor laps - and then linen and shave again. Do that until the edge is like you like. No heavy strokes or you'll ruin your effort and have to start over.

Of course, you can do the same thing by working the edge up, linen and then leather, and then take the light passes on the stone and linen and leather again until the HHT is severing and flinging hairs or better. I have no idea why that seems to work better than just progressing up to light strokes, but it does, and I've gotten superb edges even on something like a washita stone, which otherwise makes a shaving edge that is pretty difficult to use around your chin.

Originally Posted by Wid

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.





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That's a very nice looking stone!

I haven't had either stone long enough to give a fair comparison. Just by the feel of the stone(s) you can tell there is a pretty good difference in the smoothness in between the two, the trans being much smoother. Then again, one was dressed up to 1500 grit and the other 2500. Does that make a big difference? I'm not sure.

Originally Posted by AlexanderI

Wid,

How does NW black translucent compare to their hard black?

I bought the black (the one they rate at 1200) 8x3 a couple of months ago, but haven't had a chance to play experiment with it much. If I'm not mistaken, that's the stone you you have pictures of on the first page. Seems like a really tough rock (SG 2.68; took me many, many hours to lap and break in) and I feel it is perfectly suitable for razors. Did you find the two markedly different? It's fair to note that the price difference is substantial between the two. It'd be interesting to hear if you noticed any difference in performance.

Alex.

.

Did a few hundred more laps with the cleaver on the black and trans stone tonight. Seems they are coming along real nice. While the black feels very smooth to the touch the trans stone feels extremely smooth but with a velvety feel.

While I was cleaning the trans stone tonight I bumped it on the faucet, it made a ringing sound almost like what you'd expect from a piece of crystal. For thee heck of it I grabbed the black and did the same thing.................thudddd. Just thought that was interesting.

Honed a razor with a progression of Arkansas stones using Dan's honing solution. It went; Washita>Hard>Black>Trans.

The edge turned out very nice but I think I can improve on it. First time out with them, I'm happy with the results. can only improve with time.

I have both the Hard Black and the Black Translucent from NW and consider both top finishers.When they are both polished sufficiently you can see the difference in the size of the pores.
The Black stone pores are slightly larger than the Translucent, but there is not much difference in the razor edge after using either one.
The pores in the Translucent are even smaller than the two Charnley Forest hones I have.
I can get just as good an edge from either stone, than I can from my Ozuko Asagi 5+ or Suehiro Gokumyo 20k, the only thing I have finer is a polished Spyderco Uf.
I have been using slurry worked up with a well worn 400 grit diamond plate from a soft Ark on the Arks which has aided in the speed problem and gives that lovely sandblasted look that I get from the Ozuko. (not that the looks does anything) I just like the way it looks.
The edge from the Arks is super smooth as well, I cant understand why more people don't use them.

Probably, because they have been bad mouthed as being slow. Slow is a relative term, compared to a diamond plate, film or modern synthetics they are not as fast cutters, but really it does not take that long.

That and I think many did not get the results they were looking for because the stones were not prepared properly. They really are very different stones once polished.

A C12K can be polished the same way and will also improve with the procedure.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Probably, because they have been bad mouthed as being slow. Slow is a relative term, compared to a diamond plate, film or modern synthetics they are not as fast cutters, but really it does not take that long.

That and I think many did not get the results they were looking for because the stones were not prepared properly. They really are very different stones once polished.

A C12K can be polished the same way and will also improve with the procedure.

I agree, most likely most folks want them ready right out the box, which these are not.

Got the hard and soft stones in today from Natural Whetstone. Had them custom cut to 8x2x1. That size just feels right in my hands.Got them lapped but still need to chamfer the edges. Might try and give them a run in the morning.

The hard stone (white) doesn't feel as smooth as the one from Dan's. That to me is a good thing as it should fit in the progression better than the Dan's stone. With the Dan's stone I think it was to fine for what it's intended purpose was.