Nice to hear. That's a beautiful stone, congrats
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Nice to hear. That's a beautiful stone, congrats
So I touched up my blade with the Black and went straight to the linen and then leather - wow!
I guess the last time I ran it over the CrOx after the Black and before the leather because that works so well for me off the Nani's.
Way smooth!! I can't even start to tell you guys how impressed I am with my Arks! I really thought they were going to be for my kitchen knives but...
By the way - the soft and hard is all I need really for my kitchen knives.
I really am having fun with these things lol!
4 more days and I'll be at Dans shop. Hope to find something cool to get If for nothing else they look cool! Tc
Here's why this is a true fact! I've posted it before but I hope all reading this will take the 13-14 minutes to watch. I won't argue against anything this man has to say!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XjUFYxSxDk
Watched that the first time you put it up, very funny.
Making enquiries about a black Arkansas available locally at the moment, from all the great reports about them, I may have to go for it. Looks a reasonable size, just waiting to hear back what the dimensions are.
While I've never used an Arkansas Hone a couple of years ago I was helping a young Dentist going to school to become an Oral Surgeon in India with DE and straights razors, he'd paid pretty hefty price for a small Arkansas Black to keep in his pocket to touch up surgical tools. It was dropped and broken he asked if I could help him with buying another. I had a nice Swaty Barbers hone so I sent that to him to try and he loved it! In fact he thought it was a finer grit than the ARK Black as the cutting edges were 'almost' too smooth compared to what he'd been used to.
I'd asked him to dedicate one side to the straights I'd given him and one side for the surgical tools.
Just thought that I'd toss that in there :shrug:
Interesting....I picked up a NOS Swaty a while back, but it is one of the later production ones I think, and some of the guys have mentioned they weren't as good as the old three line ones. Maybe I should give it a try.
It would be hard to tell what black he was using and more importantly how it was conditioned. I have had a Swatty in my hand but never used one but from feel I find it hard to believe it was finer than either of my black stones and no where near the translucent.
I've followed this conversation with great interest. The finest stone I have now is a norton 8k, which would suit me better a black or a trans? Thanks in advance
I would go with a black. A trans might be to big of a jump from 8k
Thanks! I'll probably just get both though because I like to save on shipping looool. Hi my name is HaRdCaSe and I'm a stone addict
Either. They are just names for stones that look different but fall into the same density rating. Arks don't go by grit they go by density which is rated by specific gravity. I don't have a translucent yet but have already ordered one just waiting for it in the mail. However a lot of guys who use both do usually say that there blacks tend to be smoother. I have a surgical black ark which is translucent to a point. This stone is awesome. I mean stupid awesome. Takes a while on the stone but man, you shave your face and just kinda have to do a double take. It also takes a while to lap and break in the stone. If you buy from dans there stones are lapped flat already so all you have to do is break it in which just requires rubbing some harder steel on it till its smooth and shiny. Be aware that this stone will take many many laps.
It also has to do where the stones are sourced. Dans say the black is the finest and Naturals say they translucent is the finest.
My black from Dans is real close to the trans from Natural. Either would make for a great finishing stone. Even a black from Natural gives a real nice edge.
As mentioned above the black and trans fall into the same grade of true hard based on specific gravity. Since anything over 2.5 falls into this grade, regardless of color, it is surprising that vendors don't advertise the specific gravity of the more dense true hard stones. I have a soft at 1.77 that is great for setting bevels and a black at 2.55 that produces a great shaving edge.
I understand the black and trans have the same 2.5+ density but the feel and feedback of the two seem different to me. Could be placebo affect? Guess it could be.
2.5 is the minimum to get into the true hard class. My guess is that one is a bit more dense than the other but both over 2.5.
Jörg,
That is one seriously nice arkie. I got chills looking at it. I'm interested in the history of arkies and am curious if you bought it from a seller in Europe or in the US. We had a big export business of these stones dating back to the 19th Century, but they were considered expensive for their time. More so, I think, than coticules or Thuris. Anything you know about the history of that stone I'd love to hear.
mark
Here a very interesting article about the History of Arkansas stones a others US stones.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...rt-1899-a.html
It's all about the prep. That stone has probably seen years of steel and been well taken care of.
So it is glass smooth and ready to finish a razor.
Kind of like worn wet and dry, it may be 1k grit but will finish like 1500, who cares what the grit is?
Just trying to put a place for a stone like this in my head...so is it a finisher, like an Escher of Nani...or somewhere down the line....didn't quite understand your response, glass smooth I understand, but you lost me on the worn wet and dry part. Could you expand a little....
Both Martin and Marty are correct Phrank. When it comes to hones, naturals in particular but also many Barber hones, it's not the size of the grit that matters but rather the Density of the grit. The "Fine" Arkansas stones like the translucent are rated quite low in grit size, BUT they are extremely dense and hard! As are most 'dense Novaculite' hones, like the harder LI's or CF's from England for example.
They will produce a highly polished edge but they do require many laps to get the desired results...similar to your harder Zulus or Chinese stones. I have a very nice vintage Norton translucent that performs wonderfully but requires about 150+++ laps to get the job done. Most folks prefer to use oil...I use water and dish soap on mine.
It is a final final finisher or polisher if you will...depending on your hone progression set-up it would follow your 8K-12K for a really finely polished edge. HOWEVER...if you have an Escher (Particularly for folks like you and me that like the old Sheffield steel!) that would be all you ever need. Although I have finished many a blade on the Arkie, many Sheffield's included, I prefer the much softer feel of the Escher. Even if I put a wicked sharp edge on a blade with an Arkie or a JNAT, I will always finish up with a few strokes on the Escher to soften the feel of the edge...using only water of course.
This is as always MHO!
It is definitely a finisher and the last stone in a progression. I like the shave straight off a fine ark stone. It is a different edge, crisp and keen but not diamond harsh or uncomfortable.
Stropping on leather or a bit of Cerium will smooth it out some, but not lose the crisp feel. Nothing like a synthetic feel.
What is interesting about these stones and stones like them, Charnley Forest, even a good hard Chinese and other hard naturals, is while the grit rating may be conventionally low, stone prep and lubricants, water, soap, and oil can affect/enhance the finish on a razor. I use Smith’s and water.
A fine Ark will produce a hazy Kazumi bevel making grit rating comparison impossible.
It can be a fine razor stone that produces a unique edge. Which is probably why they have retained a following all these years.
What was meant by "worn wet and dry" (if you have not already figured it out) is the cutting action of a used up piece of "wet/dry" sand paper. When its fresh and new, its has a lot of "bite" to it, but as you use it more and more, it no longer cuts as quickly, or as deeply. Best way I know of to describe it, would be to picture a bundle of a dozen sharp pencils pointy side up. This would be "new paper" as you use the pencils the pointy end wears down more and more until you would eventually achieve points that are softened, rounded, or possibly even as flat as they were before they were sharpened. Its still the same 12 pencils, made of the same graphite in a wood matrix, but now the points don't make such a fine line.
In essence, this is the exact same thing that happens to the surface of an Ark stone. freshly lapped has many exposed points. as you use it, the points wear down.
Thank you Gentleman for answering my questions...:D
Phrank, I used to work in the auto body trade and we used a lot of wet and dry sandpaper. As a sandpaper wears, it losses it's cutting power as the particles 'wear down' and slowly become less efficient. So in effect it slowly goes up in grits. What was a 220 slowly works it's way to perhaps a 400-600. When I found that the paper wasn't cutting, I'd change paper with the exception of when sanding for final prep before painting and then I'd use it until it was almost useless.
I hope this makes sense.:shrug:
Sorry I was late to the party with my explanation. :banghead:
Just got back from Dans , met Dan and his son Sherlen got a tour and quite a few stories oh and picked up a super looking black Ark ,,my friend Glen is going to have a laugh at this, he knows I dont hone , heck he's had my Zulu for a few months ,but I couldn't help myself , if you get a chance this is a great stop while out on your bike, very nice people. And their history is fun to listen to. Dans a very interesting man. I'll get some pics up after I get in from the rally. Tc
Soo....Got these finally. They are stupid huge. Especially the translucent. These are going to be a b!tch to break in. That little sucker in the middle is a 4x2 black trans. The large black has no translucency at all. the translucent is an inch or so at its thickest and the light on my cell can be seen right through. The only complaint I have about these is that they're not chamfered on the edges and on the black thats going to be hard to do. The translucent at least has that large side completely straight so that will be easier. Oh and they have some pieces that flake off on the backs because of the rough cut.
Now I am just thinking about making a fitted box for each. I think I will do something like glass bedding these, The only problem will be making sure the release agent gets in all the nooks and crannies. Any ideas?
Attachment 178616
Wow - those are spectacular! Congrats!
Sorry - I know nothing of bedding.
Ya making an Arkansas side walk? LOL
Fantastic looking stones, congrats. I used a dremel with a sanding wheel to knock the edges down. A belt sander would work great I think.
I need to get mine all shiny like that. I'm working on it but it's slow going.