Thread: Hard Arkansas

Originally Posted by Wid

It was kind of reminiscent of a soft coticule.

I had the exact same experience with more than one razor on a vintage translucent Ark, and on a vintage black hard Ark. Somewhere I posted back then that it was very like the edge off of a good coticule. Kind of smooth and nice. Enjoy the Arks.

I love my Arks. if I find a blade that wont quite do what I want I break out my oil stones. they are slow compared to my Nortons. I can always count on them to give me a finish I want.if you like the finish you had from this one, wait till you get the black.

I got my middle stone in today, a black from Dave at Naturals. I had asked him to make certain it is flat and by goodness it was. I'm in the process of dressing it. So far I have used a 325/600 DMT, 800 grit and then 1500 grit wet/dry.

Now I'm using an old cheap cleaver to shine it up. Hopefully it can make enough progress to try out this weekend.

A couple of pics

MMMMMM rock porn!!!!

Yea, thick old carbon steel cleavers and large carbon chef’s knives work well with pressure and some Smiths Honing Solution for finishing a Ark and it will put a hell of an edge on you knife in the process.

If you got it smooth enough, a few hundred pressure laps will get it feeling like glass, the smoother the better for razors.

Use the Smith’s on a wet stone, 2-3 drops of Smiths. I finish on a 12k Super Stone then go to the Ark.

Love that edge, it is crisp and smooth. To touch up, tape and micro bevel just a few laps.

She's starting to take on a nice black color.

Nice looking stone, what size is it? You can get them down here but they are only 4 x 2 inch.

I have found that adding a small amount of "Marvel Mystery Oil" to the Smith's can really make a positive impact on your honeing. It really helps keep the swarf from building up in the stone & it smells good. Marvel Mystery oil has been around forever& I sometimes use it straight on a oil stone.

Slawman

A year or two ago, it seemed like there wasn't much of a fan base on this website for Arkansas stones of any kind. People said they were too slow, and that synthetics were a better option. Now this thread has shown that there is a fan base, especially for the Surgical Black and Translucent stones. How did the revival of Arkansas stones break out on this website? Who or what turned the tide of public opinion about these stones?