Quote Originally Posted by Euclid440 View Post
If you get an old stone that has been used a lot, years, like Marshal’s Grandfather’s, Try it first, that old stone has probably seen more old, hard steel than you will ever put on it. It may not be dead flat, but it sure will be smooth.

Clean it with Simple Green and put a razor on it, if it is not perfectly flat the razor will just ride on the high spots. If you lap it you will remove all the polish. If it is rough, then lap it, or just burnish it with an old carbon steel cleaver, I see them all the time at flea markets for a couple of dollars, they do come in handy, in the kitchen as well.

I buy old Arks and just clean them and use them, they don’t have to be large or dead flat, to work well as finishers. I have 10 inchers, but a 6 inch stone or even a 4 in will finish an edge just fine, just do more laps. Here is a nice 6 in Black Tranlucent I picked up last year, for a song, just washed and used it.

I use synthetic stone to bevel set and polish and Arks to finish after a 12k Super Stone. Love the Ark finish.

I really like the 6". I can sit on the sofa and palm hone while I watch tv .