Thread: Hard Arkansas

I have been watching this thread for a bit. Have been back and forth on which finisher I will buy next. I must say that this thread has made my decision. I am ordering a Dan's surgical black. Now for the size. I can get an 8"x 2"x 1/2" pretty cheap. The 8"x 3" is a little more than 2x the price of the 2". What are your width preferences on these stones and why?

Buy the largest stone you can afford.

Both will work, wider is better, more steel on the stone.

You will not regret it, you rarely see vintage wide stones for sale, except estate sales.

Originally Posted by Straightandproud

I have been watching this thread for a bit. Have been back and forth on which finisher I will buy next. I must say that this thread has made my decision. I am ordering a Dan's surgical black. Now for the size. I can get an 8"x 2"x 1/2" pretty cheap. The 8"x 3" is a little more than 2x the price of the 2". What are your width preferences on these stones and why?

Almost all of my razors are smiling so the 2" width would be plenty wide for me.YMMV

I like the 2" wide stones the best. They just fit my style of honing better than a wider stone.

I have to say I am in the 2" group myself. Of course I like to hold the hone in my hand so a 3" stone is a little too wide for me.

This thread has caused me to purchase yet another finisher. Got a primitive black from Dan's last week, 7" X 4". It had a pretty good hump in the middle, but the sides are plenty straight.

Took allot of work to get it flat, then up to 2K on WD, a couple of days rubbing a tool steel bar on it with honing oil and it shines like a mirror.
Finished my first edge on it today, about to go shave with it, will let you know how it shaves.

I think this has been an outstanding thread, I'm glad to see it still going, see what you started Wid!

I would like to thank all of you experienced honers that have contributed to this thread and the honing forum in general, it inspires me.

FrankC

Looking forward to hear how ya like the edge Frank

I too am inspired by this thread. It's funny how things change over the years. In my several day search for information about honing straights with an Arkansas I have come across many older threads that really don't paint a pleasant picture of the Arkies for razors. It seems that they have recently fallen back into favor as a viable finisher/polishing stone. I will state that I have not yet used one for this purpose but the concept of "taking your time" while honing appeals to me. I enjoy honing almost as much as I enjoy a straight razor shave. The prospect of 10-15 laps on a modern synthetic and your done seems anti-climactic. I actually look forward to 100+ laps to get that finely polished edge using an old school stone in a classy wooden box.

Maybe I'm just odd like that.

"Things" haven't changed so much as knowledge. Arks have always been good razor stones, it's just that they need to be prepped correctly to give a comfortable shave. Before the internet and the resurgence of straight razor shaving where would you get this info? The men who knew how to properly prep and use Arks for razors before the internet on their own were few and far between. I can't even count how many times I have read about guys having tried Arks for razors and saying they are too coarse and won't give a comfortable shave. And the funny thing is it's never their fault they got a bad shave...it's always the "POS" stone's fault.