Thread: Hard Arkansas razor hone

I just returned from my local barber. He was busy so I got a five minute lesson. I purchased a Hard Arkansas razor hone (barber hone) It's the same hone he showed me as an example. He only did a few strokes but, I can tell my straight needs a few more. What do you think, will this little guy do the job?

The only way for you to know at your current level of experience is to send it to a pro honer who has experience with arkansas stones and ask their opinion. I have used them for knives, but am not a fan of them (personal opinion only) due to their speed. The only noviculite I use is a charnley forest.

I wouldn't use a hard Arkansas stone as a finisher. A black or translucent would do the job. The hard isn't nearly smooth enough to be a finisher,

Any suggestions on where to sent my blade to get it shave ready,?

Plenty of other guys on here in the classifieds to also hone for you. Heck, even I will hone for you if you want.

As for your little Hard Ark, like any other natural stone, they are all different. Yes, the blacks and translucents are finer finish than the standard hards, but that doesn't mean you cant get a serviceable edge off of it. But it had better be fully honed and ready for a finisher before you go to the hard, because you will simply never reach what you are striving for trying to make a dull razor sharp on a finishing stone.

Agree with Shooter.
Charnley Forest is a great finisher, but I have tried a couple of translucent Arkies with unsatisfactory results.
There are experienced honers that like them.

A hard Arkansas stone is not a finisher. Yes you can shave off one but it's not the most comfortable shave. You can shave off a 1K stone too it doesn't mean it will be a good shave.

If you have a decent linen, I'll post a regimen tomorrow when I can use something other than a phone. That stone looks like a mid level stone at first glance, but that type of stone is sometimes sold as a hard stone.

In the old days, hard meant trans or black.

After the surface finish on your hard Arkansas stone smooths out (you can rub it with a metal rod, phillips screwdriver shaft, etc.) it will give your razor a fine edge and last a lifetime.

Cool stone! I like my "Arks." You'll like yours too... but maybe not right away. They take a bit of practice.

First off:

Originally Posted by JeffR

After the surface finish on your hard Arkansas stone smooths out (you can rub it with a metal rod, phillips screwdriver shaft, etc.) it will give your razor a fine edge and last a lifetime.

I agree with the above 100%. I know I smoothed mine out by sharpening every knife and chisel I owned - more than once lol. Of course you can do this by practicing with a straight if you have one you can practice with - which will kill two birds with one stone as it were lol. But you really should be a little abrasive at first using something you can really push down hard with. I swear that a chisel is the best tool for this job. But you know - it's whatever.


Second: You are going to want to decide if you want to use oil or not. You can buy honing oil at Lowes if you decide to use it. Some claim using oil makes the stone more effective. I couldn't say either way - I use oil with mine. Others just use lather or water.


I honestly think that if you smooth out the stone a bit and practice with it - it could produce a fine edge for you. You'll need to learn how to really go light toward the end though as yours isn't the "finest" of all Arks. Usually people finish with a black. I finish with a black, but I have shaved off of my hard and it did the job - I would however, need to learn how to finesse my hard to get what I ultimately wanted.

Finally, know that Arks aren't known to be the fastest working stones on the planet. You can't apply stoke counts intended for synthetics to an Ark. I like that because I like honing, and the limited strokes one uses on a synthetic can be anti climatic lol. The other nice thing about Arks are that they are somewhat forgiving. In that I have never found that as I worked away forgetting how many strokes I have done, has "over honed" my blade.


Anyway, many may say you need a Black or Translucent - and that might ultimately be what you chose to buy to compliment your hard - but I truly believe you can get an edge off of a hard. A great edge. But it takes a bit of commitment. At least for the majority of us. But who knows? You might take to it right away. If you don't - hold on to it and keep on sharpening your knives with it and re-visit the stone with your blade later on when you have a bit of experience under your belt. If you didn't master it before, you might learn to like it as much as I enjoy mine later.


Good luck!! Nice stone!

*edit* working the leather after the stone is key as well... but that's another story for another time .