Thread: More hard arkansas questions

Surgical is just a marketing term. It's something that halls and some others use on their stones, but all black arkansas stones without pores are of the same class, surgical term or not. I guess as people try to differentiate themselves we may end up getting even wackier things, like surgical in patient and surgical outpatient.

What matters more is where the stone comes from. The dans black stones are very good (but expensive if 8x2x1 size). they can be found in half inch thickness for a decent price and sometime a steal. They also have wood mounted 6x2x1/2 (sometimes they're thinner than 1/2) stones that show up on places like sierra trading post for very cheap (like $30). There's no difference in finishing quality of a 6x2 thin bargain wood mounted stone and a $150 8x2x1 stone. I've had both.

Natural whetstone's "trans black" is good (I haven't tried the regular black). Halls stones are OK, but the old ones were out of flat, and the company got sold and the street price went way up (used to be able to get them at a deep discount if you were willing to do the lapping). I think the stuff that comes out of dans mines is better.

I haven't heard anything good about the inexpensive black stone that woodcraft sells under their house brand (not to be confused with the fabulous mujingfang phig).

Nortons are OK, both types, and when their trans is available, it's inexpensive.

If you can find vintage off the internet, especially the old bone colored trans stones or the old translucent nortons, that is probably the only way you'll get a deal.

Anyway, it's more about the company and the mine than it is the name (as in, Dan's black doesn't resort to calling itself surgical, but it's a better stone than the halls surgical - though the halls surgical is decent, too if flat, just not better than the dans).