Thread: I need help. I dont know what I bought.

I had never seen one before.
Its was dirty and as you alluded to doorsch ' I dont trust Ebay"
Strange thing after I held it up to the light for 5 minutes it honed better.
Magically I think it needs light to activate the honing particles in proper alignment.

Hard to say from the photos, could be a Translucent. A good soaking in Simple Green & water, 50/50 will get it clean, but could take months depending on how much oil has soaked in and how clean you want it.

When I get an Ark I clean with Oven Cleaner and dish soap then if it is flattish and smooth, I try a razor on it. If it was well used it may have a nice burnished finish on it that would be a shame to remove by lapping.

Lapping is done with about $15 of lose Silicone Oxide, you will ruin your diamond plate trying to lap an Ark. Here is a good thread on cleaning and lapping Arks.

They can be very nice finishers after an 8 or 12k edge. An Ark edge is crisp and smooth, it is a unique edge.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Hard to say from the photos, could be a Translucent. A good soaking in Simple Green & water, 50/50 will get it clean, but could take months depending on how much oil has soaked in and how clean you want it.

When I get an Ark I clean with Oven Cleaner and dish soap then if it is flattish and smooth, I try a razor on it. If it was well used it may have a nice burnished finish on it that would be a shame to remove by lapping.

Lapping is done with about $15 of lose Silicone Oxide, you will ruin your diamond plate trying to lap an Ark. Here is a good thread on cleaning and lapping Arks.

They can be very nice finishers after an 8 or 12k edge. An Ark edge is crisp and smooth, it is a unique edge.

I used E-Z Off on my granddad's old Arky to pull years of crud out of it. It cleaned up pretty well.

Originally Posted by ultrasoundguy2003

I had never seen one before.
Its was dirty and as you alluded to doorsch ' I dont trust Ebay"
Strange thing after I held it up to the light for 5 minutes it honed better.
Magically I think it needs light to activate the honing particles in proper alignment.

As far as i remember some proposals from others you should lap it as fine as possible, then
you need to prep the surface with something like a chisel to get the smoothest possible surface....

EDITED: SKIP it Euclid was faster