Originally Posted by
Euclid440
You can lap an ark flat in 15-20 minutes, with 60 grit loose Silicon Oxide and a steel cookie sheet from the dollar store and a flat piece of cement floor.
For about $15, you can buy a progression of loose Silicone Oxide grit, from 60 to 500 grit, from GotGrit.com, you will only need a couple teaspoons of each grit, maybe more for the 60 grit. Once you get flat, it goes quickly, just a few minutes on each grit. Mark a grid on the stone, with a sharpie, pencil will just wash off with the slurry. Finish on Wet and Dry, 600, 800 and 1 & 2k, then burnish.
But, it does not have to be perfectly flat to work, try it first. Burnish it with a large carbon steel knife, I use a cleaver I bought at a flea market for a dollar, any large carbon steel knife will work.
Surprisingly, if you finish the edge on an 8 or 12k, first, you can put a very nice hazy, kasumi bevel with a burnished Ark, in less than 200 laps. It’s a bit more work, but not really, all that much.