Originally Posted by
eKretz
That's not correct. By burnishing/polishing the surface of the stone, the microscopic high points, or peaks, are removed. This means that the stone produces shallower scratches, which is the entire point of using finer stones to finish a straight razor. BTW, I probably wouldn't burnish a soft Ark either, but I wouldn't denigrate anyone who would. More power to anyone who wants to do experimentation. My personal feeling is that the burnish is most useful to get even better edges from a translucent or black Ark than what they produce otherwise.
Also, the Arks you are currently using are already burnished through use if they are reflecting. That reflection is the surface of the stone that has had the peaks worn down through use. The Arks don't give up much material during use, but some does break away and over time the surface smooths out. So in effect, you do buy into it - and your stone is already burnished.
There aren't really any pores to speak of in a black or translucent Ark either - the specific gravity of quartz/SiO2 is about 2.65 - and so is the density of a good black/translucent Ark. Conclusion - there isn't really any free space/porosity.