Thread: mystery Arkansas

Originally Posted by Steel

At 1.82 specific density that is very light and airy. Even for a soft. More closer to a Washita stone. Your measurements may be off. Smith's supplied the stones for bass pro shops. My best guess would be either a black Arkansas if the density measurements are off or an oil stained black & grey soft Arkansas if the measurements are true. It's really hard to tell without it in hand. Then again, like you stated, maybe someone here has one and can comment further.

Seems like in memory it was advertised as Ark, but 25 years, you know. I just lapped and put some bevels on the sides- along with the technical definition of soft by density it is physically soft and easy lapped. As an aside, anybody try this (new to me) 3M pro grade precision -no slip grip backing - lasts 10x longer. ?? Its red and doesn't curl up when wet like the old black WD paper and does seem to last a lot longer...

From the density and description it's pretty safe to say it's not a black Ark - they are certainly not soft and don't lap easily at all. Another easy check is to hold the stone between two fingers and lightly tap it with something like a screwdriver handle or the handle of a butter knife - an Ark will make a very high pitched ring.

Any chance its synthetic?

The red paper is the best I have ever used. I do a lot of hand sanding and it sticks to my custom sanding blocks without holding it by hand. Lasts longer yes. Wish it came in a more fine grits.

Originally Posted by Hacker7

Any chance its synthetic?

The physical evidence points to that conclusion. It just seems odd that an Ozarks company would put a jet black synth in a cedar box like the pride and joy of the ozarks. Perhaps it is a synth made with dust from black arks, and if it was advertised as such...- but, this is all supposition...

Originally Posted by 10Pups

The red paper is the best I have ever used. I do a lot of hand sanding and it sticks to my custom sanding blocks without holding it by hand. Lasts longer yes. Wish it came in a more fine grits.

I'm impressed too. I got it at H Depot I was running low and this was hanging where the old kind used to be. Looks like they have up to 400.

Originally Posted by KenG

I just re measured more carefully than first rough one with ruler. Using a 6 inch dial caliper with resolution to 0.001" I got
5.952 in (15.1181 cm) long by
1.975 in (5.0165 cm) wide by
0.485 in (5.0165 cm)
= 93.425 cm cubed.
I put a calibration mass on a 200x0.01 g digital balance, then measured the stone at 179.99 g.
This amounts to 1.926 g / cm^3. Way below what a hard ark would be.

Its been a long time but I remember it was black when I got it and its dull black now. Is there such a critter as black soft - black Washita ?
Attachment 240970Attachment 240971 The 1st pick is in sink next to BBW. The 2nd pick is in sunlight with a couple drops of Smith's on it.

This is not a specific gravity test. What standard of density or grade scale are you using in referring to the density of Arkansas stones in general?

In this particular case, for our purposes density and specific gravity can be used interchangeably - since we are comparing against water with a density of almost exactly 1.0 (.9976?) g/cm³ and specific gravity = 1, the difference is mostly irrelevant in this case.

Originally Posted by eKretz

In this particular case, for our purposes density and specific gravity can be used interchangeably - since we are comparing against water with a density of almost exactly 1.0 (.9976?) g/cm³ and specific gravity = 1, the difference is mostly irrelevant in this case.

Also in this case, it's just a relative reference. Looking for a comparison between an unknown samples and a couple of known samples.

It's some kind of hone slate. The least dense novaculite stone I've ever encountered was right around 2.0 SG , and very porous - and fragile.

That looks like a hone slate, and it probably laps like one, too (softer).

Given that it was coming from a retailer that doesn't just sell stones to everyone, I'm surprised the box doesn't identify it on the inside or outside or bottom.