Thread: New Arkansas stones...

Originally Posted by Slawman

I am thinking of getting a new finishing hone It is between a Surgical Black & a Shapton 16K. Any thoughts or ideas??

Slawman

I have both. You can shave off an SB edge but the Shapton 16K takes it up a notch or two in sharpness.

Originally Posted by sbogill

I have honed a bit on both and so far I can't tell much difference in the edges from the surgical black and the translucent. I haven't decided which is my favorite yet.

Just thought of something... is your black also translucent? If so, there may not be any real difference. SBs typically have no translucence.

Originally Posted by Slawman

I am thinking of getting a new finishing hone It is between a Surgical Black & a Shapton 16K. Any thoughts or ideas??

Slawman

Guess that depends on what exactly you're going for. I've read that Shaptons can leave a rather harsh edge that takes a lot of stropping or several shaves to become comfortable again. Of course that's going to vary based on how sensitive your face is, and some people like that level of sharp. By contrast, my Arkansas stones leave an edge that is perhaps a little prickly at first, but still very nice in it's own right.

Originally Posted by kelbro

Just thought of something... is your black also translucent? If so, there may not be any real difference. SBs typically have no translucence.

Fair point, I have a pitch black stone that I never would've guessed was translucent. The only give away was a shiny silver streak that wasn't visible until after a simple green bath, aside from that it looks like a surgical black stone. Until a light is put up to it and you can see just a faint amount of light passing through the stone.