Thread: New Arkansas stones...

I just got these big old honking 8"x3" Arkansas stones. These are not commercial stones. I got them from a hone hobbyist who finds them, cuts them, shapes them, and laps them himself. Unlike my last Arkansas stones (Dan's brand) these ones where preped specifically with razors in mind. I can tell a big difference. 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.




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Nice! You will most likely not see much if any difference between the two. They run very close together in the cutting ability, especially after being burnished.

Originally Posted by kelbro

Nice! You will most likely not see much if any difference between the two. They run very close together in the cutting ability, especially after being burnished.

This. About the only difference between a surgical black and a translucent hone is that one is translucent and the other is black and opaque. No idea what the difference is that causes the coloring, but the coloring doesn't effect the density or it's ability to hone a blade. I greatly enjoy my Arkies.

Really nice stones. I find it interesting someone would do that as a hobbyist.

Originally Posted by Wid

Really nice stones. I find it interesting someone would do that as a hobbyist.

Not exactly what is going on, years ago I purchased a truck load of rough stones directly from the quarry, (a combination of blemished stones and or heal cut scraps they had no use for but I seen potential, this was way before the J-NAT craze where a 'koppa' was a thing. I also have some large slabs of stone that I am cutting down and lapping.


EDIT:
I try to stress the 'hobby' thing because I have only sold a 1/2 dozen stones in the last few years, most of those were not even sold but traded for other stones I didn't have in my collection. Please do not contact me for any trades as I simply am not working on any in that capacity.
/EDIT:



Here is a couple of the translucent slabs I have been working on the last couple of weeks, so far no good stones of any size have came from it, its a work in progress. These particular slabs I just recently acquired from a friend in Arkansas.

Cool stones. It would be cool to see a videography of the transformation from that big rock to a hone. A pic or two taken at each step. I can't imagine how much work is involved to get from there to there.

Those are absolutely gorgeous! Congrats!

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.