Thread: Translucent Ark?

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Yup, with naturals, there is a learning curve, you have to learn, your stone.

An Ark edge should feel smooth and crisp, to me it always feels like the edge is right on the verge of being too keen, but there is no blood from weepers.

Like the second shave, with a feather blade.

Excellent analogy.

Thanks again for the continuing input, fellas. And yes, I expected and am reveling in the learning curve. I get bored easily, have little attention span anyway, and now that I have mostly figured out the science of predictable synthetics, I am more than ready to fall for the idiosyncrasies of naturals, sort of like "romancing the stone."

And I may just take my next edge up to the Norton 8k per the earlier advice here (which can be a good edge with some tweaking as you guys know), then see what I can do with the ark.

So it sounds like going forward, I should lay off my usual obsessive "progression lapping" that I normally do with synthetics and just keep burnishing with further use.

I'll update when I dial it in, after some more YouTube videos and a few thousand more strokes.

I was having an Solingen shavette , and i was truyng diferent blades. Feather came ,too sharp for me , but ive only use 1 , brand new , once .The most ive liked - the Willkinson Sword Feeling
After that, i get rid of it , and i left only straihgts .So i guess it will be exelent touch up hone Thanks for the info guys and healthy new year

Love the look of that stone, it's a beauty for sure. One thing I can add is try camelia oil, it is by far my favorite. Thinner than 3in1,no disgusting smell and nice slick feeling. It is non-toxic as it is derived from a plant. Japanese use for tool protection as it does not go rancid(very high antioxident content) and for their hair and skin to boot. Another, my second favorite is glycerin with slightly soapy water(4 drops of dawn in 500ml)works good. I've heard camelia oil is expensive but that is only if you buy small bottle. Hida tool in Berkley,Ca has the best price I have found(245ml for 16.90) and that last me about 2years using to to sharpen and protect all my carbon steel tools and srtraight razors. Hope this helps!

Kelbro said it first. One side lapped glassy, one side lapped dull (1600 grit) works wonderful. One side will still refine the edge and one will finish it. Please try WD40 as a lube. Best thing I've found for Arkies. This banded Arkie you have is making my credit card vibrate. Great score!!!