Thread: Black arkansas vs Translucent

Yes the presure must be light or the abrasive goes away too fast and it damage the form .
If buffed properly , you shouldnt digg a groove into the stone .
The time spend in the weel and systematicaly reload the weel with compound a litle bit is the key .
There must be a system of moves , that assure right and equal covering of the syrface evenly .

I once watched a guy remove a deep scratch, from a plate glass window, he used a progression of wet and dry sanding disc on a Makita random orbit, palm sander. He went up to 3k, then Cerium paste, he mixed from powder, just about ½ a teaspoon and a foam pad on the sander and buffed it smooth and clear.

Once he ground out the scratch, he ran through the grits quickly, couple minutes on each.

I suspect that may be a better way to go, the face would be flatter. Double stick tape the stone to a counter and polishing the face, it is much like how marble and granite counter tops are polished for repairs.

My arks arrived. These big boys.

Here's my initial thoughts on purchasing from natural whetstone.

The prices are really good. Especially price to size ratio compared to others
The soft and hard Arkansas I would recommend them whole heartedly. The soft cuts fast. The hard refines that soft and is not redundant. Have yet to lap them so this is factor finish testing on a knife not a razor yet. I'll get to the black in a minute.

They come in wooden boxes which is pretty standard. Suprisingly all 3 of my boxes have different tops.. I'm not complaining because it's what's in the box that matter to me but I was surprised at the lack of uniformity. Unfortunately 2/3 boxes arrived broken. I placed a quick email to natural whetstone and within the hour got a reply saying that he would send two new boxes for me.

So quality is good. Prices are good, customer service is good. Where my stones were lacking and I really did ask before purchasing was flatness. All of my stones had a 1/16-1/8" dish.

I have yet to tackle the soft and hard but today I spent 4 hours lapping my black and I can honestly say I never want to live through that's nightmare again. My arms feel like jello right now. I was using sandpaper 40 grit and gave er for 2 hours got fed up and went to my belt sander. Belt was too worn.... went to palm sander. No good. Back to hand lapping. What an experience.

The black I've got to say is nothing like Dan's black. Dan's has a black glass look to it while this black is more grey, a lot more compact than a hard Arkansas for sure but not the ultra fine finisher of a Dan's. It's currently flat and sitting at 100grit. I don't have the heart or the arm endurance to lap the other side but my knives won't care much. It's not burnished so haven't tested anything yet. I will in the coming weeks.

So I am happy with my purchases the only thing I will need is a final finishing ark. I'm thinking a translucent from Dan's because I already have a black and I don't want to lap the translucent that would be just as hard or harder than the black I've got now and Dan's come flat out ofthe box I just want to burnish and go.

Since you already have the black on hand, I would say get it burnished and tested before buying another expensive stone. Unless you just want a translucent on hand to compare and contrast. Typically folks go soft > hard > finisher, or with a sharp blade that just needs a quick refresh - hard > finisher. So if it's not making a good shaving edge it might be worth replacing. But I wouldn't burn time doing a few hundred laps on a translucent then shift to a black or vice versa.

At any rate, density is key not coloring with novaculite. That grey rock just might surprise you when it's burnished. Those are some pretty stones, especially the one on the right. Is that the hard Arkie?

You're not the first to note the lack of flatness vs. Dan's.

Still good stones I would guess.

Originally Posted by kelbro

You're not the first to note the lack of flatness vs. Dan's.

Still good stones I would guess.

Yes if you want to save money you've got to put in some time lapping.

Originally Posted by Marshal

Since you already have the black on hand, I would say get it burnished and tested before buying another expensive stone. Unless you just want a translucent on hand to compare and contrast. Typically folks go soft > hard > finisher, or with a sharp blade that just needs a quick refresh - hard > finisher. So if it's not making a good shaving edge it might be worth replacing. But I wouldn't burn time doing a few hundred laps on a translucent then shift to a black or vice versa.

At any rate, density is key not coloring with novaculite. That grey rock just might surprise you when it's burnished. Those are some pretty stones, especially the one on the right. Is that the hard Arkie?

I'll get it burnished when my arms feel a bit better. The one on the right is the soft. The hard is the middle. The colour really pops with oil on it.

Yeah, polishing and burnishing a Black or Translucent is best taken in bites. There's a reason my 12 x 3 isn't fully flattened and ready to work. The 6 x 2 was much more friendly.

You can lap an ark flat in about 15-20 minutes with loose Silicone Carbide. $15 will buy you a progression from 60-500 grit and enough to do several stones, from Gotgrit.com.

60 grit and a dollar store steel cookie sheet will get it flat, then run through the grits, a few minutes on each. Finish on Wet and Dry. Use a sharpie to mark a grid, pencil will wash off with the grit.

Trying to lap an ark on Wet & Dry is a waste of time and paper.

Originally Posted by Marshal

Yeah, polishing and burnishing a Black or Translucent is best taken in bites. There's a reason my 12 x 3 isn't fully flattened and ready to work. The 6 x 2 was much more friendly.

12x3 black or translucent? From where?