Thread: Question about burnishing Arkansas black

Originally Posted by Sdm84

OK I will try it- it is much improved in feel- very smooth noticeably better than the unrefined surface.

"Much improved" "noticeably better". I'm trying to help you see there will be an indistinguishable difference between the burnished side and the unburnished for razor honing purposes. But it will sparkle.

So here's a challenge: Lay down about 100-200 strokes on the unburnished side with your block to smooth out the roughness. Hone a blade on the polished and another on the unpolished side. Wouldn't be surprised if both blades are about the same.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Regarding the actual burnishing issue. I actually do agree that it looks great as is but you need to go by performance, not appearance.

Regarding cooking, there is a cookbook entitled "Cook Until Done!" It arose from a guy's interactions with cooks who, deliberately or not, were quite vague about their recipe explanations.

Regarding your mother's leaving it to you to figure it out, for your own good, it reminds me of Paul, my former father in law. When his son was a teenager doing his homework, he often would ask his Paul how to spell some word. Paul always would answer in the same way...

"D-I-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y!"

Ok. Let's be clear about one thing here Ron. To this day I still can't cook

OTOH it did help me become more independent. So to wrap it up I need no help and am a horrible cook all by myself.

Paul's son can spell one word really good. Dicksionary.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Regarding the actual burnishing issue. I actually do agree that it looks great as is but you need to go by performance, not appearance.

Regarding cooking, there is a cookbook entitled "Cook Until Done!" It arose from a guy's interactions with cooks who, deliberately or not, were quite vague about their recipe explanations.

Regarding your mother's leaving it to you to figure it out, for your own good, it reminds me of Paul, my former father in law. When his son was a teenager doing his homework, he often would ask his Paul how to spell some word. Paul always would answer in the same way...

"D-I-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y!"

Gonna wager like just about everything we do, the recipe thing isn't unintentional. They just don't know. Half the time when I'm cooking I add things until I have the flavor I'm looking for. Nothing's weighed or measured unless I'm baking. And even then half the ingredients aren't measured, I tweak it until the batter tastes like I want it to then bake until golden brown. I honestly couldn't even give you a cooking time for half the dishes I prepare.

As for the rock, try it out and see. I noticed a significant difference between my burnished side and the un-burnished side of my Arkansas stone. Un-burnished side has more draw, and actually feels kind of gritty. But it works well for pre-polishing and the like. I'd say the more I've polished and burnished my stones, the better they've gotten. But again that could just be me trying to convince myself all the work I put into getting them squared away. I did shave off an edge honed on the factory side before finishing it on the burnished side, and it was a passable edge.

Originally Posted by Marshal

Gonna wager like just about everything we do, the recipe thing isn't unintentional. They just don't know. Half the time when I'm cooking I add things until I have the flavor I'm looking for. Nothing's weighed or measured unless I'm baking. And even then half the ingredients aren't measured, I tweak it until the batter tastes like I want it to then bake until golden brown. I honestly couldn't even give you a cooking time for half the dishes I prepare.

As for the rock, try it out and see. I noticed a significant difference between my burnished side and the un-burnished side of my Arkansas stone. Un-burnished side has more draw, and actually feels kind of gritty. But it works well for pre-polishing and the like. I'd say the more I've polished and burnished my stones, the better they've gotten. But again that could just be me trying to convince myself all the work I put into getting them squared away. I did shave off an edge honed on the factory side before finishing it on the burnished side, and it was a passable edge.

That has been my experience also. The better the burnish the better the results but even straight from the factory was not bad.

Originally Posted by Steel

The better the burnish the better the results but even straight from the factory was not bad.

Just so I'm clear and not misunderstood, I never said to hone on an unfinished stone from Dan's Whetstone. We all agree that Dan's makes a superior product, needing little to no lapping. Out of the box they are a touch rough and need a few strokes with a chisel, kitchen knife, or other instrument to smooth out the surface. Once such smoothness is achieved the stone is ready for regular use. Continued use will increase the burnishing effect. My two travel stones have taken on a nice shine after nearly a year of everyday rubbing together. But I can't say they hone a blade any better than my larger stone at home which gets less use and only has a satin finish with the roughness smoothed off by a number of strokes from my chisel.

Originally Posted by Longhaultanker

Just so I'm clear and not misunderstood, I never said to hone on an unfinished stone from Dan's Whetstone. We all agree that Dan's makes a superior product, needing little to no lapping. Out of the box they are a touch rough and need a few strokes with a chisel, kitchen knife, or other instrument to smooth out the surface. Once such smoothness is achieved the stone is ready for regular use. Continued use will increase the burnishing effect. My two travel stones have taken on a nice shine after nearly a year of everyday rubbing together. But I can't say they hone a blade any better than my larger stone at home which gets less use and only has a satin finish with the roughness smoothed off by a number of strokes from my chisel.

Yup. Makes sense to me.

Ok. So after all this hard work sweat and tears what does one do to a hard/surgical black ark if it becomes concave/dished? Lap it and start all that burnishing over?

Originally Posted by EdwinHMcBride

Ok. So after all this hard work sweat and tears what does one do to a hard/surgical black ark if it becomes concave/dished? Lap it and start all that burnishing over?

Well, they're not called hard for nothing...Ask again once you've worn a concave/dish on an Arkansas hard/surgical, presuming this site still exists in 20/40 years...
Unusual first post, but welcome to SRP.

Originally Posted by EdwinHMcBride

Ok. So after all this hard work sweat and tears what does one do to a hard/surgical black ark if it becomes concave/dished? Lap it and start all that burnishing over?

Interestingly I just watched a YouTube video yesterday on this issue from a woodworking guy using Ture Hard Arkansas. I don't remember his name, but yes, just as you say. It does take quite a long time for dishing to happen, however.

Originally Posted by EdwinHMcBride

Ok. So after all this hard work sweat and tears what does one do to a hard/surgical black ark if it becomes concave/dished? Lap it and start all that burnishing over?

I can't speak for anyone else but the "burnishing" part only took ME around 10-15 minutes to take an old heavy blade and do a few hundred high pressure laps. It wasn't that hard or time consuming. I have no problem repeating this in 40 years.