Thread: Question About Being "Done" on an Arkie

Okay, so I started on the Surgical Black mentioned in my other thread with two I had in my stable that were at least nominally shave-ready, but both full-hollows that can be kind of "scrapy" on my face. One is a Torrey, and the other is a George Butler "Shakespeare" razor.

I don't really count strokes any more, especially on naturals, but spent about 15 minutes on each razor on the prepped SB on water with a drop of dish soap, using a combination of back and forths, circles and x-strokes with moderate torque on the edge. Pretty quickly I started getting that "sticky" feeling with some squeak and a feeling that the blade wanted to dig in, almost exactly like the final strokes on a hard JNAT. I then lightened up and continued, refreshing the water and soap as needed to keep things gliding along, and it kept coming back on both blades, so I figured I'd finish with some ultra-light passes and quit while I was ahead (operating under the assumption that any real digging in of a blade into an ultra-hard ark surface would be disastrous!). I sealed the deal with 40 linen and 60 leather stropping strokes, and both passed the HHT all along a near-mirror bevel.

Do you Arkie experts get that stickiness, and is it a reliable measure of being done as on some other naturals? I don't recall getting this much on my 4x2 translucent (maybe because less of the blade is in contact with the hone at any given time?).

Another thing: although conventional wisdom from my extensive reading holds that arkies need hundreds of strokes and a lot of time to work their magic, I have read some others say that because of the unique nature of the stone, more pressure can be used than on, say, a Coti or other finishers, thus speeding things up considerably. This is what I was trying to achieve, and both edges "seem" to confirm that it worked. I'm also considering switching to oil in the theory that the extra cushion might allow for a hair more pressure, as I've seen on a couple of arkie honing videos.

For now, these are all just theories. I'd love some input into them from you experienced users re technique and being "done."

As I shaved this morning, I'll need to sprout some hair again before doing the real test.

Thanks in advance-Aaron