Thread: Soft ark

First time with soft ark. It is very thirsty.

give it a quick soak?

Shouldn’t hurt it. Are you using oil or water?

I have so very many stones, and not a single soft ark among them. Realizing this now, makes me sad. And curious.... Looking forward to more replies to this thread.

The soft ark and trans ark have been with me only 1 day. While I’ll already in love with the translucent black ark. I’m not sure about the soft, good thing it wasn’t expensive, It feels like it will leave coarse marks.... Maybe it was bad luck on My draw, I understand there can be large variances from stone to stone. ..... I’m not yet passing final judgement, i’ll Need to spend more time with it..... but the hard ark has made up for it! im using ballistol water mix

A brand new soft ark can feel rather coarse. You can burnish the surface just a bit to tame it down or let it tame on its own. If you hone a knife or two on it that usually smooths it out some.

Originally Posted by Steel

A brand new soft ark can feel rather coarse. You can burnish the surface just a bit to tame it down or let it tame on its own. If you hone a knife or two on it that usually smooths it out some.

I have a few chef knives that could use a touch up.
And I think the soft ark would be perfect for this!

When I have a razor that is pulling a bit I sometimes go to my soft Ark then Black Ark. I use oil on my Soft Ark. It is lapped with 320 Silicon Carbide about every tenth use, based on scratch pattern I would rate it about the same as my 8K synthetic. Some day I will burnish the bottom and see what that scratch pattern looks like.

Kitchen knives do well on soft arks. Once the stone has 'burnished' a little, then use it for your razors.

Who marketed the soft ark? They are drastically different from one seller to the next, and I've got some experience with some of the older labeled stones (smiths, case, etc) so I can give you an idea of what you're working with.

Dan's softs aren't that great, but they might be OK for razors. They're on the fine and slow side. The old multicolored stones that came in plastic boxes with "case" brand on them were supremely coarse. The natural whetstone company at least the last time I bought sold something that was between the two.

Norton's softs tended to be a little on the fine side, too.

When you're scuffing them, mind the razor bevel - loose particles can get above the bevel and leave little scratches all over just above it into the hollow. They don't go far into the hollow, but they're visible.