Thread: Arkansas: Translucent or Surgical Black?

Looking for an arkansas stone to use as a finisher after the coticules and I'm stuck choosing between the surgical black and the translucent. I know the surgical black has a gravity of 2.50 and translucent a gravity of 2.55, just wondering if that is enough of a difference to make the translucent a better finisher?

Also, would this be a good place to buy one? https://www.bestsharpeningstones.com...rpening-stones

I find that the Trans Arks provide a better feedback than the SB, however, you can not go wrong either way. I dress all of mine the same way, 600 Wet/Dry followed by a quick rub with a kitchen knife to knock down any "rogue" spots. I also use propylene glycol USP as my honing fluid of choice.

IMO, the best value for your dollar is to email Dan's and see what they have available for Primitive Cuts. I have a 13 1/2" x 4" ish trans Ark Primitive Cut that I got for a song. As with all Dan's stones, one side will be as close to flat as you can get.

I went in the middle with a True Hard from Dan's.
I can't say enough good things about this stone.
I use it with water and a drop of liquid soap.
Every one of my razors, around 125 of them, is finished with this stone after Shapton Glass 16k.
For me, it takes the bite out of the keenness and produces a buttery smooth, comfortable shave.



Good luck with your choice.

Pete <:-}

I know the surgical black has a gravity of 2.50 and translucent a gravity of 2.55, just wondering if that is enough of a difference to make the translucent a better finisher

Nope, they are natural stones that can vary from stone to stone and seller to seller.

All that matters is your stone, how it is finished, your technique and if you are satisfied with your results.

One of my stones is 2.5 sg and the other is a touch over 2.6sg, I don’t notice a difference from one to the other. Marty said it best, it really depends on the prep done to the stone. If you roughed one side in at 320-400 grit and the other side polished and burnished there would be a huge difference in apparent “grit” rating.

I'm looking at these, because they are the least expensive I can find anywhere, but I'm wondering if these would be the same Surgical Black Arks that I can find at the other vendors? https://www.bestsharpeningstones.com...&product_id=74

Originally Posted by petercp4e

I went in the middle with a True Hard from Dan's.
I can't say enough good things about this stone.
I use it with water and a drop of liquid soap.
Every one of my razors, around 125 of them, is finished with this stone after Shapton Glass 16k.
For me, it takes the bite out of the keenness and produces a buttery smooth, comfortable shave.



Good luck with your choice.

Pete <:-}

I’m going to try your Shapton 16k to True Hard finish. Thanks.

I wanted to see the difference between the True hard categories of Arkansas stones. I bought four Gold Dollar #66. I chose them so I could practice buffing the razor and modifying the stabilizer. I also wanted blades that had consistent steel and I am cheap.

The stones are from left to right Naniwa 12K, Hard Black, Translucent, True Hard. All of these stones came from Dan's flat. I have burnished one side the other is lapped with 320 grit Silicon carbide.

The razors were honed on synthetic stones to 12K. The #1 razor was the stropped on CrOX. The other razors were honed starting on the 320 grit side then burnished side. I used a lubricant progression; started on 320 side dry then water, burnished side with Norton honing oil then WD40. I honed on each lubricant until the blade started sticking.

The result was I could not tell any appreciable difference in the shave. They were all great shaves.

I do enjoy hand holding the Translucent and the appearance of the True hard is hard to resist.

Well that kind of muddies the waters a bit, doesn’t it. Sounds like your experience leads to the conclusion that the high end arks are all pretty much comparable.

If that’s the case, I just felt some of my HAD diminish

Just wondering how many laps you did on each as a finisher.

Originally Posted by Rugger007

I find that the Trans Arks provide a better feedback than the SB, however, you can not go wrong either way. I dress all of mine the same way, 600 Wet/Dry followed by a quick rub with a kitchen knife to knock down any "rogue" spots. I also use propylene glycol USP as my honing fluid of choice.

IMO, the best value for your dollar is to email Dan's and see what they have available for Primitive Cuts. I have a 13 1/2" x 4" ish trans Ark Primitive Cut that I got for a song. As with all Dan's stones, one side will be as close to flat as you can get.

Thank you! I ended up getting an 11 x 4 primitive cut surgical black from Dan's Whetstones for $78 + shipping.