Thread: Dans Primitive Cut Arkansas 14"x4"

Well, the primitive cut I had been harassing Steve Kirschman at Dan's Whetstones about finally got here yesterday, and it far exceeds my original expectations. My steel ruler says that it is indeed dead flat across all dimensions (or certainly flatter than I could ever make it!). And frankly, except of course for the bottom and the varying thickness, it is far more finished than I expected it to be! So I spent about an hour chamfering and radiusing edges and corners, then drawing grids and going up through the grits from 600, to 1k to 1500 grit with a vibrating sander on a wet surface. I know that sounds crazy, but I zipped it around very quickly and tried to cover all areas equally, and hey, it worked like a charm! Reading more threads from the "anti-burnishing" school of thought, I decided to stop there for now and see how I like the edges-we'll see. If I don't, I may take it up to 2k and burnish a bit. Anyway, here it is next to my 8x3x1/2" Best surgical black for comparison:

End shot from the square end:

My original thought was to attach it to a fine piece of walnut or other fine wood supported by silicon or rubber for some shock absorption, and then just use it with oil-maybe even on the coffee table for easy access. But it sits along my sink bridge like it was made for it, so I took one of my last rescales, that Joseph Allen in birdseye cherry burl that didn't shave as well as I would have liked, and ran it through my progression from plain water, to water with dish soap, and finishing on WD-40. I tell ya fellas, it is a dream to hone on, just totally long, luxurious laps, and no rough edges on either side.

Anyway, once I've got a repeatable progression on it, I may post in the HOTD (and Jerry, I promised you a couple of your edges finished on it-just let me figure it out 1st). Anyway, if you think you might want one of these, give Steve at Dan's a call and tell him what you're looking for (He's the son who's in charge of operations if I'm correct). And his wife Kim who runs the office is also a joy to deal with for payment and shipping. Not to mention, the prices are ridiculous compared to finished stones that are far smaller. So you can save money, buy American and support a great small family business to boot!

Oh, my...that is huge!. Nice looking stone. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

I take it they are still doing business in these crazy times? I sent an e-mail through their website about a 8x2 ish primitive and haven't gotten a reply, I figured it was due to the current world issues. Best to call? I was just going to wait till things calmed down, but if I don't need to

Its a Monster all right! You work the hell out of it Aaron. I might send ya one in a few weeks unless you're just in need of razors to hone. Ha. Being it is not flat on the bottom it will sit funny. That will keep the oil/water from staying on top. Not sure I'd be wanting to deal with that. I think a nice Hardwood board cut so it sits flat would be nice. But don't make the board any bigger than the rock as its big enough.

JJ-The e-mail through their website will get you nowhere. Best to call, and they are still open (or were earlier this week anyway).

And Jerry-If and until I get it mounted level some kind of way, a towel bunched up strategically around the bottom keeps it level enough. No issues honing on it today.

Instead of "bunching up" a towel, have you considered the English treatment for irregular stones? They set the stone in plaster of Paris.

Get a suitable box, or make one, then pour in the moulding material, set the stone "just right" and leave the plaster to set. The Charnley Forest stones were set in permanently, but you could have a layer of thin plastic film over the plaster so that it sets to the perfect shape of your rock, allowing you to remove it easily.

For such a superb rock, an ebony box would be just the thing, with French polish finish - either drilled out of whole wood, or grooved with end stops like Norton boxes. A sterling silver lid would be nice too! Then make a nice label, with locality and provenance information. Dan's quarries are near Hotsprings, Arkansas. I like their novaculite best of all the sharpening stones.

... and use light mineral oil on that surface. Just wipe it clean after use, then add a few more drops to clean it more. I use a micro-fiber cloth wrapped around a magnet. The magnet pulls up any swarf and the cloth removes it in the oil without leaving any lint on the surface. My translucent stones always look spotless.

Yep, that's a big'n. Just don't drop it on your toe.

Originally Posted by cliveruss

Instead of "bunching up" a towel, have you considered the English treatment for irregular stones? They set the stone in plaster of Paris.

Get a suitable box, or make one, then pour in the moulding material, set the stone "just right" and leave the plaster to set. The Charnley Forest stones were set in permanently, but you could have a layer of thin plastic film over the plaster so that it sets to the perfect shape of your rock, allowing you to remove it easily.

For such a superb rock, an ebony box would be just the thing, with French polish finish - either drilled out of whole wood, or grooved with end stops like Norton boxes. A sterling silver lid would be nice too! Then make a nice label, with locality and provenance information. Dan's quarries are near Hotsprings, Arkansas. I like their novaculite best of all the sharpening stones.

... and use light mineral oil on that surface. Just wipe it clean after use, then add a few more drops to clean it more. I use a micro-fiber cloth wrapped around a magnet. The magnet pulls up any swarf and the cloth removes it in the oil without leaving any lint on the surface. My translucent stones always look spotless.

Cliveruss-My wife actually suggested plaster of paris, and I am considering a fine wood box or stand. I actually thought of ebony-it would be a perfect complement to the stone, and I know from experience finishes up like a dream. I may see what Cook Woods has in stock. Thanks for the suggestion.

And Paul-duly noted!

Nice big stone. To level you can cut some pads from craft foam or yoga matt to shim the low end or corner. Craft foam comes in different thickness and glues well with silicone, in case you ever want to remove them, so you can build up to any thickness needed. If you need to you can sculpt the pads with a sharp snap off blade utility knife once glued on.

I just did the same with a new Jnat. It is nice and stable now.

You can try your finish, then try burnishing it, if you don’t like it burnished, it is easy to go back to a 600 grit and work back up to any grit finish you like.

Flattening is where all the work is, finishing is easy with Wet & Dry.

Thanks, Marty-The guys at Dan's flattened it far beyond what I could ever hope to do. As for finishing, on this one only, I went up the grits with sandpaper starting at 600 in a vibrating sander on a wet surface, which worked far better than I anticipated. The key was just to keep it moving around fast, cover all areas evenly, and work the radiuses some more.

I'm probably gonna burnish it a bit with some hard chef's knives today before I put more razors on it. Still thinking about my propping up/stabilizing options. I even thought about making some kind of form, filling it with an appropriate depth of some kind of silicone if I could find some kind thin enough, then slice away excess when it's set, then paint it black.

Not to hijack your thread Aaron but your large stone has inspired me to get this big honkin' thing of my dad's out of mothballs.

(not really in mothballs you understand, Just a metaphor) I played with it a year or so ago and decided at the time that I didn't know enough about hones to do it justice. It was overly smoothed and oiled up like a greased pig. I cleaned it up and then lapped it with my green flattening stone which roughed the top surface too much. It needs to be burnished back some. Not sure how it hones yet but it sure is nice to have that great big long, ponderous stroke. This one is a synthetic though. It's one my dad had from his sharpening business. He told us as kids not to use it for sharpening knives or tools because it was for razors but that's all I know about it.
It has some kind of gem in it but I don't know what it is. You can see how it sparkles in the light.

Still reading up on burnishing stones.