Thread: Arkansas

I soaked it in warm water and carefully removed the labels which are now dry and flat.

I replaced the warm water with boiling water and after a few minutes of soaking to get good and hot, I took it out of the water and gave it a good coating of oven cleaner.

I waited 15 minutes then scrubbed it with my toothbrush, which tasted horrible when I brushed my teeth a bit later.

After a good scrub I soaked it in 50% Simple Green & 50% water overnight.

I hosed it off and dried it.





One side is rough and the other is smooth but neither is ready to go because I can feel that both sides are uneven so i will have to lap them both. Any ideas what grit I should lap each side to? I want a rough bevel set side and a smooth to take it to the point that a trans rough side will be able to take over.

I have noticed that there is an unimportant black spot on the left of the smooth side but a small hole on the rough side, it is visible on the right end in the photo.

Can I live with it after the stone is lapped because I imagine it will be hard to lap it out and I am not keen on losing that much stone anyway.

I didn't notice the hole before I cleaned the stone.

Nice score, Steve-I think you are definitely an Arkaholic now. I don't think I would try to lap past that hole either. You could smooth the edges and test it on knives or something to make double-sure it won't catch. I did that on a very hard Chinese stone and honed on it without issues.

I like your idea of double-siding both your Washita and the trans to make essentially a 4-stage honing progression. I for one am very interested to hear how this goes. If you really dial in the incredible range that these stones can offer just by varying blade torque as needed on all 4 sides, you might have a banging honing system worked out-please keep us informed!

My washita had a small hone. I was concerned addition material might break off around the hole so I filled it with instant glue. then lapped it flat. No problems yet?

Originally Posted by boz

My washita had a small hone. I was concerned addition material might break off around the hole so I filled it with instant glue. then lapped it flat. No problems yet?

Thanks for the info, that doesn't sound like a bad idea, might try that too.

Do you have a rough side and a smooth side on you washita?

I have to lap it on both sides because it isn't smooth. what have you got each side lapped to?

How far do you get with the smooth side, are you able to get far enough to go straight to a trans?

I too have a stone with a small hole in it. The blade skips right over and you can't even feel it.

Nice work cleaning up that stone. Properly dressed I think it will really help with your progression. I have to say Steve that I'm very impressed with how far you've come. Starting out not very long ago as someone who knew basically nothing in a very short time relatively speaking you went to being able to get very good edges on synthetic stones and now we're moving on to naturals. Some people spend years and years in the woods. Just want to say that because this is a long journey you have been on and all the good instruction in the world won't get you where you're going without some positive reinforcement. Unfortunately some people forget to do that, or maybe don't know how to in the first place. Although I should say, "...won't get you there," unless you're like me: bullheaded and determined to a fault. Of course as a locksmith you have to be. Every single thing I touch is designed to defeat me. That's its job and it wouldn't do it very well if it didn't try its best to defeat me. Maybe that colors who I am or maybe I do what I do for that reason, who knows. Anyway I have apprenticed enough people to know that if you do nothing but correct they either get discouraged and quit or they play it too safe and have no courage for fear of making a mistake. In my business you absolutely have to have courage to succeed.

You know how you're driving down the road or doing some task and something pops into your head? Something occurred to me about what you said somewhere about honing on a 2-in stone and being worried about keeping it flat. Worrying about keeping the razor flat could potentially make you put too much torque on the razor and so not be diminishing pressure as you go through your progression. Speaking for myself I found that this was true but by holding the stone in my palm instead of on a bench it seemed to relieve that worry some. That allowed me to gradually use lighter and lighter pressure against the stone until toward the very end the blade feels as though it is hovering over it at the final stage.
Just a thought to consider. Keep up the good work.

“ Speaking for myself I found that this was true but by holding the stone in my palm instead of on a bench it seemed to relieve that worry some. That allowed me to gradually use lighter and lighter pressure against the stone until toward the very end the blade feels as though it is hovering over it at the final stage. L

One of the reasons I prefer stones in the 6 x 1.5 inch range. Holding the hone in your hand gives you much more flexibility in adjusting the angle and pressure with which the blade contacts the stone. It also makes it easier to do a rolling X-stroke.

Originally Posted by DZEC

“ Speaking for myself I found that this was true but by holding the stone in my palm instead of on a bench it seemed to relieve that worry some. That allowed me to gradually use lighter and lighter pressure against the stone until toward the very end the blade feels as though it is hovering over it at the final stage. L

One of the reasons I prefer stones in the 6 x 1.5 inch range. Holding the hone in your hand gives you much more flexibility in adjusting the angle and pressure with which the blade contacts the stone. It also makes it easier to do a rolling X-stroke.

I've always hand held my finishing hones for the same reason, much more control at least for me

It takes a little getting used to though. Like the first time you find your balance on a bicycle. It's a little scary at first for fear you'll wreck it but you just have to take a leap of faith and then it becomes easier quickly.

Originally Posted by STF

Thanks for the info, that doesn't sound like a bad idea, might try that too.

Do you have a rough side and a smooth side on you washita?

I have to lap it on both sides because it isn't smooth. what have you got each side lapped to?

How far do you get with the smooth side, are you able to get far enough to go straight to a trans?

My Washita is lapped on one side to 60 grit and the other is 320 grit. I have never tried to go directly to a finisher. I suspect if I lapped the stone differently or just stayed on the stone longer I could but since I have a soft and hard ark I use them before the finisher. I suspect the test would be if you can get a decent shave off the Washita then you could go directly to the finisher.

Like the rest of us ,Steve. Use the thing...learn what the stone can do, then u can find ways to tweek out the best it can offer.

The more u use the Washita, the better they get.