Thread: Why should I use powder to dress my stone?

I have a high quality Arkansas stone. I see videos of people using silicone carbide powder to dress the stone before honing. Why is that necessary? It is dead flat and great quality.

If it is flat and good quality I see no reason to lap it. An Arkansas stone is a finisher and the smoother it is the better the final finish will be. IMO. This is why some like to rub an Arkie with Steel to work up the finish even smoother.

BTW, Welcome to SRP.

Thank you on both counts. The

Sorry, fat fingers. The reason I asked is I just seem to see a bunch of people doing it. I do get good edges off the stones.

How do you know it is flat?

Is it a black or translucent, New or vintage?

“The reason I asked is I just seem to see a bunch of people doing it.”

Because it works. If your edges are good, they can only get better with a well prepped stone and good technique.

A new hard stone needs to be lapped truly flat and taken to a 600 grit on one side and to 600, then burnished on the other for best performance and to have a finish Ark progression.

Depending on how out of flat the stone is (you must grid lap to find out) you may need a progression of Silicone Carbide to get to a 600 finish.

Silicone Carbide will cut the stone. An ark will eat a diamond plate in short order.

You only need to lap and burnish once, honing on it will only burnish further. If it is a vintage stone, it may already be burnished.

I have checked the stone on a lapping table at work, it is flat. The stone I bought new a few years ago. It is a hard black. I just don’t get the 600 grit part. What improvement does the grit provide?

As Marty says...

Originally Posted by Euclid440

You only need to lap and burnish once, honing on it will only burnish further. If it is a vintage stone, it may already be burnished.

Remember that not everyone knows how to properly hone and anyone can make a video.

How did you check the whole face on the lapping table and to what grit your stone was lapped to?

Gridding and lapping on Silicone Carbide will quickly tell you if the complete stone face is flat and smooth and if not, flatten the entire face.

If a finish stone is not flat and has the slightest dip, as it wears, grit that is not as smooth at the rest of the surface will contact the edge and can mar it. So, you lap it once and then you know it is completely flat to a known grit, 600 as a baseline. You can finish to what ever grit you like, but from 600 it is easy to go to a burnish finish.

Depending on the grit your razor is finished to and the condition of the bevel it may be too course for a burnished Jnat to improve the edge. A 600 lapped side could help make that jump. A burnished Ark finish is just polishing and not cutting much.

Here, in Italy, I see that people laps the Arks (Surgical Black/Translucent) even to 1200 G using SIC powder... and many don't burnish it but "dress" it going even higher (2K/3K or more) with silicon carbide powder, so to get a mirror finish on the stone.

Thanks Skorpio58, and everyone for your comments. I will continue to hone the way I have been , it seems to work for me.