Thread: What is Your Current Honing Set-up?

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

My experience has been that an Ark finisher ("true hard," translucent, hard black, black translucent) will leave a coarser edge in a dedicated progression off Washitas or soft Arkansas stones. The higher claims for Ark finishers are generally off an extended synth progression, where I suppose they have a calming, tempering, burnishing effect rather than a sharpening effect from a dedicated progression. But hey, I'll be happy to be proven wrong. Oil is the only way I've used them.

It could be not getting the work done before moving on to the finisher, or you need another intermediate stone, maybe even a little more pressure when you first get onto the finisher. But it's not the stones fault.

Arks are very pressure reliant and like some to cut effectively. I think that is where they become difficult with razors, especially the hollow ground ones.

A coticule to an ark finisher is as easy a progression as it gets for me. I can't tell the difference between that edge and an ark progression. Of course YMMV.

For those using Shapton Glass, what do you lap them with?
How much faster is Shapton Glass compared to something like Norton Waterstones?

When people say Washitas are they generally talking about Lily Whites, or standard Washitas??

There are a plethora of different Washitas. Just like thuris where there are Escher's which are fabulous and then there are others that may be good and then again they may not be.
Back to Washitas, the majority of them were small stones intended for knives but not suitable for razors. They can also have big inclusions in them. My son has a Washita which is fabulous except that it has a pot hole on either side and would not be suitable for razors. The exceptional ones made it to the Norton #1 and the Lily White labels and they are a horse of a different color than your Buck or Smith's clear top box sets. That notwithstanding, I have a couple of old sets made for knives that are great bevel setters. A lot has to do with surface prep, and, as Desertrat points out pressure is key. Because they are.so slow you can apply a fairly heavy pressure at the outset and then lighten pressure toward the end of the side and acheive what amounts to a change in grit, especially since they require so many laps. The way I do it: palm holding the stones and doing a set of half X down and back sets on one side then the other it goes quite quickly. But that is going afield of the point so I digress.
In addition they have been mined out. What is left is nowhere near as good as the old (mined long ago) stones and they are not commercially mined anymore. I would love to have a Lily White but even without it, getting an old set from Smith's or Buck with the "on a case by case basis," caveat you can still get quite good results all the way from sawing on hot butter to shavable edge on the one stone as Steve has posted.

Originally Posted by JP5

For those using Shapton Glass, what do you lap them with?
How much faster is Shapton Glass compared to something like Norton Waterstones?

When people say Washitas are they generally talking about Lily Whites, or standard Washitas??

From what I understand, after contacting Dan's about a year ago. The new Washita's that they sell are not like the vintage ones.

Mine is a vintage Pike Norton No 1, lapped and dressed to 180 sic one side and 400 wet n dry, about half burnished the other side.

Think I saw a lot with a Norton #1 Washita mixed in that auctioned recently. Oh well.

From what I understand, Lily Whites we're mined again a few years ago but there wasn't enough demand so they stopped.

Yeah, they told me the new white Washitas were not as fine too. Wish I had gotten one though.

Originally Posted by JP5

For those using Shapton Glass, what do you lap them with?
How much faster is Shapton Glass compared to something like Norton Waterstones?

When people say Washitas are they generally talking about Lily Whites, or standard Washitas??

I lap them with a worn Atoma 400 or the Shapton diamond lapping plate, which ever is handy.

The HR series is blazing fast, the HC series is a little slower and polishes more.

The colored Washita's were called Calico Washita in the old "Geological Survey Of Arkansas".
https://www.google.com/books/edition...survey&f=false


Far as I have been able to tell the colored stones are all fast and coarse. They can have soft and hard spots coinciding with their color changes. I don't get as much of a range with them that I do with the vintage stones.

The vintage Washita's have a large variation between them. They could be broke down into different classifications and Pike did with the Lily White's to insure the costumer got the type of stone they wanted. Soft fast, medium fine, ect.

Looks like the speed of the HR Glass Stones might be worth the extra $. A 1-4-8-16 Glass progression should be an efficient setup. Decided to get a Glass 1k and give it a try.

There are still vintage Washitas available. I save searches on eBay for that and other things so I get notifications when they go up for sale. I just bought a Pike No. 1 in an original wooden box for a pretty decent price. The seller didn't know what they had so I lucked out. Not that I wish them harm but caveat venditor. It took a little work to get it cleaned up and lapped but it was a small price to pay. Here is an after picture

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

There are still vintage Washitas available. I save searches on eBay for that and other things so I get notifications when they go up for sale. I just bought a Pike No. 1 in an original wooden box for a pretty decent price. The seller didn't know what they had so I lucked out. Not that I wish them harm but caveat venditor. It took a little work to get it cleaned up and lapped but it was a small price to pay. Here is an after picture

Wow! I thimk I should maybe soak mine again and for longer, yours looks much cleaner than mine.