Thread: Hard Arkansas Razor Hone?

I stopped by a barber's supply store today, which was really cool by the way, and picked up a hone. It is called a "hard arkansas razor hone" as the pictures show. That is all the literature that comes with it. I know it is small, but I was wondering if it is meant to be used like a barbers hone. And I am assuming it needs to be lapped?

Sorry, I forgot the pics. Here they are.

Whenever I get a new hone, I'll at least make a pencil grid and give her rub with a DMT to check the flatness and then go from there. The hard arkie is a medium grit hone, IIRC, and a slow cutter at that. I believe they are popular finishers on knives, though some members are finding use for them with razors. I believe McWolf1965 (not totally sure on the numbers) should be a good resource.

Looks like the Arkie I have for finishing knives. I wouldn't necessarily use it for finishing a razor tho. I tried my Arkie on a razor, and the performance was not good for finishing/polishing a razor.

I'm sure someone else will chime in that has more info tho

hard white is about 1K, black/translucent is like 2K

I have used an Arkansas hard whetstone like yours for a few of my practice razors, and it seemed to work slow, but well.

i wish picture were a little clear. i think i have one and it is used that is why in yellow condition. can you tell exact dimensions? thank You

All arkansas stones have the same abrasive size. The difference is in how tightly those abrasives are packed together - more tightly = slower and finer cutter because the particles can't get as much of a bite in the steel. The particles are rounded so even though they're large they aren't very aggressive. Other novaculite hones include the Charnley Forest and the Turkey oilstone.

The black and translucent arkansas stones are slow but will leave a fine shaving edge on a razor. You have to do your part though, and they aren't necessarily the easiest hone to use. If you must use oil then use a very thin one like kerosene or WD40. I prefer water with a bit of soap.

Sorry to bump this old thread up, but I picked up one of these as well and was wondering if you ever figured what grit this stone was. I have the exact same one.

Originally Posted by mparker762

All arkansas stones have the same abrasive size.

Despite having a bunch of arkansas stones, I don't know the real answer to this, but I've seen that comment on here before and it is direct conflict with information provided by norton or one of the other oilstone manufacturers, who show either soft or washita stones has having a 22 micron particle size and HTA as having a 6 micron particle size.