Thread: Found a Hone Today

Be cool to see that stone held up to some light. He, he...

Mac

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

Sure is "purdy".

...Yeppers

It occurs to me, that I have never seen anybody mention using slurry with a hard Arkansas stone. Anybody here ever give it a go?

Miner looks like a good, old Arkansas and agree with Mac hold it up to some light, it does look like it might be translucent.

I am always looking for those old oily stones at antique stores & shows. Those old Arkansas stones are great stones and you can buy them for a song. A couple of weeks ago, I thought I was buying an old oily swarf encrusted black surgical in a beat up fitted wooden case… it turned out to be a Thuringian, for a buck.

I don’t know why people keep saying Arkansas are slow cutters, because that is not my experience. I do believe that if any stone is not cutting as fast as it should. You are expecting too much from the stone and the stone is much too fine for the work to be done.

You just need to go to a coarser grit stone. Some Washitas I have are very aggressive and I use them regularly for bevel setting. But just a few strokes on a good, old Translucent or Surgical will put a hazy polished edge on a razor if the right stone is used in the proper progression.

So lap that puppy and put some steel to it. Check the stria and compare it to a known grit stone’s stria to find out where it fits in your progression.

I am not an Arkansas purist, but I don’t understand why they get a bum wrap. For years these and other naturals were fawned over, for good reason. They are great stone when use properly.

And they are not Oil Stones. They are just stones, I use mine with water and have used them with cutting oils. Water is so much neater and works just as well. I have two Thuringians that were oil soaked when I bought them. But polish an edge like shineola…with water.

When you lap it do both sides, you may find that both sides do not cut the same. They are natural rocks and no two are the same even if they are the same color or “classification”. You may be for a pleasant surprise.

Great find, enjoy. You may find yourself like me, digging through a piles of old rusty tools with gusto.



Marty

Marty, I love my Arks. But they often do cut slower than my synthetics, no doubt.

My best black, is as good as the 8k norton. possibly closing in on a coti (but not quite)

I would never give the fine american stones a bum rap!

Hone, Hone on the range......

Marty
I could not agree with you more, Arkansas are not by nature oil stones, "they are just stones". I have resurrected a few good Arkansas stones by lapping on all sides with a diamond plate and they all without exception turned out to be excellent water stones. They are much harder than the Japanese stones, meaning that they give up less slurry per stroke. But they can tamed to cut more agressively if you prep them with a diamond plate to build a slurry first. With a prepped slurry it can be exciting to see the black steel swarf rolling off the blade and mixing in with the slurry. As with any hard stone you can adjust the slurry as you hone to cut slower so for the last few passes with your blade with no slurry, just water, you can partake in the smoothest grit the stone has to offer.

And Miner, nice find and looks like a generous size rock. Alx

I keep a 6 inch translucent that I bought new some 30 years ago in the drawer with my razors. A few strokes with a DMT credit card plate to raise milky slurry and it ready for a quick touch up on any razor. I shave straight off the stone. Start to finish, 1 minute.

Agreed they don’t cut as aggressively as Norton’s or Nawias but they are not painfully slow either. And I believe they give better feed back on the blade.

There are a bunch of great older stones floating around out there waiting to be rescued. I may be shooting myself in the foot by defending them and causing a “Filarmonica rush”.

Marty