Thread: Translucent Hard Arkansas

I've only been shaving for about 2 1/2 months so I haven't bought a hone yet. Visiting my Dad's place over the last week and discussing straight razors, he asked about sharpening. I said straights need to be honed once in awhile, and they need to finish with 8000 or higher grit. He collects stones, and had a hone he called Translucent Hard Arkansas and said it was a good hone.

Does anyone know about this material? It does feel very smooth, almost like glass. Can I hone with something like this?

Arkie's are a crap shoot, some are great, most are not FOR RAZORS...

I have one I bought 30 years ago for Straight razor honing, and used it on razors for many of those years it works just fine..

You have to try the hone out to see what it will do

Mine is a Ouachita (sp*) True Hard Translucent White, however from what I have been told is, that the name means nothing, only the stone counts....

Like Glen mentioned, they are a crapshoot. A good one will work well but some have very hard inclusions that will damage an edge. They are hell to lap too but once you get it lapped, you seldom have to re-lap one. They are relatively expensive and you can get a nice hone that is better suited for razors for the same or less money.

A Norton 4K/8K would be a better choice for general razor honing.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Arkie's are a crap shoot, some are great, most are not FOR RAZORS...

I have one I bought 30 years ago for Straight razor honing, and used it on razors for many of those years it works just fine..

You have to try the hone out to see what it will do

Mine is a Ouachita (sp*) True Hard Translucent White, however from what I have been told is, that the name means nothing, only the stone counts....

Glen,

For tools, it was too slow for me to have patience, I never tried it for a straight. How long did it use to take you to do a razor on one of those?
Michael

I was a distributor very briefly for Halls Arkansas Stones..I still have many...

Translucent and Surgical Black Arkie's around 1000-1200 grit, very close... give or take. Good for knives, Suck on razors...

Some people swear by them, some swear at them.
Personally, I do not have the patience to use them.

If you do decide to try it , and you probably will, be sure to clean the hone and, most importantly, "soften" the edges.

Good luck,

I used to have a translucent white - gave an impeccable edge to a razor, but was just too slow for me, so I no longer have it. Mastro Livi puts a damn fine edge on a razor - he has what looks like a translucent white in one of his videos.

Regards,
Neil

I use a hard black Arkansas regularly - I believe these are considered to be slightly inferior to the translucent grades but the grit rating is similar. What I don't do is use it for razors - tried that, and decided that it would take a mind-bendingly long time to make any progress worth speaking of. These hard novaculites are excellent for woodworking tools where you can afford to apply a good deal of pressure, but the hardest Arkansas and Turkey stones don't seem to be optimal for razor honing. For that reason I've gravitated towards softer stones of one sort or another, and the conviction that the old adage about hard steels needing a soft stone has a lot in it.

Just one point: I know that the theoretical grit ratings for novaculites are generally quite low, but the edges you get from them come out highly polished and seem more in line with what you'd expect from a 4000 or higher surface - strange, that.

I also have Translucents & Coal Black Arkansas stones that I bought 30 + years ago. The older stones seem to be harder than the newer ones and polish better, for me. The older Blacks look blacker. And I don’t buy the grit rating. My black is higher grit, I believe than most of my Translucents. I judge it by comparing the stria size to know stria from a know, synthetic stone.

Both are final polishing stones. I don’t care what kind of stone you are using, if it is cutting too slowly - you need a lower grit stone. It’s not the stone.

A good Translucent or Black Ark will leave that hazy polish on the bevel after it has been sharpened and give a great shave.

But in the end all naturals are different, even the same stone from one side to the other. You just have to try it. Just remember it is just a polisher, there is no one stone does it all. Hence the pandora’s box on this site about the perfect stone and my stone is higher grit than yours.

Mark, if your dad has a collection of old stones, he probably has everything you need to learn to sharpen and some great ones. I used Arks to sharpen years ago, but you can’t beat the synthetics to bevel set and work up an edge quickly and efficiently. Then I polish with naturals.

I also use my arks with water, oops opened another box… and while the lid is off...use tape for final micro bevel…

Experiment and enjoy.

Marty

I have tried several of the Translucents and really do not like them. They remind me of the Spyderco's being so hard and slow and it is usually the exception rather than the rule to get lucky with a finished edge on one in my opinion. Like a lot of other stones, they are fun to play with when you have the time.

Lynn