A thread about Surgical Black and Translucent Arkansas Stones

[SharpKnife4Life]

This will be only my 2nd post on the SRP forums, but I have been reading threads about hones and honing for days now.

Background:
I am an avid knife sharpener, and not a razor honer,...at least not yet. I am also an avid Arkansas stone user, and I have multiple Soft, Black, and Translucent stones, as well as a couple of diamond sharpening stones 750 grit and less. I use honing oil rather than water.

I have 2 Translucent stones and 4 Black stones. At least 3 of the 6 are "very" pleasing to use. These three have a little surface texture working in their favor. I also have a few Black stones with really smooth surfaces that are slower cutting, but they do work a little better after some recent attention with a diamond stone.

Bottom Line:
I don't believe the Translucent stones are worth the premium they sell for, above the price of Black Arkansas. The general consensus seems to be that the Translucent stones are better, but I don't think there's a nickel's difference between two quality stones with the same surface texture. Based upon my experiences with 6 stones of both types combined, I believe the Black stones to be a much better value.

I combined the Pyramid method that I read about here on SRP, with Edge Trailing "X" strokes last night, using a very smooth Black stone, and a Translucent stone, and I got some nice edges on several knives. I will definitely use the pyramid method again in the future. I don't know why it works, but I don't really care either. It just works.

I am really enjoying the SRP forums thus far.

I find the Belgian Blue stones interesting..........

[JimmyHAD]

Welcome to SRP. I have a vintage Washita Lily White, a vintage Pike soft Arkansas and a vintage Norton Translucent. I use them on pocket knives occasionally and I also use oil with them. Razors are a bit different and most guys prefer water stones to hone them although some do use Arkies.

I only know of the black hard ark compared to the translucent from stuff I've read on the internet. You mention having 7 with 3 that are faster cutters. Seems that mirrors the experience of most guys here with other natural stones. Nature made some variation in the mix when these stones got put together. Also, I agree, the pyramid does work.

[SharpKnife4Life]

Ooops!!! I checked my math, and 2+4=6. Corrections made.

I find the Belgian Blue stones interesting..........

[JimmyHAD]

I find the Belgian Blue stones interesting..........

You're in a lot of trouble already.

[DwarvenChef]

Yup, welcom to the addiction... pull up a chair and start playing with your rocks

I've been keeping an eye out at the local shops for vintage stones and decided to not pass up every arky I see. Figuring if I learn how to use them I'll be one step close to my HAD goal of using as many sharpeing systems as I can get my mits on

[SharpKnife4Life]

I currently have 6"x2"x1", and 4"x2"x1/2" Translucent stones. Both of these are fantastic.

I also have 6"x2"x1", 4" x 2 1/2" x 1/2", 4"x2"x1", and another very small Surgical Black stone. Of these, the 4"x2"x1" works as well as the translucent stones do.

I roughed up the 2 largest surfaces on the 6"x2"x1" Black stone, and it started working better. It was originally very glassy to start with, and was the slowest working stone I've ever used. It was like 30K or something at first, and very slow cutting. I hated using it. Now it's usable, but it still cuts more slowly than the translucent stones do.

I like the 6" x 2" size best for large knives, and the 4" x 2" size best for pocket knives.

I also have 8"x2"x1", 6" x 1 5/8" x 1/2", and 4"x2"x1/2" Soft Arkansas stones.

Oddly, I don't have any normal Hard Arkansas stones.