Thread: ARKANSAS STONES

i think arkansas are great but like any stone you need to use the right grade at the right time then honing progresses faster,they can also be just about any colour as they're graded by density my soft stone is bright red,i've done several edge restorations and after setting a bevel on a silicone carbide stone i worked through soft hard and surgical black and after couple hours and several hundred laps got unbelievable edges so they can be used the whole way through,all depends on what you like and the kind of edge you like i find the way they polish instead of abrading you get an extremely smooth edge

+1 on "glacial." I've tried and tried to like these stones because they're so attractive, but at the higher grit ranges it's like honing on marble.

for some reason the people who sell arkansas stones say that unless the edge is damaged you can start sharpening on the soft and work up,in my experiance unless it was just a touch up i found using a silicone stone first and finishing on the arkansas was way faster even with my washita i used it to finish after the silicone,even now i use the silicone if the edge is blunt and finish with the soft hard and black and i wonder if other arkansas users start on the washita or soft when the edge is blunt,sometimes i only do six or so strokes on the silicone before i progress to the arkansas and it's a lot faster than trying to bring back a blunt edge just on arks just need to think like your using nortons or similar you wouldn't start on the 4k with a blunt edge,i never thought to ask how the arkansas stones were being used and now i'm curious as to how you guys progress through stones when using arkansas's,

Thank you for the lovely pictures and the way you ordered them was a lesson in itself.
When in the mood, I get an edge that would be considered by most to be shave ready. Then I get a well worn in translucent and soapy water and polish the edge. Doing it this way, it burnishes the edge as it polishes and I get an edge that is very comfortable. Obviously, that is very limited usage, but the final finish is what glides over our skin.

I believe because of their silicate nature, being less hostile to harder steels opens up a different path to developing a unique type of burnished\polished edge. Most of my stones are hard, even my synthetics, so the Arkies match that way for me. I don't believe normal grit ratings apply to finishing with translucents in some ways like other naturals.

It has been hard for me to begin experimenting with them for faster stock removal with my other stones that cut sooooo fast, but I would like to try them with different slurries some day. Getting some naguras and mixing it up with the Translucent might be promising. (It is so hard to be good around here............)

I have been using them more for carving tools with a norton prep stone and metal comes off very fast with no deformation and makes me want to try a similar path with razors if I get time. I have also tried slurries from other natural stones on the translucent and it seems to be very effective, and you absolutely know that the grit from the slurry donor is what is cutting. Maybe cause the abrasive material locks onto the surface of the softer silicate? I don't know but it transforms the cutting power to the max.

i'm on and off with using the ark's but when i do and the blade is blunt i start with a fine indian stone soft ark hard ark then translucent strop with canvas and then leather. my translucent is fast for a translucent about 25 round trips on the stone and the oil is gray i finnish on the translucent with 200 to 300 round trips but again mine is a fast cutting stone results may vary on your translucent

Originally Posted by eleblu05

i'm on and off with using the ark's but when i do and the blade is blunt i start with a fine indian stone soft ark hard ark then translucent strop with canvas and then leather. my translucent is fast for a translucent about 25 round trips on the stone and the oil is gray i finnish on the translucent with 200 to 300 round trips but again mine is a fast cutting stone results may vary on your translucent

Mine takes way more than 25 strokes to color up swarf. I think mine is so dense it is burnishes 90% and is cutting 10%. I have also tried making slurry on trans with diamond plate but I did not like the result for razors. Razors are unique.

Wow, you are starting with India Stone and with oil. You are an endangered species!!! I do similar progression sometimes for carving tools because you need stone that does not groove fast, but have not liked this for my razors as much as water stones.

I think much more needs to be understood as far as how fine arkies can be used for razors, but even the guys who mine and sell them, who are great guys to talk to, know very little about razor sharpening.

i'm very interested in how you get on with using a slurry with the ark i have a peice of broken soft stone that i've thought of using as a slurry stone have to find it first,i think using a translucent or black as a finish after faster cutting stones could show more people the smooth polish edge that we enjoy and if slurry works it could change how they are veiwed as too slow to be any good

Originally Posted by Alucard73

...after couple hours and several hundred laps...

I cannot imagine spending a couple hours and several hundred laps to hone... unless I'm doing 20 or more razors in a sitting. One razor, once you set the bevel, should take maybe 15 mins to go the rest of the way. Talk about glacial...

Here are some photos of my Norton No. 1 Washita. IMHO, I consider it to be a hard, fairly fast hone somewhere in the 3000 grit range.

I like to use my Washita when I am setting a bevel. I first start out with a King 1000 water stone and when I am about half way to where I want to be, I introduce the Washita and start pyramid honing between the King and the Washita. This combination works for me and it seems to speed up the bevel setting process.

I have shaved off of the Washita/King pyramid. It was not a comfortable shave, but it did shave.

very nice washaita all ark are hard my washita ,well all washita are porous thats what makes them fast cutters your washita looks to be more dense tho