Thread: ARKANSAS STONES

first pic ark washita second and thrid soft ark forth hard ark and fifth black and translucent enjoy

I was told by others the brown stones are Washitas and have seen them sold as such, but I haven't seen any with a label. I got rid of one but still have two of them. If they are in fact Hard Arkansas stones what gritrange can I expect?

Piet, it's hard to really pin down, because of their rather unique structure (more crystalline than granular), but they perform in the ballpark of anything from 2-4k. Some of the Oachita (often spelled "washita") stones can be coarser, and some of the black and translucent can be finer, but novaculite doesn't really behave as other grit materials do.

Downside: they're slower than slow. We're talking GLACIAL cutting speed. For knives and early on in the razor's honing routine, Arkansas stones can have their place, but they've been supplanted by more modern and effective alternatives. I like them, but most around here don't.

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.

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...