Thread: Arkansas translucent stone question

I've been meaning to try diamond paste on my hard black arkansas stone. It gets a razor sharp edge on its own, I'm talking woodworking sharp, I've never tried to shave with a straight razor honed on it. But I've had such good results with Nortons that I stopped using my arkansas stones all together. When I picked up straight razor honing, I just went straight to my Norton stones. But I keep meaning to get some diamond paste and use it on the arkansas stone. I know of some master woodworkers who use that method to get an ultimate edge on a chisel. Has anyone compared the edge gotten on finishing a razor with diamond paste on a hard arkansas stone versus CrOx on a strop?

Originally Posted by MinATX

Has anyone compared the edge gotten on finishing a razor with diamond paste on a hard arkansas stone versus CrOx on a strop?

I haven't tried it on a stone. I've had real good results from diamond spray on felt and from diamond paste on balsa wood. Robert Williams, the razor maker, experimented with diamond spray on a Spyderco Ultra Fine and got real good results. Might do well on a black hard ark too.

Originally Posted by MinATX

Has anyone compared the edge gotten on finishing a razor with diamond paste on a hard arkansas stone versus CrOx on a strop?

If you are refering to any hard Arkansas stone for razors that even differences between various Translucents will give different results. The surface needs to be very fine for the best results on razors. Take that with a grain, but playing with slurries and CBN which is similar to diamond spray, only my densest and smoothest translucent gave me the best results. I have heard of others achieving the same with the black Arkansas stone on razors with diamond spray and CBN too.
I think the comparison to CrO would be hard to make as they are different. The comparison would be more to how it compares with other finishing stone IMHO as you are still honing and not stropping.