Thread: Norton Translucent Arkansas

I've had a few new Norton HB6 Translucent Arkansas Stones that have been sitting in a drawer for a while now. I've been wanting to really take the time to learn each of them. I still don't have the time, but I hear them calling to me louder and louder, so I know it'll be real soon. I think these are beautiful stones. One is black, One Has a yellowish brownish Hue, two are pink and one is pretty much clear white.
I know that these aren't the favorites of most here but I've heard that the Translucent Arkansas can produce some of the best shaving edges ever if your patient enough. I've also heard from others that they are, at best, shave-able edges. And I've probably heard everything in between. I do know that they are extremely slow and they are only 6x2, but I'm extremely patient so that'll be a good match. Being natural stones they are all different so I need to figure each out individually, but I'm going to remain optimistic and hope that each will be an excellent finisher in it's own right.
When I do start to learn them I will post the experiences in the honing forum. I will try honing oil, sewing machine oil, Kroil, lather, and soapy water (not in that order). I'm not opposed to oil as I really believe that Arkansas stones really perform best when used that way.
I'll try them after Dragon's Tongue, Coticule, BBW, Thurigian, Nani SS 8k, Nani SS12k. I would try them after the spyderco fine and Ultra fine but I haven't used those for razors and I'd need to figure out the use of them first. I'm planing on ordering a Washita, Soft Ark, and Hard Ark from Dan's real soon so I'll get the full Arkansas progression experience. I would welcome any and all advice from those who have Honed with translucent Arkansas.
I know that the Arkansas aren't exactly exotic to those of us from the US, but I really do think that these are absolutely beautiful, especially the black and the pink ones. Anways, here are some pictures:

Are you sure the black one isn't a "surgical black" Arkansas....?

Originally Posted by zib

Are you sure the black one isn't a "surgical black" Arkansas....?

Zib,
Yes it is. But Norton classifies them as the same, HB6. Here's their catalog: http://www.nortonindustrial.com/uplo...ningStones.pdf. Norton seems to have a very simplified classification system, Soft and Hard. Being as Arkansas are rated by density the Surgical Black and the Translucent are supposedly equal performers according to most manufacturers (Norton, Dan's, Hall's). With knives I've never been able to tell a difference but I've not compared them with razors, and I've not used the Norton Arkansas before either. According to that grit rating in the catalog these are approximately 4,000, but on their site here Norton Professional Sharpening Solutions these are to be used after the 8k water stones for the Ultra sharp final polish. Cool, huh? Makes me want to stay up and start using them now instead of typing about it. I don't have the Norton water stones just the Naniwas. I guess I have to hit SRD next weekend and remedy that.

Sean

i'm not to fond of norton's translucent's they all look the same i have heard stories that they bond their translucents . dans is the best place for arks all you need is a soft and a translucent if your translucents arent flat i would send them back if you can if not you'll have to lap them flat once your done lapping them flat i would buy a pocket translucent flat it to and then rub it on you lapped translucent to (with oil)smooth it out here are a few of my arks frist pic a few arks second a lilywhite washita third pic blue & black surgical ark forth pic two translucent and a black surgical fifth pic translucent with light behind it sixth pic multi colored translucent enjoy

Just my experiance, but I found that I get better razor edges off of my surgical black than I do off of my translucent.

Originally Posted by eleblu05

i'm not to fond of norton's translucent's they all look the same i have heard stories that they bond their translucents . dans is the best place for arks all you need is a soft and a translucent if your translucents arent flat i would send them back if you can if not you'll have to lap them flat once your done lapping them flat i would buy a pocket translucent flat it to and then rub it on you lapped translucent to (with oil)smooth it out here are a few of my arks frist pic a few arks second a lilywhite washita third pic blue & black surgical ark forth pic two translucent and a black surgical fifth pic translucent with light behind it sixth pic multi colored translucent enjoy

By bonding their translucent's do you mean bonding them to other stone to create a double sided hone or mixing the Arkansas stone dust in a binder? Either way these are neither. They are pure natural stones. I have seen many nortons recently and I can say that there is really a big difference in the appearance of them from stone to stone. The ones I have look significantly different from each other though my pictures didn't do a good job to capture this. Though I read that the stones cannot be rated by appearance the translucent ones are more dense pure noviculite and have less variation in appearance then say the soft Arkansas. I do like the Dans and I am not partial to Nortons, these are just what was available from the place I got them from at the time. As far as lapping them I was surprised at how flat they were. I removed a pencil grid twice for each stone for each grit starting at 120, 240, 320, 400, and 600.
What lubricant do you prefer on your stones when honing razors?

Sean

sewing machine oil

Yesterday i emailed Dan's about a 1 inch wide stone just for my razors and i asked which was finer surgical black or translucent,they replied today saying that the surgical black is the finest stone they have,i was going to get a translucent cut but i'll get it done in black now,as for the edge i've always loved the silky smooth finish and i've never used another stone that comes close but they're slower than most others i've tried

both the translucent and the surgical black are in the same class of stone based on the specific gravity under density standards both stones are 250+ translucent cost more because they are a rarer stone to find i do have a finisher in a translucent and in a surgical black i have noticed the translucent has a little more resistance when the razor is on the stone ,the black ark feels like your running the razor across glass both do the job very well my translucent (200-250 round trips)is a little faster then the black ark(250-300+ round trips) when finishing on my ark i come off of a sgs 16k

Well I tried the first stone yesterday. It was the plain clear white translucent. There were a few interesting things I learned about it. I used a Greaves and sons 7/8" 1/4 grind wedge with a slight smile. I picked this because it needed honing. I first honed the razor on my Naniwa SS's to 12k. [Note: this razor seemed to be a noticeably softer steel than the other two Sheffield I own, one a W&B the other a John Clarke & sons. It is my favorite shaver when used with my normal honing routine.] I used a light film of Singer sewing machine oil.
I did 70 laps total just as a starting point. I then washed the blade. And the first thing I noticed is that the scratch pattern was very visible when viewing the edge reflection under a bright light. I didn't view edge through my loupe (should have). The edge had dropped back down in Sharpness indicated by sharpness test. Close to my 8k. Knowing my very unscientific tests mean squat when it comes to shaving I went ahead and stropped it. After stropping 60&60 I had an amazing increase in keenness. It was similar to the jump that I get from a coticule after stropping. The bright scratch pattern is gone when looking at the edge under light. Looking through loupe the bevel is very uniform scratch pattern and the edge looks very clean (no micro chipping). The sharpness test was very very similar to 12k. I will shave test when I get in from work in the A.M..
Has anyone had the same experience with a big keenness increase after stropping razors honed on Arkansas stones? Or is this just a fluke. I don't get much when just using synthetics, just slight increase. I get a little more after Escher stones. I always get a nice jump after coticule, but this Arkansas seemed to be even more than my coticules. I have no idea why that happens. Must be some property of the stone that leave certain patterns on the very edge of the blade. Toothyness or lack thereof? Or maybe I'm just demented.
Anyways, I'll post shave test results when I get the chance. If anyone cares to read it.