Thread: Any Arkansas users out there?

Originally Posted by drwextra

Mc Wolf told me to use thick glycerin on my Arkansas Translucent I bought from him. Same as oil with water clean up.......works for me.

I/e tried glycerine on an Arkie before and didn't like it too much. To me it felt thick and kind of sticky. Sewing machine oil is still my oil of choice. If you want a good water soluble oil try Smith's honing fluid.

Originally Posted by eleblu05

+1 to what gamma said ,he hit on alot of good points. something else i would like to put out there ark's progression and how to prep your translucent or surgical black stone. first up the progression, washita is the coarsest ark its around 400-600 grit next is the soft ark 600-800 grit next is hard ark 800-1000 grit and to finish translucent or surgical black 1200+ grit. Now if you have a lily white washita you could sub it in for the hard it is around 800-1000 grit. Ok stone prep this is what i do to prep my finisher. (translucent or surgical black) dmt 325 with lite pressure so i dont pull the diamond's out of the nickle bonding, and then on to 1000 grit w/d sandpaper, this sandpaper is placed on my granite surface plate so its perfectly flat Once flatten the prep work come's in to smooth out the stone. I use a pocket translucent stone with oil to rub down the stone i'm finishing. use a pencil grid and remove it three times . last step i use a piece of w-1 tool steel (you can use any hard steel)and i rub the stone down until its coverd in swarf ,and repeat three time's. using these step's will wear in your stone and give the smoothest and sharpest edge possable of that stone !

Either I am missing something or I am confused. I looked at the Arkansas stones before I bought a set of Nortons and the grits quoted seemed much too low.

You are saying that the Arkansas stop at about 1200.

So is this the finisher or do you move on to other stones of finer grit to finish a razor?

yes your right i said the trans & surgical black are 1200+. the 1200 grit number is assigned to the size of the grit , but unlike synthetic's the grit on ark doesnt break down roll around and expose new cutting material. it wears smooth ,ark's polish as they cut so the finish on the razor after a trans or surgical black is comparable to an 8k finish. i hope this helps if you have any other question's feel free to ask !

I have what I believe is an old Arkansas.

It says Remington Honestones Remrock coarse.

I never used it much because it seemed slow.

The finish off my black/trams Ark is waaaaaaayyyyy keener & finer than one from an 8k synth.

i just received a surgical black ark 10x3x1, and after an hour of flattening i have a spot worn flat about an inch wide and the full length of the stone. this is going to be a fight. i'll start a new thread about the prep process with pic's !

Originally Posted by Crotalus

I have what I believe is an old Arkansas.

It says Remington Honestones Remrock coarse.

I never used it much because it seemed slow.

post some pic's and get it I.D

Hey fellahs, I just found this. Of course, most of the contributors to this thread are probably already familiar with this older version. At any rate, here's some more info on Arkansas stones I found in the advanced honing forum. I don't really ever go there...I figured I wasn't ready for advanced honing.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...-slurried.html

I think I've had this one for 20 or 30 years.

that look's like a soft ark . the pores look to be cloged to. the trick to washita and soft arks are , you have to let them soak in oil or let the oil sit on top of the stone for a few mintues so the oil can be absorbed before you use them.