Thread: Any Arkansas users out there?

I read that the abrasive in arkansas stones is novaculite which has a
hardness of about 6.5 Mohs scale, about 69HRC. Arkansas stones,
and other natural stones are good for carbon steel, but not for steels
containing chrome and tungsten. The abrasive in jnat's quartz is a bit
harder, 7 mohs scale.

Originally Posted by eleblu05

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 !

This will be interesting. Good luck with the flattening.

Originally Posted by eleblu05

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.

Should I try resurfacing it? Maybe with a Norton flattening stone or sandpaper? I use gun oil on it.

Now I'm going to have to get a few Arkies.

I've already got RAD. You guys are doing your damn best to give me HAD.

Originally Posted by Crotalus

Should I try resurfacing it? Maybe with a Norton flattening stone or sandpaper? I use gun oil on it.

Now I'm going to have to get a few Arkies.

I've already got RAD. You guys are doing your damn best to give me HAD.

i would put oil on top of the stone. let it sit there for 20 min's to see if it would lift the dirt or swarf out of the pores. then wipe the oil away .

Originally Posted by SharpMan

I read that the abrasive in arkansas stones is novaculite which has a
hardness of about 6.5 Mohs scale, about 69HRC. Arkansas stones,
and other natural stones are good for carbon steel, but not for steels
containing chrome and tungsten. The abrasive in jnat's quartz is a bit
harder, 7 mohs scale.

novaculite is the name of the stone not the abrasive it mean's razor stone. the abrasive is microcrystalline quartz
it is also recognized as a re-crystallized variety of chert. It is a high-purity silica, composed of more than 99 percent pure silica.

Originally Posted by regularjoe

So as always I'm cruising the internet, reading about rocks, looking at pictures of rocks, sometimes throwing rocks. I come across a site telling me the quartzite crystal abrasives in an Arkansas stone are 3-5 microns in size, and the stone is over 98 percent made up of the quartzite crystal abrasives. While a coticule is working in the 5-10 micron range with 30-40 percent garnet content. I think most who've honed on both would say the preference is for the faster cutting coticule. But this just got me to thinking about slurry on an Arkansas, and it's possible effects. I'm no scientist...just a regularjoe, but I'm curious about it. Anybody fooled around with slurrying a Surgical Black or translucent?

Arkansas hones do not slurry....
Use them with oil so the swarf can be wiped off.

Having said that I have a black that had a terrible surface that
required lapping to be flat. Then it required "conditioning" to remove
the scratches that lapping flat left on it. For me conditioning
took some 8k carborundum grit and the flat of an old kitchen knife.
Once I got the surface 'polished' it started to improve the edge of
my razors instead of abusing them. They seem to be better
on old softer steel than the hard stuff from TI or upper New York state.
I guess I could have used slurry from a rubbing stone instead
of the 8k carborundum grit that I had on hand. Once the surface
is right no slurry is needed or desired (IMO).

At this point I am a Naniwa fan. Arkansas hones are just not
in the same league for razors when used the way I use hones.

The black with oil is a good way to keep your razor oiled...
and that can be a good thing.

I agree with you regarding the slurry thing on Arkansas stones as well as using oil only, but lots of folks don't seem to believe that concept. See my earlier post. It always puzzles me a bit when people ask for information, they get good information and proceed to ignore it. I mean, at least ask a question or two about it if you disagree and don't understand. But most just ignore and go on like nothing was said. Seems strange to me.

As far as using a black arkie on a razor, I think they can polish up an edge ok - just used one on my TI with good results. But I used an old really dense Norton black and they seem to be more dense, heavy and smooth than the current offerings. Of course, I haven't spent the time to resurface one of the contemporary black arkansas stones offered and break it in like the old stones were, but I don't even think they are the same animal. I have 3 of them, and they are so dense and hard and smooth that even though they are 40 years old and some used heavily, there isn't even the slightest bit of wear on them. The old one's just don't seem to dish. I have never even seen one for sale that was dished. All were smooth and level.

I don't use my arkansas stones for anything but final polish on razors though, as they are so much slower than other options and anything but the final finish stones leave too many deep scratches to deal with.

stonehenge i also use my trans/black ark the same way for final polish . i use synthetic's up to 8k or 16k. then on to the trans/black