Thread: Translucent Arkansas Hone idea.

Hey guys,

So I may have a spare TINY translucent arkansas hone. The hone measures 10cm x 3cm x1cm. I have seen a lot of people talking about these hones and basically was wondering if people would like to pass one of them around? With the hone ending at my house in the end lol. I got this idea from somebody passing a Kamisuri around. Would people be interested? If there is interest then when I get my larger arky I would be happy to post this one around for people to use and report on.
So what do you guys think?

Carl.

By the time the test is done, way more money will have been spent on postage than on the hone. Pocket hones, even translucents can be had cheap. Better off just running a post like janorton or the cnatathon. People who have the stones can join in. Ark-gust anyone?

-----Michael

Yeah by the time the test is done ... but each individual will benefit from trying it at a low cost of postage. You can't get a translucent Arkansas stone cheaply at any size. Not lower than $5 postage anyway lol. This idea is for those that can't spare the cash but want to try, or are unsure and want to try without shelling for a hone etc. The idea is being thought out by the mods anyway to see if it is ok.

I wasn't really doing this for the reports, that was just so people would get to read all about what other people think, I was just offering to give those who dont have one a chance to try one.

Carl.

Originally Posted by straightrazorheaven

The idea is being thought out by the mods anyway to see if it is ok.

As this is not a giveaway or a promotion but a simple pass around you can go ahead with this Carl.
Just a note that it is still required to check with a moderator before any initiatives of any type are undertaken.
Thank You ~ mod team

Just as a heads up to people who may be worried about the price, and what they're going to get.

I have had nortons and dan's HTA stones. I would think an antique or dan's HTA will be finer than the nortons. I'm not sure exactly what the nortons is, it doesn't give me the same impression of a cut piece of natural stone, and it's a bit more coarse.

Dan's pricing philosophy didn't mesh with mine, but their second stones are actually really good quality and someone on a woodworking board clued me in that they dumped a whole bunch of 8x2x1/2 inch translucent hones on the sierra trading post (who coincidentally gives you a fat coupon if you register on their site).

It ended up costing me $37 to get the dan's 2nd HTA, and I sold off my norton. I also have a norton HTA slip, and it is fairly coarse and very homogenous like the bench stone was.

Like any other natural stone, there seems to be a variation, and if you're trying an HTA, you want two things as far as I can tell to judge how they'll do with a razor:
1) a stone that's been used a bit so the surface is settled in (you can do this yourself, but just warning to not judge the stone by how it cuts the first time you use it - novaculite settles in finer fast enough that it won't be long before the stone gets much finer)
2) you want one of the finer HTA stones to begin with, and the ones that you definitely know are natural (antique or otherwise) seem to me to be finer stones based on my very small sample, and based on the description other people have given me about their HTAs.

I would rate the dan's 2nds that I got at least twice as fine as the nortons HTA, and the equal of any 8k waterstone I've seen in fineness on carbon steel (slower cutting of course). I shaved off of it OK, but I have finer stones, so I leave it in the workshop bench for tools.

I do know someone (at least via the internet) who says they've been shaving off of the black arkansas they use for woodworking for 40 years, but they have been very careful to keep the stone flat in use with tools so that they'll never lap off the fineness that the stone has settled in to.

I am not affiliated with anyone (dans, sierra trading post, nortons, etc), just making commentary based on my experience and spending. Good HTAs are hard to find, and with their cutting speed, finding one that's at least 6x2 is, i think, a good idea.

Carl,
Sorry for disparaging your idea. I hope it works out for all

Dave,
I've never seen anything to suggest that norton arks aren't natural stone.


Michael

Well, there's a difference between not being natural stone and being assembled from natural stone material. Mine was absolutely perfectly uniform (in both cases), and had (and my slip that I still use has) the look like the stone material has been put together from homogenous novaculite. I don't know if they just have that much access to perfectly homogenous material, or if they're doing a process like sintering with novaculite.

So that's not to suggest that it's not novaculite in the hones, but it's just a suspicion of mine that they're assembled, and I've seen it elsewhere. I guess someone could squelch it pretty easily with mail to norton.

That said, there are finer HTAs out there from what I've seen. They will cut slower because of the fineness, but that's not too bad on a razor. I'd like to get a hold of some large antique HTAs, but I haven't been able to do so reasonably. The closest I've gotten is an 8x2x1 that I lost at the last second on ebay for about $100. I need a stone like that like I need a hole in the head, though.

I think they are good stones for razors (the fine ones), but for a straight shave right off of a stone, I think there are many that are better.

I am not in any way trashing norton, I have gobs of norton abrasive products (including gobs of stones), just trying to be objective.