Thread: Dry Honing... Arks

Originally Posted by myersn024

I've got a translucent Ark that I've been using as my primary finisher for a few weeks, and the edges are just ridiculous, especially on harder steels. With mine, I've found that 100 x-strokes using Smith's honing solution gets me to the sweet spot. How many strokes are you using to finish on your Surgical Black?

Honestly it depends on how hard the metal is. On my Morley when using the black ark wet it took me 300+ I only counted to 200, then kept going, but on my Shumate it only took 100.

With the Hard Ark dry, I took an edge on a Wester Bros. that had a few minor blemishes/chips on the edge from rust and did 50 Circles each direction with a little bit of the weight of my hand added to the weight of the razor, then did 40 each side, then 30 down to 10... Or 150 total reps Turned it over and did the same thing on the other side of the Hone. Then just weight of the razor 100 laps, and added another 50 after looking through my 30x jewellers loupe. Then moved to my surgical after I saw the bevel had been set and did 20 circles with a little added weight from my hand on each side turned it over and did another 20 with just the weight of the razor, no added pressure. Stropped it on linen, cotton, then leather.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

This is not only a YMMV but a Your Stone Will Vary, you gave to finish the same razor both ways to decide which gives a better feel to your face

A +1 to that too. Even if they are the same brand , the razor will not necessarily be exactly the same. So many variables with this sport it is difficult to compare with exactness.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

This is not only a YMMV but a Your Stone Will Vary, you have to finish the same razor both ways to decide which gives a better feel to your face

I used to do this with coticules. Ended up thinking (as someone else suggested) that I was honing on residual moisture anyway. My experience was that it's a bit as above.

There's a great article on honing in the '77 Popular Science Mag. Just look under: Dry honing Popular Science Mag.

My favorite stone is a hard Arkansas. I usually use it dry, which works very well for me. With water, lather or oil it still works well; can't say if it's much different than without. If you're referring to the expert John Juranitch, I believe he wrote that a honing fluid on a frangible stone like silicon carbide sharpens less well becauseithose tend to form a slurry. Slurries cut fast but actually can dull a fine edge.

use oil for best results on oil stone's, you can use the stone dry but the stones pores will clog fast thats what the oil is for. once you clog the stone's pores you'll have to either lap it or let oil set on the stone to soak in and then boil the oil out of the stone to lift the swarf out of the pores.

I pretty much always use my Swaty dry, then again I'm only doing 3-5 strokes. I've tried Escher and my Charnley. The Charnley seems so penetrated with oil, I don't think it matters much anyway. I've also done this with my (OS) Nakayama Maruichi Asagi, It seems to excel when dry. I wouldn't do a lot of work, or lot of strokes, more a finishing thing, very few strokes, 10 maybe....YMMV.

Originally Posted by eleblu05

use oil for best results on oil stone's, you can use the stone dry but the stones pores will clog fast thats what the oil is for. once you clog the stone's pores you'll have to either lap it or let oil set on the stone to soak in and then boil the oil out of the stone to lift the swarf out of the pores.

I've used Arkansas stones for decades, mostly with oil and believed as you about clogging. However for last 3 years or so I have been using them dry, and cleaning them occasionally with water or water with a little dish soap. (I usually hold the stone upside-down when rinsing so that the water drains away from the stone.) The swarf seems to wash out of them quite well, and I haven't observed any glazing of the stones.

Originally Posted by JeffR

I've used Arkansas stones for decades, mostly with oil and believed as you about clogging. However for last 3 years or so I have been using them dry, and cleaning them occasionally with water or water with a little dish soap. (I usually hold the stone upside-down when rinsing so that the water drains away from the stone.) The swarf seems to wash out of them quite well, and I haven't observed any glazing of the stones.

i'm sure this is true with razors using lite pressure but using oil helps break the surface tension and give a better edge imo