So . . . since my last post, I have probably put in another two hours of time burnishing my Ark. I have also taken the broken scales off one of my Boise Razors. I cleaned it up as much as I dared without losing the blade etching, and ran it over my films (15um, 3um, 0.5um, 0.1um). Then I ran it over my ark for 200 laps. Minimal pressure just smooth strokes up and back. Shave test on my cheeks was no too bad, except I forgot to strop it first. Going to give it 100 more laps, and then 100 laps on the strop and try my cheeks again. Not trying anything else as it is surprisingly awkward to use a Straight without scales. But I am happy so far.