Thread: Coticule slurry on an Ark.

Originally Posted by J743

So, just to update this whole thing....

I've noticed soft arks, at least, mine, tends to clog and glaze VERY quickly, to the point where it wouldn't cut as fast. It's as if the minute I took a razor to it, I got me some serious burnishing going on. I've since relapped it, but coticule slurry seems to bugger things up. A wonderful experiment for sure, I'm not sure of it's repeat-ability. I can't put it into the right terms, but the cutting power is off now...

Has anyone taken a SOFT ARK slurry to a soft ark? I feel like that would speed up the stone and give it it's own cutting power without glazing.

I have another natural bevel setter incoming, but tonight's project, taking the hack saw to a wet soft ark, and seeing what some slurry can do.

I might try dmt 325 slurry first.

I have. It works and works well. You have to be careful not to press too hard or get too aggressive making slurry or you will have a large bit of slurry and it is like honing with a 1 karat diamond rolling around under the blade. Not pleasant. But if you take your time building the slurry it seems to speed things up and dilutes down although I doubt it is very friable. I have found that a freshly agitated soft or Washita is an EXTREMELY fast cutter so I refresh the surface instead of building a slurry now.
Try it many ways and see which you like the best. Manipulating the pressure is also a huge factor with these stones. Gradually getting lighter pressure in lieu of diluting a slurry. These stones are fun to play around with. They have amazed me so many different times by experimenting.

Originally Posted by J743

So, just to update this whole thing....

I've noticed soft arks, at least, mine, tends to clog and glaze VERY quickly, to the point where it wouldn't cut as fast. It's as if the minute I took a razor to it, I got me some serious burnishing going on. I've since relapped it, but coticule slurry seems to bugger things up. A wonderful experiment for sure, I'm not sure of it's repeat-ability. I can't put it into the right terms, but the cutting power is off now...

Has anyone taken a SOFT ARK slurry to a soft ark? I feel like that would speed up the stone and give it it's own cutting power without glazing.

I have another natural bevel setter incoming, but tonight's project, taking the hack saw to a wet soft ark, and seeing what some slurry can do.

I might try dmt 325 slurry first.

Well, I noted on mine the pores are now filled with coticule slurry. I think those pores have a good deal to do with the cutting power of the stone. Until those pores get cleared out, I think it will stay a little on the slow side. On the other hand I could be wrong, and the surface might just need a good roughing up to restore it's cutting potential. But my soft Ark doesn't seem any worse for the wear after honing several razors on it. I think it is a touch slower than when I first got it, however the last time I took a razor to it the stone could still joint and set a bevel in 15-20 minutes, so I'm content with it's performance.

Edit: Almost forgot the reason I looked this thread up! I got the soft coticule rubbing stone that I traded out with SolitarySoldier - he wanted a hard one like the one I started with, and I was curious what a softer rubbing stone would be like - and finally gave it a test. I've got to say the slurry from this stone seemed remarkably fast, either that or I'm getting much more proficient. I didn't time it to see how long it would take, but I would say it took 60 passes, then 2 sets of 20/10/5/3/2 strokes to get rid of the 1K stria, and 4 dilutions with 1 set between them to get it polished to around an 8K level. From there I flipped the stone to the burnished side and did a few sets on plain water.

The shave was incredibly smooth, but I guess that wouldn't be a surprise for a translucent ark. I was tempted to use it for setting a bevel, but that will probably be another project for another day.



Semi related side note: I've determined that 6"x2" is about as small as I'd care to go with a slurry stone, and 3" wide would be MUCH preferred. 8"x3" is optimal. Anything shorter than 6" long isn't that great for the honing style I use and I'd never be able to keep slurry on the stone. They're great for when you want to hold the hone in your palm and do water only I guess, but it's fairly rare that I want to do that.

Ah man that's awesome, congrats on a good shave and good honing job.

I'm glad I reached out on this thread — I can confirm the coticule slurry really filled in those pores. I actually forgot to clean in last time I honed on it, so I'm not sure if this thing can be cleaned out. Seems really in there.

I can confirm though re-lapping this thing on 80 grit sic really kicked things up a notch.

I just ordered a levant bevel setting stone from Peter, a member here, and look forward to trying a different natural bevel setter. I was pretty happy with the soft ark, but I want a little more.

I also want to try the Pyrenees stone. From the looks of it, the levant seems to be a sandstone, whereas the Pyrenees is a sandstone/slate mix. I think the Pyrenees with matching slurry might be a good option. I've read it's actually faster with slurry than a Naniwa SS 1k. Pretty impressive. I saw some scope shots that looked polished if not a bit scratchier than a Shapton 1K. I'll make a report of it on another thread.

Soft arks were good. You guys doing heavy lifting with this? Chips?

Originally Posted by J743

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Soft arks were good. You guys doing heavy lifting with this? Chips?

I use an Washita with a fresh surface to take out chips. You really have to be careful because it can get quite aggressive.

Originally Posted by Steel

I use an Washita with a fresh surface to take out chips. You really have to be careful because it can get quite aggressive.

I'm in the market for a heavy lifting chip remover.
Think a soft ark can fit the bill? Lapped, say, 80 or 60 sic? Maybe I should check out flea-pay for a washita? How do you lap the stone, for chip work?

I've got a set of pocket knife Arks at work that see use on those square 'razor blades' they put in sticker scrapers. They're labeled 'Medium' and 'Fine' which I've discovered means 'Hard' and 'Translucent.' I've taken some small dings out of those blades with that set, but I don't know if I'd be willing to set down with a soft Ark and do that kind of work on a razor. I do that at work because I don't have anything more coarse there, and the edge doesn't have to shave my face so I can get a little lazy and still have a better edge than they come out of the box lol.

I do have a pair of flea-bay razors that need an edge put on, maybe I'll see if the soft Ark can handle that in a reasonable amount of time. I'm not holding my breath on that though, the last one took the better part of an hour on a Norton 1k.

Thanks guys for the suggestions.

I cleaned out my soft ark last night with a Brillo pad and some mineral spirits. Completely unclogged the hone after a quick session my read is the cutting power is totally restored.

Now, where to find a washita.......