Thread: My Trans Arkie Trials

how is the surface of your ark finished? is it burnished? or fresh out of the box? Dan's or someone else's?

Mine is a Dans trans ark. I spend a couple hours on sanding and burnishing it when i got it. 2x8 in size. Went held up to a light you can see reflections of things in the room. To the touch it feel like glass. Its that smooth. The other side i did nothing.

Originally Posted by kelbro

I found that when I moved to Translucent Arkie finishers, I didn't need to do touch-ups as often. I don't know why but the blades went several weeks between visits to the stone where coticule edges needed to go back weekly.

Just taking a wild stab at it, but under a loupe my coticule creates an edge roughly equivalent to a Norton 8K, my Arkansas stones all seem to be roughly equal to my Shapton 12k. I generally find I get more mileage out of an edge that starts it's life at a finer polish.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Mine is a Dans trans ark. I spend a couple hours on sanding and burnishing it when i got it. 2x8 in size. Went held up to a light you can see reflections of things in the room. To the touch it feel like glass. Its that smooth. The other side i did nothing.

That sounds like mine but its a 3x8. Mine is super reflective. Still trying to figure mine out though. Following your thread with interest. Best edge I got off of mine was coming off a 12k then doing a lube progression with smiths. 1/2 water half smiths then continuing to add smiths. Also used a little torque at the beginning ending with as light as I could go. Probably had about 400-500 laps when done. The edge came out smooth but similar in keenness to my 12k edges if not a touch less keen.

I know what your saying jfk742. I shaved with it again today. Was it keen, yes. No pulling or issues going thru the whiskers. The feel was less harsh than a 12k. Not that i find the 12k harsh but the Arkie edge felt like it was lacking just a little compared to a 12k or 20k. After a stroping i put it under the microscope and i see no flaws in my edge. Yes it cuts and feels more comfortable but just not as keen as im used too.

Outback has said in the past i like a keener edge than him and maybe this is what the issue is. The edge is mostlikely right, im just used to a sharper feel.

Jerry, thanks for the additoinal info. Most helpful.

What I have found with Arks is that they can vary, and for me old stones seem to be finer than “newer stones”. So, keep in mind that stones will vary.

Finishing with Arks I use more pressure than other naturals, experiment with pressure or torqueing. Inking the bevel can help you judge torque or pressure. I can finish coming off an 8k but am using a Naniwia Snow White Fuji, that leaves a near mirror finish, or 12k.

While you don’t have to be stria obsessed, you do want all the deep stria removed at the edge. If you are torqueing, stria will be removed at the edge and maybe not across the whole bevel, depending on the razor. Be careful with hollow grinds, too much torque can lift the edge off the stone.

I do not do anything near 400 laps, but do vary the pressure, (start with more, finish with less) and the amount of lube, Smiths or Ballistol on a wet stone. Start with 3-4 drops on a flooded stone and add a drop as needed, same for water. I use a squirt bottle for water and can add a drop at a time. Smiths and Ballistol, I keep in a 1oz bottle that will dispense a single drop. I push the puddle back and forth across the stone

So, the variables are, the stone, the stone prep, lube and pressure or torque. And of course, the hardness of the steel.

I also like the feel of Kapton tape on hard arks, better than electrical tape, it is thinner and slicker than electrical, so you will want to use it on your pre-finisher to get the bevel right, before finishing. Ink will tell you when you are there.

Thanks Marty. This next weekend i will play with it some more. Being a full hollow, as most of my razors are, torque is a tough one. I will ink it up and see how much i can give it. Drop at a time with the ballistol? Hell, in the end i had flooded the stone in the stuff. Ha. Sure made a mess.

A trick with hollows is to use two hands and place your index fingers on the blade over the bevels, about an inch in from the heel and toe.

You will find it does not take much downward pressure to affect the polish, remember you are polishing not grinding and you don’t need “that” much pressure. Experiment, here again Ink will help you see quickly what effect different pressure and technique will have. Colored ink is easier to see.

Jerry-Keep playing with those arkies. I just refined the edge on my big chef's knife on my 8x3" SB Ark and my usual WD-40, and am just stunned at the edge I got so easily-shredding tiny slivers of copy paper all along the edge just now.

Wouldn't it be cool if we could have meet-ups where different tables have different stone types to play with: We arkie nuts could go crazy, another for cotis, one for Jnats, etc. (Cue my sons groaning-my grown sons (1 engineer and 1 who is an outdoorsman's outdoorsman)-neither give a rat's ass about honing their many fine knives; they know Dad will take over and do it right).

That Arkie will continue to amaze you as you get to know it-and mind-blowing results can happen much quicker than you normally hear about for these stones. Keep us Arkie junkies posted!