Thread: Arkansas stone?

I've been reading this forum for awhile now and have gotten some great info. I'm a bit stumped with some of my own gear though.

I've shaprened a lot of knives in my time but honing straights seems to be at an entirely different level. Over the past month I've acquired a couple of new wapi's, a full hollow Genco and a Wostenholm Original Pipe Razor (almost a wedge I believe.) I also found a Swaty at an antique store and bought an Arkansas "surgical' stone from Lehmans who in turn I believe got it from Col. Conk. I also got a cheap strop from Sportsmans Wharehouse.

I hone each razor a bit each day and have not yet had any pass the HHT or popping hairs from my underarm. The Swaty seems to be slowly putting an edge on each razor, especially when I combine a little soap and water. I sure can't tell anything is going on with the Arkansas stone though. Does anyone have any idea what the respective grit on an Arkansas "surgical" stone might be? I sure don't want to go from a finer hone on the Swaty to a coarser one on the Arkansas. And no one at Lehmans or Col. Conk has any idea at all as to its grit.

My shaving tests are, very slowly, improving albeit still pulling and painful but since I'm making progress, I want to continue and will eventually spring for a norton 4000/8000 based on recommendations in these forums.

Thanks for the help and keep up the great, great knowledge base.

is the Arkansas black in colour?

PuFF

Originally Posted by PuFFaH

is the Arkansas black in colour?

PuFF

No, it is mostly white in color with some specks here and there. I have read of the Arkansas stones; transluent, black etc. This one I don't know about. On the handle of the wood strip its mounted on it says; "Co. Ichabod Conk Surgical Arkansas.

I have not heard good things about the Col. Conk Arkansas hones. Even with the best Arkansas hones, putting a good shaving edge on a razor requires time and skill and patience. The biggest problem with them is that they're low-grit finishing hones. With a kitchen knife you want a much lower grit edge than a razor, so a white Ark that slowly puts on a 1200 grit polish is great. But for razor honing that's like getting off the freeway and onto country roads in Iowa when you're trying to get to California. Even the very finest Arks (pink translucent) are around 6K. That'll get you to Nevada. Mparker has had good results with that but even he goes on to pasted strops from there. There are better options out there.

The Swaty is great for touch-ups, nothing more. You need a good working hone.

i thought the finer arkansas stone were in the 6 - 8k range? thats based off http://www.handamerican.com/arkinfo.html

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. As edk442 noted some of the Arkansas stones are a pretty fine grit. But since I can't seem to get a definitive answer from the Col. Conk folks I'll do what I've been wanting to do anyway and spring for a Norton stone. I'll keep playing around with what I have though too just for curiosity's sake.

I didn't mean to sound too down on Arkansas hones. I think Wojtec76 might sell some that are a very fine grit, and mparker has good things to say about the pink translucent. And Foresty Professor honed his first razor on a hard black. I've never heard any of them, however, claim that Arks aren't sloooooow.

But do an archive search here on the Col. Conks. There have definitely been some frustrated threads on these. I think you're looking at a hard white, which is ~1200 grit. Mparker's right that Arks punch above their weight, but a hard white just will not deliver a comfortable shave. I have a very nice one from handamerican that I use for kitchen knives, and I gave it a shot with a couple razors once. I was surprised how sharp and polished they got – til I tried to shave with them.

I don't mean to sound so pessimistic, but there have been discussions of these Col Conk hones, and I don't recall a single member getting anywhere with them.

I didn't take your response as pessimistic at all. That's why I posted the question; to get some critiques and advice.

I saw on another forum that while you can hone a razor on a Col. Conk stone it is so laborious and time consuming you might not want to.

As soon as I hear back from the Perfect Edge, I'll probably get a norton 4000/8000 since it is on my wish list anyway...along with a Belgian Coticule and one of Tony's strops and soap and a better brush and this, that and the other...Yes, I've definitely got the new straight razor user syndrome! And, I still haven't had a comfortable shave yet. Go figure.

Comfortable shave= Patience and practice.

Phil

I actually honed my first, well some of my first, razor on the same Colonel Conk stone, but used a barber hone for my next razors. It was very slow as in it took me about three days to get it to where it would actually cut hair, albeit not very well. I tried using it to lap an aluminum oxide hone I have which resulted in the Conk stone being completely polished and very glassy. It's about a 4-6k grit right now, and I use it whenever I need to reset a bevel, and it's noticeably improved from when I first got it.
If you're on a budget, then this stone will be serviceable for you after you get it polished, but if not, then consider it a fine stone for sharpening your kitchen knives.