My hone: is it suited for straight razors?

Hi there!

I bought, some time ago, a little kit made of a straight razor (a Dovo 5/8 "best quality" half-hollow ground, i presume), a strop and a hone.
No problems on the razor or strop departments. And, so far, I've had some great shaves with this little razor, plus the strops I make for myself and others (free of charge, but tradable for items of equal estimate value... :D).
Now, the hone is a different thing. I've read a great deal about the Norton 4K8K and the coticules. But my hone is neither one of those. It's a Col. Conk Arkasas. It is a very smooth to the touch stone mounted on a woden paddle that, on the handle, reads, in red print "Col. Conk Surgical Arkansas". I don't know the grit of this thing... does any of you know these hones? Do you know the grit of it? Is it suited for straight razor honing? Do I need to lap it? And if I do need to... how do I do such a thing?

Thanks for the help, guys!

Always check any new hone for flatness. The most economical and efficient way of lapping, used by many, is generally to use a DMT D8C 325 coarse plate with water and light pressure. The D8C also has other uses. Check Hone lapping 101 for detailed instruction on lapping.

I've never used the Col. Conk hones so someone else will have to answer about it's grit, etc... , sorry.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fpessanha

Hi there!

I bought, some time ago, a little kit made of a straight razor (a Dovo 5/8 "best quality" half-hollow ground, i presume), a strop and a hone.
No problems on the razor or strop departments. And, so far, I've had some great shaves with this little razor, plus the strops I make for myself and others (free of charge, but tradable for items of equal estimate value... :D).
Now, the hone is a different thing. I've read a great deal about the Norton 4K8K and the coticules. But my hone is neither one of those. It's a Col. Conk Arkasas. It is a very smooth to the touch stone mounted on a woden paddle that, on the handle, reads, in red print "Col. Conk Surgical Arkansas". I don't know the grit of this thing... does any of you know these hones? Do you know the grit of it? Is it suited for straight razor honing? Do I need to lap it? And if I do need to... how do I do such a thing?

Thanks for the help, guys!

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Lapping an Arkansas is an endeavor in itself. The good new is you don't have to!

The bad news is that if it is a white hone, or white with grey flecks it really isn't fine enough for your razor.

It would be fine enough to use for chip removal, but the Arkansas cuts so slow it would be easier to do it with a 4000 Norton.

If it is a Translucent pink or a solid black it is fine enough for your razor, but again it will cut sloooooooooow.

I use a white hard Arkansas on all my kitchen knives and does a really nice job but they are all soft carbon steel and don't need a razors fine edge.

A "Surgical Arkansas" is usually the black stone that is about on par with the Translucent Arkansas. Is yours black?

Those stones have a pretty wide range of grits, some report as much as 10k other say more like 6k. So that stone might be suitable, but it might not be. Just depends on the stone.

Lapping should be unnecessary because the arkansas stone is intended to be an oil stone, which means it doesn't form a slurry at all, and doesn't wear down like a water stone.

Thanks for the replies, guys.
The thing is I'm no hone expert and the grit thing is something I cannot recognize since I have no point of reference such as holding and feeling a stone that I can be sure of the grit. This stone was sold to me as part of a second hand kit I bought.
The stone I have is grey... light grey. I don't know if that makes it a "grey" stone, bu I'll post some pictures and, if you would be so kind as to look at them, maybe you can help me out a little more.
Thanks again.

A gray Arkansas stone is possibly a Translucent Arkansas, put it up to a light source to see if it lets a little light through instead of completely blocking it out.

If it is a Translucent then it is probably a good stone for razors, again the grit is variable, so you'll probably just have to try it out.

This link has a picture of a Translucent stone: NORTON Hard Translucent Arkansas Stone - Woodcraft.com

Attached is a picture of mine.

well, russel... I setted the controls for the heart of the sun (pink floyd fan here...) since the sun is the shiny... and it seemd that no light passed though the hone. It is mounted on a paddle and I didn't pull it out, so...
I took some photos and this is what it looks like:
This a picture of it... I'm the one holding it and the light probably isn't the best.
Attachment 11735

This is a close-up so we can figure out the grit...
Attachment 11734

Maybe I can post some better pictures some time soon. But let's hope this helps out.
Thanks!

No, that is not a good choice for finishing razors.

Looks like the hard white to me.

Also should have said earlier, but if its a col. Conk it is the white Arkansas. I've seen that brand in person.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fpessanha

This is a close-up so we can figure out the grit...
Attachment 11734

Maybe I can post some better pictures some time soon. But let's hope this helps out.
Thanks!

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FWIW you can't figure out the grit of a stone by looking at a picture of the surface.

It seems that your stone is indeed unsuitable for honing.

But barber hones can be found for reasonable prices. And if you have spare strops, you could get some pastes for finishing the edge.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by heavydutysg135

FWIW you can't figure out the grit of a stone by looking at a picture of the surface.

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Ok... I thought that the close-up picture might help, but it's a silly thing to assume such a thing. Thanks for the notice, heavydutysg135.

But now I'm confused! Some of you say it's not adequate, some of you say it is... where do I stand in this wole thing? I'm a newbie and I don't have any reference of what an adequate stone looks or feels like... do you think that, needing to touch up my razor I should use this hone or not? Really... I'm a bit confused right now. If you will, help me shed some light on this mater...

Thanks again!

oops... I'm no longer confused, guys... I miss read Russel's last post. :fim:
Nothing else on this hone, then, right? Maybe I can use it for kitchen knives?

Any of you know where I can find a reasonable priced barber hone? Or a lapped norton combo 4K8K or a coticule? It seems that they are good choices.

Sorry for the last post. Thanks again

Antique stores and flea markets can turn up some very inexpensive and fine old barber hones. Ebay is another choice (often more expensive than the former two). Most barber hones will need to be lapped. DMT D8C recommended at around 35 dollars, also useful for all your knives.

One honing solution that will never need to be lapped is a DMT D8EE 8,000 mesh and 0.5 chrome oxide on leather or balsa.

I, myself, prefer the barber hones for touch up and finishing. Finding out what you like the best is the fun part (sometimes).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fpessanha

Thanks for the replies, guys.

The stone I have is grey... light grey. I don't know if that makes it a "grey" stone, bu I'll post some pictures and, if you would be so kind as to look at them, maybe you can help me out a little more.
Thanks again.

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Sounds like a translucent Arkansas; they vary quite a bit in color; I've heard from a light grey to white to almost really transllucent (but no, you can't really see throught it)

I think I'm one of the few folk here who swear by Arkansas oil stones; I've been using nothing but for 35-40 years and can't bring myself to switch. I use a translucent (Norton 8x3") for my 2 straights. It gets them pretty dam sharp and fine. I personally like that they are slower than water stones; makes it a little harder to screw up by going too fast, but yes it is, as another poster says, s---l---o---w.

I've read in some places that a translucent Arkansas is pretty much the equivalent of about a 10 to 12,000 waterstone; and in other places that it is only about the equivalent of an 8,000 waterstone; who knows? What I do know is that my razors get shaving sharp, little to no drag or irritation.

Which should you use? Damned if I know, but you are getting excellent advice here from many members. Decide on how much you can afford for a stone, then go shopping at the recommended sites.

Yeah, I know, that's not a lot of help;=)