Thread: Arkansas Stone

Will an Arkansas sharpening stone work for at least decent results?

I have used translucent arkansas stones and they are nice, but incredibly slow - the slowest I have ever used.
Also they are not really very fine so they won't put a really great edge on your razor. I have now stopped using mine because I found it to be less than the 8k norton.
Not sure about the other arkansas stones though.

all the research i could find suggests that the Hard Arkansas is around 1200 grit, the Surgical Black is 5k-6k and the Translucent is somewhere above that. i definitely could be wrong though and i know there are some guys on here that have and use them. i have a Surgical Black Arkansas and did use it somewhat successfully(its not perfect, but not bad) to refresh my razor in combination with a CrOx strop. from what i hear they are slow hones but i have nothing to compare mine to, but every post i have read says this. i would have already bought a translucent but they are pretty pricey. i posted a thread on this once and most said they are good but because they are slow they don't use them regularly. hope that helps a little as i am still new.

translucent Original Arkansas,super fine oil stone (aukcja 360083971963) - aukcje eBay.pl | Zakupy bez granic!This is who I bought mine from. He is sometimes around here and used to sell the wapienica razors, but I didn't see any last time I looked at his shop.
It is possible to shave from the edge, but I don't find it particularly comfortable. You couldn't have it as your only stone because it is too slow to do any heavy work.

I don't know about the tri-hone shown above, but I have a surgical black arkansas and I gave up using it for razors.

Way too slow, and wrecked razor edges. I guess it would make a good doorstop.

The translucent arkansas ("true hard" rather than "hard") works well for me - it doesn't really remove metal so much as gives a mirror-finish to the bevel. They are sold as 'ultra-fine' for polishing bevels. It's a finishing stone used after bevels are set and refined - not a work-horse (not unless you have a few hours to spare). Grit size is a bit of a misnomer for this type of stone, too - density is more of a reliable benchmark, but for a fine, 1st quality stone you could be talking 9000 grit size or so. The 2nd quality stones have inclusions, which may well wreck an edge. Lapping is important as well - and takes forever!

Regards,
Neil

[quote=bokaba;273216]Will an Arkansas sharpening stone work for at least decent results? quote]

Hi bokaba,

IMHO, the answer to your question is "yes." I've been using the Hard Arkansas "fine" stone on a Smith Tri-Hone, which is similar to the one in your photo. The thing to remember is to use *light* pressure and a little patience.

It won't give you a "honemiester" quality edge, however. You may find in time that you will want or need a finer, more comfortable edge.

I think jockeys said it very well in his recent video when he demonstrated the use of his Col Ichabod Conk Arkansas hone. Paraphrasing: If you keep in mind that it's about a 3000-grit, you can get a shaveable edge, though it can be a bit harsh.

So far, using the hard Arkansas stone, along with a linen/leather combination strop has worked out well for me.

Have fun, take your time and enjoy the learning process!

Jeff

"The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner.". -Mark 12:10

Originally Posted by bokaba

Will an Arkansas sharpening stone work for at least decent results?

Not really.

Originally Posted by JeffR

Hi bokaba,

IMHO, the answer to your question is "yes." I've been using the Hard Arkansas "fine" stone on a Smith Tri-Hone, which is similar to the one in your photo. The thing to remember is to use *light* pressure and a little patience.

It won't give you a "honemiester" quality edge, however. You may find in time that you will want or need a finer, more comfortable edge.

I think jockeys said it very well in his recent video when he demonstrated the use of his Col Ichabod Conk Arkansas hone. Paraphrasing: If you keep in mind that it's about a 3000-grit, you can get a shaveable edge, though it can be a bit harsh.

So far, using the hard Arkansas stone, along with a linen/leather combination strop has worked out well for me.

Have fun, take your time and enjoy the learning process!

Jeff

"The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner.". -Mark 12:10

I've got that same Smith tri-hone. Tried it it sucked big time. I use it on my kitchen knives and softer steel pocket knives but for harder steels it takes FOREVER. The only reason anyone would use this for razors is because the haven't tried anything else.

By the way the only side that should ever be used on a razor is the hard white Arkansas side the other two are far far to coarse.

If price is an issue there are cheaper options that yield better results much faster.