Arkansas for touch ups?

[poppy926]

Just because I want to try for myself. I was wondering what to go with? Hard translucent or hard black? Is there a difference between black Surgical and just hard black?

[ScottGoodman]

Typically, most of us don't recommend Arkies for straight razors. Good for knives, but very sketchy for straight razors.

For your first touch-up stone I would recommend a barbers stone, Naniwa 12K, or Shapton GS 16K.

[poppy926]

I have been using a Nani 12K for about 6 months now. I just want to get one to experiment with for myself. I have no aspirations of honing for living its just for me. I know some people swear by them and some people swear at them. Its a "curiosity" for me. And if I am unable to produce a shaving edge I will add it to my knife sharpening kit. Working a 4 on 4 off schedule I have the time to use the slow as molasses stones.

[Theseus]

If I'm not mistaken, there are hard blacks, surgical blacks and translucent. The hard blacks are basically the same as the hard whites, maybe a little finer. Surgical blacks are dark colored translucents. Translucents are, well, translucents. Surgical blacks or translucent arkies will work quite nicely with straight razors if you have patience. They take a lot of laps. You can use soapy water, honing solution or thin oil on the stones. I personally find that sewing machine oil works best with arkies but YMMV.

[Gamma]

There's nothing sketchy about using an Ark for touching up or honing a straight. Like any other natural stone - there will be subtle differnces between one stone to the next; but if you buy a quality stone it'll work just fine. Translucent, Black, and True-Hard (usually, but not always, white) are fine for touching up. So are some of the harder 'Hard' Arks.
As stated - soapy water or oil of your choice is going to work fine as a lubricant. Don't use off-the-shelf mineral oil though.. like the stuff in CVS or Rite Aid. I find that stuff to be too thick.. Tree Spirit mineral oil is good, food safe, and it's thin enough. I use water with a tinge of dish soap.. works fine for me. Some get better results with oil though.
Yes - they're slow. But I'm not in a rush so I'm ok with that.
Lapping them flat is hard work - but very satisfying...

[Wintchase]

I have a hard white that I use. Seems to work fine. My best for touch ups has been my old hone (my first one). An Enders oak leak.

[poppy926]

Thats what I was looking for. I think I am going to try to find a Translucent and see how that goes. Thanks guys.