Thread: Arkansas Stones

What is that giant hone in the middle of the second picture?

chinese stone its a natural 16x6x2

I am giving the Arkansas stones a second chance after letting them sit for 6 years. I am attempting to bring an old Sheffield wedge , a Joseph Fenton, back to life and to date, using only the Arkansas stones, the process is very, very, very slow. I have well over 2000 laps into the process so far.


If I had used only the Norton 4/8 I would have been done in about 2 hours max.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

I am giving the Arkansas stones a second chance after letting them sit for 6 years. I am attempting to bring an old Sheffield wedge , a Joseph Fenton, back to life and to date, using only the Arkansas stones, the process is very, very, very slow. I have well over 2000 laps into the process so far.


If I had used only the Norton 4/8 I would have been done in about 2 hours max.

what ark progression are you using soft hard trans/black ?

Originally Posted by eleblu05

what ark progression are you using soft hard trans/black ?

Soft, whashita, hard, translucent, finished on a black ( gold test quality).

Originally Posted by randydance062449

If I had used only the Norton 4/8 I would have been done in about 2 hours max.

Two hours?

Originally Posted by JeffR

Two hours?

Yes, I know, that sounds like a long time but it does vary for each razor and wedges take longer. And this razor was an antique store special condition to start. Oxidized, nicked up edge and all.

[QUOTE=randydance062449;912181] I have well over 2000 laps into the process so far.


QUOTE]


You obviously love this sport!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never attempted anything like that but have had reasonable success with the finished end on translucents. A learning curve on this end for me but fun to experiment with. I wonder if back honing would bring out some good honing effect since they are so slow and cut so shallow.

[QUOTE=Kingfish;912490]

Originally Posted by randydance062449

I have well over 2000 laps into the process so far.


QUOTE]




You obviously love this sport!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never attempted anything like that but have had reasonable success with the finished end on translucents. A learning curve on this end for me but fun to experiment with. I wonder if back honing would bring out some good honing effect since they are so slow and cut so shallow.

I would say more about the sequence & process I used but since I am in the learning stages with these hones I am going to hold back until I have at least 5 completed. The high number of reps is because I started with the fine hones just to see what they do on a rotten edge. After that I went back and started with the Washita and worked up. When that was not enough then I went back to the soft arkansas and started using some pressure at the beginning of each stone and finishing with light pressure. That worked the best......so far. I am still not at an edge that shaves very well. Next is the translucent & the black.


Your back honing idea may help because then you would be cross-hatching the tops of the scratch pattern and thus smoothing them out. Worth a try as long as you can restore an edge if it does damage....

my understanding was that a surgical black was a hard black, but not all hard blacks were surgical blacks.. can anyone comment?