Thread: can you hone with arkansas stones?

all I have got are the medium and hard arkansas, the ones that use oil and none of the local barbershops keep any of their old equipment anymore. If anyone has any ideas how to refresh an edge on these and how long it takes I would appreciate it. The razors will almost pop hairs ( they frey them more or less), and I have heard of some people using them to sharpen their razors.

the "hard" White Arkansas stone is even a little too rough for your razor if it is almost sharp. I believe you would need a Black or Translucent stone for use on razors. Someone on her does hone with them and that what I heard but don't have any firsthand experience, other than stepping down to the whit to try and remove a nick in a blade. It was too slow a cutter, so I went and bought some wet/dry sandpaper instead.

I use arkansas stones on several razors.

You can get a razor hair-popping sharp on a hard white arkansas. But it won't shave for %#$@ - the edge is just far too rough. You really need a black, translucent, or pink translucent (best), and a very light touch to get a decently smooth shaving edge. Since you don't have one already I'd suggest getting a cheap barber hone off of ebay or from Tilly, it'll be cheaper than a suitable-size pink translucent.

thanks mparker, I appreciate the heads up.

From a 'former' Arkansas stone user, my experience is that with a soft white and a surgical black, you can bring an e-bay special to shave ready status and that the resulting edge may actually be among the smoothest I've ever had the pleasure to shave with. HOWEVER, these stones cut very slowly. VERY slowly! It takes a long time to hone a razor on an Arkansas stone.

Now that I have much more experience (and a substantial collection of hones) I may try refreshing the edge on a razor with my surgical black Arkansas just to see how long it takes and if the resulting edge is as smooth as I remember.

Just another data point,
Ed

Originally Posted by mparker762

You can get a razor hair-popping sharp on a hard white arkansas. But it won't shave for %#$@ - the edge is just far too rough.

I just found this out the hard way.