Its got to stay all original, if I can. Making new scales is simple, but saving the originals is what I prefer to do.
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Thanks! Care to elaborate as to why i should only lap the bottom? I was going to do the same thing i have done with my other washy. The top side will be burnished and the bottom side ill hit every now and then with a diamond plate to refresh the surface. The No.1 washita cuts pretty fast on the refreshed side, the burnished side is very slow. I will occasionally refresh the burnished side with just a few circles with a 600k rubbing stone and water. Same plans for the Lily White.
Ive never used oil on my stones. Only vegetable glycerin and water.. I believe i learned that from you.
“Care to elaborate as to why i should only lap the bottom?”
Because it is flatter already. Never burnished a Lilly White. From the White I go to a Translucent or Surgical Black, that has a 600 and a burnished side.
If you are going to use both sides, then you will have to flatten both sides. 60 grit loose Silicone Carbide on a steel cookie sheet will get you flat quickly.
Gotcha. That makes sense. I do want to use both sides though. My other two arkie type stones have a burnished side (top) and a refurbished side (bottom).
I have SiC and float glass. Im also hoping the lapping will lighten up the surfaces a little. Under a scope i can see the usual quartz matrix and some small black inclusions which im assuming are left over swarf from previous use.
We shall see..
The starts aligned and the wife (yes by the way i got married) is at a class this evening so im fixing up this Washy.
Dirty dirty stone.
Attachment 315315
After about 45 minutes on 90 grit SiC on the bottom which was the 'Flat' side..
Attachment 315316
Dressed up the edges on the bottom.. still need to hit the top. To me it looks like a big white razor honing candy bar.
Attachment 315321
Comparing the color to the No.1 grade Washita.
Attachment 315318
Thanks for looking. I truly missed sharing this stuff with you guys, or anyone for that matter.
Feeling a little horse today.
;)
Slicing up some horse hide into 2.5” wide strips for strops.
Proving a challenge one handed and also scary to start as until you do, you haven’t buggered anything up either hehe.
Cheers gents.
100% neatsfoot oil.
Attachment 315335
Follow directions on box, but let them soak in solution for an hour or more.
I do mine in a zip lock bad, inside a plastic container.
You don't want this stuff to touch "anything" you don't want black. Especially your skin.
After u rinse, u can either polish the scales, or leave them a matte finish.
If your going to do any repairs using CA, you'll have to do them after dying the horn. Dye will not penetrate CA, but will epoxy.
Here's what happens if you do the CA, before dye.
Attachment 315337
Just learned that the hard way! Not really a problem, because the scales I'm working on have nibbles out the edges, no big nibbles out of the visible sides.
I did have problems with the hair dye taking, it stained some parts of the scales and not others:
Attachment 315345Attachment 315346
Part of the problem was some CA on the inside of the scales. I sanded this off, and tried again, and got a slight improvement, but not much. I did a bit of research and found one source which said that horn will not take dye if it is polished too highly (https://sharprazorpalace.com/attachm...pamphlet-1.pdf) I had got a pretty nice finish on the scales, so I roughed them up a bit again, and the dye took a little better, but still only in patches, though they are now darker:
Attachment 315347Attachment 315348
Anyone else experienced this? Is this just life in the big city?