Let's Talk Arkansas Stones

I looked up "anal" in the dictionary. It said "anyone who sharpens a piece of hardened steel on an unbelievably hard natural stone for long enough to shave with with it".

So, you are about as anal as you can get already. May as well lap away!

 

When I look up anal, I only get this picture.

Does this mean I need to get an Arkie?

 

I think it means that you're rock headed.

 

I had the silicone oxide powder out this weekend to clean up a couple of vintage hones, so while I had it out, I did the @DaltonGang and lapped one side of my Black Arkansas to 600 and the higher end one to 1000. Haven't had a chance to play with razors on it yet, but it did wonders to speed up kitchen knife honing. I may go back and do this to my Soft and Hard Arkies too.

 

I have done this, and use both sides of my Arkies. Also, Since I don't use oil on my stones, I frequently scrub the honing surface with a soap dispensing scrub brush during honing. It seems to speed along the honing process, too.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NCUK0JO/?tag=thshde-20

Found this on Amazon. Sic powder up to 2k for those who are wanting to get an Arkie and need SiC powder for lapping. Hope this helps someone.

 

Excellent, that should be great for anyone wanting to lap an Arkie. It's a hundred times faster than using wet/dry paper.

 

I may put the acquisition of the Muhle R41 in turn to get an Surgical Black Arkie. The question I have is, I know there is a lot of good remarks for Dan's Whetstone but is Best or RH Preyda good sellers of this stone? Trying to work with budget costs in mind with also having to get the SiC powder to lap it.

 

Just about any decent black Arkie can be lapped enough to work well. I can promise you that a Dan's stone will require the least amount of prep work on your part. If you don't mind, or enjoy prepping your stone, you should be OK getting a cheaper stone. Less expensive usually means you are going to do more of the work to get it ready to hone a razor.

 

Putting in extra doesn't bother me. I've come to terms that my monthly allotment towards the hobby means somewhere I've got to compromise between ease of purchase vs manual labor put in. My main source is Amazon because of a lack of credit/debit card ability. Dans 6 x 2 is 79.99, Best 6 x 2 is 52.99, Rh Preyda 6 x 2 is about the same as the best maybe a little more with shipping.

 

I've had my eye on a Norton t white, but it's around $200. But for a lifetime investment, Norton Arkies are risk free.

 

I don't know about he RH Preyda, but I did get the Best 6x2. If I had to do it over again I would buy the Dan's stone, and spend a little more. The amount of time you will put into lapping the Best stone flat is a lot. If you want to punish yourself, get the Best stone. I am one who likes to save money, when I can, but I do know when things aren't worth the pain and effort, and this is the one case.

 

I went with another company and got a an 8X3 black Arkansas for $54.
I had some work to do to lap it smooth and truly flat...but to me it was well worth it.
I'm the kind of guy who prefers to do my own brake job on my truck to know that it was done right and with care.

Sure it's some real work to get it just right...but I got exactly what I wanted in the end.

To me, the final destination isn't as much fun as the hunt to get there.

 

You can buy Dan's 6x2 on Ebay for $55. I have one coming, I will let you know if it is the real deal or a piece of blacktop in a box.

When you go to buy your R41, if you didn't already know, you can buy the head only from Maggards for around $25. Then you can just pop it on any handle. Seems like a ton of people complain about the factory handle anyway, so maybe spending the $50+ dollars isn't necessary??

 

Might be a good idea. If they take money orders even better. I have a limited means of obtaining things at times.

 

They only list CC or Paypal, but I would ask them. They have a little message board thingy on their site. They are about the friendliest vendor I have ever dealt with, so it wouldn't surprise me if they make it happen somehow.

 

Talk to your bank about getting a secured credit card. It's not the same as those reloadable gift cards; it's an actual full out credit card, but the credit line is determined by the money you put up for security. It's a good way to get your credit repaired, or at least re-establish a good payment history.

 

According to the research I've done on RH Preyda is that they're located in Chicago, IL. Apparently, they bought out Halls' mines and their products for the Arkansas stones. Not sure if that means good or eeeeh not so good product.

 

I want to add, if I haven't emphasized it before, this Surgical Black Arkie is a great stone. I think the progression method takes a lot of the work out of using this stone. 20-30 zero pressure laps, on each side is all it takes. Less than that if you are in a hurry.
I've used it on many steel types, including cast steel. It performs flawlessly.
Happy Honing.

 

Darwin

I had some time today. So I decided to hone up my Darwin Wedge blades. Man is this Sheffield steel hard! One blade had a ton of chips. The other had one on the corner. I started with my 1k Naniwa. After 10 minutes of going nowhere fast. I switched to my 220. That made short work of the chips.

Then thru my normal progression. 1,3,8&12k Naniwa. On my 12k stone, I have taken to only give 10 or 12 laps. Then on to my Translucent Arky. 200 laps on this and the blades are wicked sharp.

I am waiting for new leather from Adam @Drygulch he cut me some new strop pieces for my Darwin. So in the meantime, I gave the blades 5 light strokes on my paddle strop, pasted with Feric oxide.

Off to shave.

Tom


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