Black Arkansas "primitive" Happy B-day to me!!!

[kelbro]

I like Smith's honing solution on my Blacks and Trannies. Norton oil on the Washitas, Softs, and Hards.

Lather on my tranny 'barbers hone' that I keep by the sink for quick touchups.

 

[David]

I second smiths honing solution. Mineral is too thick for what I like with razors.

 

[Dilbone]

Nice rock. I like these primitives; especially when the cut is so usable and creates such value.

Thanks SliceOfLife. I'm not sure exactly what I had pictured in my mind, but this isn't even close. Way better!!

I like Smith's honing solution on my Blacks and Trannies. Norton oil on the Washitas, Softs, and Hards.

Lather on my tranny 'barbers hone' that I keep by the sink for quick touchups.

I second smiths honing solution. Mineral is too thick for what I like with razors.

Thanks fellas, yes the mineral oil is soooo thick but I also don't want it running off the sides of the rock onto everything either. How is Smith's viscosity wise? It seems like some ace hardware and even walmart stores carry it, is that accurate?

 

[jeffus]

I use Norton's as well. After about 20 minutes it thins out just right. I tried baby oil but didn't like the smell, but the thickness feels good.

 

[Dilbone]

I use Norton's as well. After about 20 minutes it thins out just right. I tried baby oil but didn't like the smell, but the thickness feels good.

Thanks jeffus, I may have to do some experimenting and try a few things...I'll have to see if we have any baby oil. I don't mind the scent.

 

[Dilbone]

I got to the hardware store before they closed and got some Smith's Honing Solution. I wasn't sure what to expect...I guess I was expecting oil. This wasn't like oil at all. More like a glycerin/water solution. It wasn't bad, just evaporated faster than I anticipated. I had to keep adding several drips as I went as it seemed to go dry on me pretty quickly. I do like the fact that it is water soluble and can be rinsed off easily without having to wash the stone off when done. I'll have to play around with it some more. I may try to cut the mineral oil with mineral spirits and give it a go as well as baby oil.


I did end up getting about 400+ laps in on it again tonight. The polish on the bevel and the spine is getting better each time and the stone looks to be a bit more reflective now when held up to a light. The stone may still need some work, but I feel like it's coming along nicely. The HHT seems to be a little better than it was last night so I'll see in the morning if I get a little better ATG pass on the neck/jawline. The feedback on the stone is great, but one thing I've noticed already is that I'm having a terrible time getting the heel of the concave side of this blade to make contact on the hone. Every other hone I use is 2" so this one being 4" wide is not allowing me to really make good contact all along this blade with its curve. I had thought before it was even delivered that I would rip this down the middle on my tile wetsaw(if it could even make the cut)and have two 2x7" hones. I'm still considering it, but can't make up my mind. I'll wait until I spend some more time on it breaking it in, but I think I do prefer a narrower stone.

Oh well, here's to another great shave off an arkansas

 

[Dilbone]

The HHT still isn't where it usually is coming off of crox, but for a blade right off the stone to linen and leather it shaves pretty well. It's not quite where I'd like it from a keenness standpoint, but it is very smooth and still pretty sharp..I'd just like a bit more of a bump up. It was still a decent shave this morning, but I'm not sure it's better than the coti yet. Hopefully over the next several weeks I will notice some continued improvement from the stone.

Can overhoning on an arkansas be an issue? I know there's not much danger on a coti so my experimentation with the coti went on and on. I'm wondering if I need to start working with a different blade for a while

 

[kelbro]

Can overhoning on an arkansas be an issue?

Not really. Well, maybe with several hundred strokes. You can also apply a little more torque towards the bevel with arkies than you can with synthetics. Finishing on a coticule or thuringian is usually done with little to no torque, arkies usually need a little.

 

[kcb5150]

Sewing machine oil is good

 

[Dilbone]

Sewing machine oil is good

Good to know thanks!

Not really. Well, maybe with several hundred strokes. You can also apply a little more torque towards the bevel with arkies than you can with synthetics. Finishing on a coticule or thuringian is usually done with little to no torque, arkies usually need a little.

I have a TON of laps so far on this blade but this is part of what I'm considering break in period.

Tonight I went with more pressure than I was using before for 180ish laps and the HHT is showing that I'm a bit better than last night. The stone is much more reflective at and angle to the light but still really dull looking.

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[Gamma]

Pretty Ark!

 

[Dilbone]

Pretty Ark!

Thanks Gamma!

 

[Dilbone]

Here are some daylight pics...You can see that for it to be reflective at all I've got to me at an extremely low angle...otherwise it pretty much looks like it did when I got it besides being a bit darker and a little less "grainy" looking.

 

[Dilbone]

I shaved today and it didnt seem any better or worse than yesterday. I also did another 250ish laps tonight. Half with smith's solution and half with WD-40. I actually think I like the WD better but I'm not sure it matters. I feel like the bevel is getting a better polish on it every session but I'm not sure the edge is improving at all. I don't know if it's me or if it's the stone just not being burnished well enough yet. The keeness I get from crox on cotton webbing just isn't there with the ark yet. I think the edge off the ark right now is close to the edge I get off the coti but maybe not quite as good.

I'll just keep plugging away at burnishing this stone...I may go back to a chisel for a while

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[kelbro]

Oh too bad. Sounds like you got a bad one. Sorry to hear that. It happens sometimes.

In the fraternity that is B & B, I will be the first to offer to bite the bullet and take it off your hands before you have to pay too much of a hazardous waste disposal fee. If you will cover the overnight shipping to me, I'll PM you my shipping address.

 

[Alum of Potash]

I'm not a fan of Smith's. I do like Dan's honing oil. But I wear nitrile gloves when honing with it. Norton's honing oil also works well, but I still prefer Dan's. It may have been mentioned before (haven't read all the posts), but the black that appears when honing with the Ark is swarf, not slurry.

 

[David]

but the black that appears when honing with the Ark is swarf, not slurry.

When I first got my Dans black it seemed like it was letting go of some slurry. I started off burnishing with oil but couldn't get a good polish like I wanted so I switched to a chisel under running water. This brought up a nice shine quickly, which led me to believe that the stone was letting go of slurry and keeping the surface at a matte finish with oil. I suspect they do auto slurry a bit in the burnishing stages, but I could be wrong.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Well, perhaps after lapping there was some trace of removed stone. I've mostly used my Arkansas stones with oil, so I cannot speak to water, but I've never noticed auto-slurrying. Swarf suspended in oil and on the surface of the stone is what I've always noticed. And since the Arkansas line are perhaps the hardest stones of the lot, I would think they would be less inclined to auto-slurry than softer stones.

 

[Dilbone]

Oh too bad. Sounds like you got a bad one. Sorry to hear that. It happens sometimes.

In the fraternity that is B & B, I will be the first to offer to bite the bullet and take it off your hands before you have to pay too much of a hazardous waste disposal fee. If you will cover the overnight shipping to me, I'll PM you my shipping address.

Haha, you'll have to do better than that!!! lol

I'm not a fan of Smith's. I do like Dan's honing oil. But I wear nitrile gloves when honing with it. Norton's honing oil also works well, but I still prefer Dan's. It may have been mentioned before (haven't read all the posts), but the black that appears when honing with the Ark is swarf, not slurry.

I saw quite a bit of swarf when using the chisel to burnish...I thought some would have been slurry too though. I've not seen so much as a hint of either when honing the razor. The Smith's is growing on me...only because it's water soluble and requires no special clean up other than a rinse. It smells like ethylene glycol(anti-freeze) to me.

When I first got my Dans black it seemed like it was letting go of some slurry. I started off burnishing with oil but couldn't get a good polish like I wanted so I switched to a chisel under running water. This brought up a nice shine quickly, which led me to believe that the stone was letting go of slurry and keeping the surface at a matte finish with oil. I suspect they do auto slurry a bit in the burnishing stages, but I could be wrong.

I think the chisel was knocking something loose for sure(but have no way of knowing) when I was first burnishing, even with oil.

Well, perhaps after lapping there was some trace of removed stone. I've mostly used my Arkansas stones with oil, so I cannot speak to water, but I've never noticed auto-slurrying. Swarf suspended in oil and on the surface of the stone is what I've always noticed. And since the Arkansas line are perhaps the hardest stones of the lot, I would think they would be less inclined to auto-slurry than softer stones.

Yeah, I don't imagine there's a whole lot of stone being knocked loose and if it is, then not for very long.

 

[kelbro]

I don't think that you will observe any measurable amount of slurry off any arkie while honing a razor. Washitas may let a little bit loose under a heavy load but swarf is what you are most likely seeing.