Thanks for the write ups...i might pick one up after New Years.
Canadian Novaculite
- Thread starter Rugger007
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #62
Glad to hear it’s working out well for you. This is the first stone I have seen from Canada, nice to have one of our own as a great finisher.
I am Canadian and was also interested in seeing what Canadian Novaculite was like. I have no experience with Arks or any other natural stone, having started honing only about 3 months ago and using exclusively Naniwa stones. I ordinarily finish on a 12K.
The stone that I chose is small and the cost to me was C$32.75 shipped. That is somewhere between US$27 and $30 or so. I figured that I could gamble such a small amount to test the quality of the stone. My stone is pretty much identical (in colour, markings and shape) to Rugger's, just smaller. I suspect that they may have been cut from the same vein.
I tried to lap it on W/D that I had but got little accomplished. I ordered SIC based on the advice in this thread. Lapping went much better on 90x, 180x and 400x followed by a bunch of burnishing with a beater razor. The outcome was good, so off to a razor.
I selected a GD 66 which I bought for honing practice. Reset the bevel and worked through 8K and then to the stone with a bit of shave soap. I spent an unusual amount of time looking at the bevel with a loupe just to get a sense of whether I was getting good results. I ended up doing about 500 laps and checked the edge at each 100 lap interval. There was a difference each time - it was definitely smoother and there was no indication that the edge was deteriorating at all. I got a bit of swarf, but very little. It did not feel like it was cutting steel.
The shave went well. Very well actually. I had used this razor before, having finished on the 12K, so I knew that it would shave fairly well. The difference is that it is now noticeably smoother, although probably not as keen. I had to work fairly hard to get a close shave over the tougher areas of my face.
I clearly have little to compare this finishing stone to other than the Naniwa 12K. It is noticeably smoother on water alone and also on water with soap. Very little feedback, just that zen like feeling that the stone was being kind to the blade.
I'm very happy with this purchase and can sense that there will be more stone purchases coming my way.
BTW, I bought 3 GD66's for honing practice. I actually like the razor. Sure everything about them smacks of cheap, but I spent C$15 for all three shipped and that seems to be the regular price. I accept that the steel is not top quality, but if the Chinese can produce this blade for about US$3 shipped it makes you wonder how you get manufacturing jobs back to North America. If history is any guide, the Chinese will improve this process. I remember early in my law career working on a file where the Chinese Government (Minmetals) bought the largest steel manufacturing plant in Nova Scotia from the Provincial Government (the plant having been an political albatross for decades). They immediately disassembled it and shipped all of the parts back to China. Maybe now making GD blades!
The stone that I chose is small and the cost to me was C$32.75 shipped. That is somewhere between US$27 and $30 or so. I figured that I could gamble such a small amount to test the quality of the stone. My stone is pretty much identical (in colour, markings and shape) to Rugger's, just smaller. I suspect that they may have been cut from the same vein.
I tried to lap it on W/D that I had but got little accomplished. I ordered SIC based on the advice in this thread. Lapping went much better on 90x, 180x and 400x followed by a bunch of burnishing with a beater razor. The outcome was good, so off to a razor.
I selected a GD 66 which I bought for honing practice. Reset the bevel and worked through 8K and then to the stone with a bit of shave soap. I spent an unusual amount of time looking at the bevel with a loupe just to get a sense of whether I was getting good results. I ended up doing about 500 laps and checked the edge at each 100 lap interval. There was a difference each time - it was definitely smoother and there was no indication that the edge was deteriorating at all. I got a bit of swarf, but very little. It did not feel like it was cutting steel.
The shave went well. Very well actually. I had used this razor before, having finished on the 12K, so I knew that it would shave fairly well. The difference is that it is now noticeably smoother, although probably not as keen. I had to work fairly hard to get a close shave over the tougher areas of my face.
I clearly have little to compare this finishing stone to other than the Naniwa 12K. It is noticeably smoother on water alone and also on water with soap. Very little feedback, just that zen like feeling that the stone was being kind to the blade.
I'm very happy with this purchase and can sense that there will be more stone purchases coming my way.
BTW, I bought 3 GD66's for honing practice. I actually like the razor. Sure everything about them smacks of cheap, but I spent C$15 for all three shipped and that seems to be the regular price. I accept that the steel is not top quality, but if the Chinese can produce this blade for about US$3 shipped it makes you wonder how you get manufacturing jobs back to North America. If history is any guide, the Chinese will improve this process. I remember early in my law career working on a file where the Chinese Government (Minmetals) bought the largest steel manufacturing plant in Nova Scotia from the Provincial Government (the plant having been an political albatross for decades). They immediately disassembled it and shipped all of the parts back to China. Maybe now making GD blades!
Your results sound very much like mine. Slow cutter, very fine smooth edge. Not as keen as straight off naniwa 12k
Mtn Man, I figured that we had a similar experience with these stones. I'm interested now in hearing from others who have Ark experience and can make that comparison.
Even though I bought this stone as a "test", I'm already looking forward to working my next blade on it. I can see how naturals give you a different vibe in honing. Synthetics seem pretty predictable and function as advertised right out of the box and I don't get any sense of connection to them. It seems that I'm catching some kind of fever about this novaculite that I have!
Even though I bought this stone as a "test", I'm already looking forward to working my next blade on it. I can see how naturals give you a different vibe in honing. Synthetics seem pretty predictable and function as advertised right out of the box and I don't get any sense of connection to them. It seems that I'm catching some kind of fever about this novaculite that I have!
- Thread starter
- #66
Glad you guys are liking these stones. I haven’t been using mine lately, I actually put it up for trade, as I have become immersed in jnats. That said I did hone a blade on my Nakayama Kiita Iromono and finished it with 50 laps on the Canadian stone. What an edge! The Jnat edge was hyper keen and this just smoothed it right out without diminishing the keenness at all.
Anybody see the new hones they are offering on the bay?
So called "Lochinvar stone" described as "a clay matrix containing fine silica particles". They aren't giving them away but I am always interested in new rocks.
So called "Lochinvar stone" described as "a clay matrix containing fine silica particles". They aren't giving them away but I am always interested in new rocks.
- Thread starter
- #68
I picked one up before they were listed. Unfortunately I haven’t had time to play with it as I have been away but next week I will post some pictures and let you know what I think of it.
great, let us know how it works out
- Thread starter
- #70
So I finally had a chance to work on this new stone. While it may be a clay matrix with fine silica, much like a Jnat is if I’m correct, it doesn’t cut worth a darn. I set a fresh bevel on a 1k shapton gs and then raises a slurry on this new stone with a worn 400 Atoma. About 100 laps later and the only thing it managed to do was polish the 1k scratches. I then raised a slurry with a beautiful jnat tomo and had at it. It worked great as a base stone and once you dilute to water only thenstone puts a wonderful polish on the blade. The edge is Jnat sharp and Ark smooth.
My conclusion is that it is a very inexpensive and large base stone that works exceedingly well with a nagura progression and when final finished on water the edge is really beautiful. IMO it finishes on par with my Trout Stone and Black Ark (dan’s ultra fine)
Attachments
Some of my favorite stones test out I er
I've seen specific gravity stones that work very similar to true hard arks. Most of the ones function on unique densities well above tratidirion. Some are synthetic Arkansas, while others are different. I have example that test out from 3.0 all the way up to 3.6 specify gravity.
I am following along for the ride.
Cheers
I'm waffling on trying one of the Alberta stones. Any feedback on the quality would be appreciated. I have a Zulu Grey stone for finishing but mostly Naniwas from 1K through to 12K. My hope is to move to a couple of natural stones that would make a nice progression (maybe 5K-ish & 10K-ish range)
