Very nice stones guys! Love me some butterscotch! Tim and Duke your collections are outstanding! Those primitive cuts look cool too!
Arkansas Love...Let's see those Arks!
- Thread starter David
- Start date
Man that’s a cool story. I picked mine via email with Kim. They didn’t have any monsters at the time, but she did pick out the darkest smoothest one for me. It gets down around 1/4” in some places, but the top surface was flat as can be and up to honing standards for most people.
That’s still a rather large stone you have. I think there’s something special about the primitive cut stones that speak to certain collectors for sure. Nice find.
timwcic
"Look what I found"
Over the years i have seen several forum discussion on the subject. Are the natural or artificially influenced??? Speaking on my limited experience, I feel it to is a natural phenomenon. They came from a vein or mine that is long exhausted. The favorite three that I have, two have some basic provenance. One has a date inside, 1897, and a second, the canary, has a note in the lid stating the stone is from 1906 and box carved in 1960. I have gotten some translucent stones over the years that has butterscotch tendencies, but did not look right, blotchy and not completely colored. After a few days in a cleaning bath, they returned to a familiar state. It is possible that after decades of use, oil may impregnate a stone. Also imperfection and oxidation may influence a translucent to a warmer buttery color. One stone I got several years ago was broken in half from being dropped. It is a butterscotch stone and the deep color goes throughout uniformly. Other than being on a higher level on appearance, I find no difference in functionality between them and other translucent stones. Once again, based on my limited experience.
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
If that was the Georgia Blade Show how did I miss it? Never heard of such a thing.
Well, I did some Google homework and it was. My bad. Sounds like a great event.
timwcic
"Look what I found"
Part of my Arkie collection, Washitas in the back, Soft in front of those and an end slab Black from Dan's. the foreground translucent was also an end cut that I cut into a bench stone.
Nice end cuts
timwcic
"Look what I found"
Nice. I found one a few years ago similar that nobody would buy at the market. 2x8 on the surface and 2.5 to 1/4 on the side. I use it as a paper weight
- Thread starter
- #148
Here’s a few NOS stones.
First is a NOS Black Hard Arkansas in original wrapping. Second is a NOS No.1 Washita that’s still wrapped in the factory paper. Third and fourth are a NOS Lily White and a NOS Washita.
So that white hard ark got here and I think it's a ceramic synth. It weighs more @ 6x2x1" than any of my 8x2x1" hard arks, has no discernable sawmark or even lapping scars on any surface. Feels like a heavy glass brick. I'm gonna try to scrub it a bit cleaner.
Edit: Oh yeah, def a synthetic ceramic. Arks density = 2.7-2.8g/cm³, spyderco ceramic 3.66g/cm³, this stone 3.56g/cm³. I've had one of these before if memory serves.
Edit: Oh yeah, def a synthetic ceramic. Arks density = 2.7-2.8g/cm³, spyderco ceramic 3.66g/cm³, this stone 3.56g/cm³. I've had one of these before if memory serves.
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- Thread starter
- #150
That’s a bummer. It looked like a super pure Ark in the first pics.
- Thread starter
- #153
Did you ever soak it? Any better pics of the color?
Yeah win some lose some. Got a 7 inch washita and a frictionite 00 For 45 bucks in another gamble I purchased.
Still didn’t soak it, but I’m guessing it’s relatively close to the true color now that it’s lapped.
I can say it's definitely a LW, #1, or equivalent grade. Has the almost soft sensation and very even abrasion that the lower grades lack. A bit more aggressive than my Lily White, but that's probably because I just lapped it on a 60 grit diamond plate.
Same with the 10x2" I bought from the UK. No labels or anything, but the stone was kept immaculately. It's clearly been used, but it's perfectly square, flat, and quite clean. That one may be getting a soak to reveal the Lily White beauty I'm sure is underneath... since there's no labels to worry about and it has such a nice box to return to after the soak. That beauty is only about 20mm deep, so it was definitely well loved, but kept METICULOUSLY flat by its user.
I can say it's definitely a LW, #1, or equivalent grade. Has the almost soft sensation and very even abrasion that the lower grades lack. A bit more aggressive than my Lily White, but that's probably because I just lapped it on a 60 grit diamond plate.
Same with the 10x2" I bought from the UK. No labels or anything, but the stone was kept immaculately. It's clearly been used, but it's perfectly square, flat, and quite clean. That one may be getting a soak to reveal the Lily White beauty I'm sure is underneath... since there's no labels to worry about and it has such a nice box to return to after the soak. That beauty is only about 20mm deep, so it was definitely well loved, but kept METICULOUSLY flat by its user.
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For a hard ark, heavier is gonna be more consistent, since it's basically solid quartz, any reduction below quartz' specific gravity indicates a flaw (gap or inclusion)... for lower grades, higher density isn't necessarily good, since they're supposed to have gaps.
Ok, you convinced me (also the label halfway lifted during lapping). I scraped the label off, gonna run see if local ace has Simple Green in stock.
Just did the math my stone comes in at 2.64
Should be plenty hard to finish on...
After about 16 hrs soak in Simple Power or some other weird named purple goop that is supposed to be stronger than simple green but doesn't seem to work as well.
Here's my new 10" with my two labeled Woodworker's delights.
And the possible Rosy Red with a Lily White and an unlabeled. (potential Rosy Red is in the middle)
Here's my new 10" with my two labeled Woodworker's delights.
And the possible Rosy Red with a Lily White and an unlabeled. (potential Rosy Red is in the middle)
