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Arkansas Love...Let's see those Arks!

For mixing with the food-grade mineral oil. I just got some 4 oz. plastic squeeze bottles and am planning to mix up a little homebrew.

I edited my remark after posting as I saw that you had already explained your use with the grain alcohol. See above. Norton's food-grade honing oil is also less viscous.
 
I edited my remark after posting as I saw that you had already explained your use with the grain alcohol. See above. Norton's food-grade honing oil is also less viscous.

Yeah, I have read good things about the Norton oil. I should buy a small bottle next time I purchase a stone. According to the SDS, the stuff is 100% mineral oil:

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To answer your question about the mineral oil with Everclear, I liked it, but I had applied the mineral oil and Everclear onto the stone separately. Next time I will mix it up in a small squeeze bottle, experimenting with the ratios.
 
Would the 5% water in it ever pose a risk? I'm not familiar with this... but when I oil hone, I usually just lightly wipe the blades after to leave some oil on there. Could water molecules get trapped under the oil against the blade if there was a minimal water content in your honing medium?

I didn't take og chem, so behaviors of alcohols, etc is not my forte.
 
I don't know but probably best to wash the blade with a little soap and water, and then apply straight oil (if necessary).

I should add that the mineral oil I bought is pretty light, so who knows if I will ever make much use of the Everclear. Too bad I was not able to find a smaller bottle. Whatever, I really want to try the different "food-grade" options, and hopefully my over-21-year-old kids will make responsible use of what remains.
 
I have to say that I am really enjoying hand holding the 6" x 2" stone, and am contemplating buying a 6" x 2" x 1" soft and/or hard. But as a newcomer, I want to convince myself that I have developed enough control holding the razor with just one hand before pressing the buy button.

If you think about it, buying 12 cubic inch stones (6" x 2" x 1" or 8" x 3" x 0.5") is way cheaper than buying 24 cubic inch stones (8" x 3" x 1"), and becoming proficient on a 12 square inch surface (6" x 2") could result in more options when buying natural stones.
The smaller stones can be had dirt cheap and Smiths produced some very high quality stones. As a user and not a collector I don't have anything against the 1/2" stuff either.

I have less trouble with skipping and sticking on smaller hand held stones. The sticking is much more subtle on arks but I can feel the blade going harder into the stone.

This little black ark just came in the mail today and I would call it a translucent. It doesn't pass much light but some. It's a 2 x6x1/2 with what I suspect is one good side. Perhaps a second quality from Natural Whetstone Co?


 
Yeah 1/2" hard arks are a lifetime stone for most things... certainly for razors (only worn out hard ark I've ever seen was from a watchmakers set... My guess is from constant leveling after gouging with the tiny watch engraving pieces).

The 1" thick ones seem to hold/increase value better... probably because they just feel like more of a lifetime/givetoyourgrandkids sort of product... but for a user, 1/2" thick are fine.


It's a Smith's, Bow? I'm not sure. Anyone know what mine they buy from?
 
Yeah 1/2" hard arks are a lifetime stone for most things... certainly for razors (only worn out hard ark I've ever seen was from a watchmakers set... My guess is from constant leveling after gouging with the tiny watch engraving pieces).

The 1" thick ones seem to hold/increase value better... probably because they just feel like more of a lifetime/givetoyourgrandkids sort of product... but for a user, 1/2" thick are fine.


It's a Smith's, Bow? I'm not sure. Anyone know what mine they buy from?
I think it's probably from Natural Whetstone Co as they seem to be the ones that market the translucent blacks. I was just commenting about how much I like some of the old Smiths stones. The lid on this one just says black hard Arkansas. Not sure how the black translucents stack up which is why I purchased it. Surface still feels factory rough so needs prepped.
 
I want to pull the trigger on a soft and hard in 6" x 2" x 1" and was thinking or ordering directly from Dan's to gain that experience. But Dan's lists these stones as 3/4-1 inch thick whereas Sharpening Supplies says 1 inch thick - and I would hate to lose out on 1/4 inch of stone.

Does anyone know if the stones from both sellers will be same or is there a risk of getting a thinner stone by ordering directly from Dan's?
 
So four shaves in off the 9lb stone and each shave was a little better than the last. Todays shave was on par with any edge I've used; perfect sharpness and comfort. Definitely a top quality ark.

It actually saved the razor. Been using a razor I was planning to list on eBay next... shaves were so good it got put into my keepers boxes. Gonna switch to another razor and see if the edge is repeatable on a wide range of razors or if this razor just absolutely loves arks.
 
Scales here...
Managed a SG read:

2.63SG

Seems virtually all Translucents and Surgical Blacks cluster in the 2.57-2.72 range. I want to go to Florida and get my hands on that 2.8 one Tim has, super curious if it has anything special about the feel.


30ish hrs post shave... still shaved as clean as immediately after a mediocre finish shave... just starting to get some shadow back. This was a darn good shave.
 
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My 6" x 2" x 1" soft and hard stones from Sharpening Supplies (SS) arrived. They look and feel nice to me! The photos are proof positive that the stones are sourced from Dan's. And these stones, which SS describes as 1" thick, are between 3/4 and 1 inches thick (just like Dan's describes them), as one stone is 7/8" thick and the other just a tad over 3/4". The proof is obviously in the pudding but so far I am very happy, especially when you consider the cost.

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One side of the soft is smoother than the other. Is there any reason why I should not lap the stone on silicon carbide sandpaper? And will mineral oil wash off the soft like it washes off a hard black or will the oil just soak into the soft?
 
IMHO, you want the soft to have a bit of tooth to it.

The soft will wick the oil a little bit... you won't be able to wipe it fully clean. If you want to try to switch between oil and water, you'll need to do a degreaser cleaning between. Honestly, even hard arks wick a tiny bit... softs a bit more and washita's can wick very little for a tight grained example to a crazy amount for extra porous ones.
 
With new stones like that at the very least you will want to go over them with a hard steel, loose grit will be rolling around on the surface if you don't. Both stones will have a break in period and be coarser than they naturally are which may be OK, but if you are thinking of doing an ark progression I would lap them both.

Nice stones BTW.
 
which grit SIC powder for flattening an Ark?

400 be okay or should lower be used?

tia

camo

Depends on how much correction is needed, but I tend to start around 120 then work through 240, 320, 400 or whatever the standard sizes are. I have some 60/80 but I think it tends to encourage pitting too easily.

I also prefer to do final finish on diamond plate for better flatness than loose SIC
 
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