Arkansas options

[Empire straights]

Ah, as you say - I'm sure I'll come round to it with a bit more practice and understanding! My main problems are the speed and that I find the feedback extremely difficult to read, especially using oil. And because I have dozens of other types of finishing stones that I find easier - I've never really put a massive amount of time in with the arks for razor honing.

The majority of sharpening I do is freehanding knives from blue paper steels, and the black is really not very good for that, whereas white translucents I think can be. I was just being slightly flippant in my first post . I don't doubt at all that they're very good indeed for finishing razors, once one has the knack.

Lap it somewhere between 220-400 and don't burnish it. If it feels too rough on the feedback(I doubt it will) lightly condition it with a bbw slurry stone or a soft washita. I don't notice much difference in edge feel from a burnished one and non burnished one but how it cuts and gives feedback will be pretty different. I think over lapping/ burnishing is part of why so many have trouble with hard Arks. They will cut steel, some relatively quickly, though I see people say they don't really cut. The touch you use(pressure/ torque) will be important once you rough it up, as opposed to just feeling like you're skating on glass, but if you're using mineral oil you won't have problems.

 

[R7photo]

I own a 8x3-1 dans surgical blk
Was told it was choice cut by dans
I waited several months, pandemic stoppage , no staff etc i guess but was worth wait
Came completely flat and not one imperfection on stone is noted
It produces amazing edges and is a work of art produced by Mother Nature
Size is overkill but i went big,,