Does anyone hone on purely natural stones? I am thinking about getting a set of arkansas natural stones and Want to know If Its viable?
Does anyone Hone purely on Natural stones?
- Thread starter MajorMinceMeat
- Start date
I do full progression on a Coticule and that works great. The translucent I have is a finisher for some razors after synthetic progression up to 8k. YMMV
Yep, me. I started with the Norton 4K/8k, and a few other synthetic stones, but now I mostly use Coticules.
If your blades are in good shape you really only need natural stones.
the only time I will vary from that is if a blade has a nick, or really needs to be bashed into shape. Then I use my DMT. But mostly, natural stones.
don’t have experience with Arkansas stones.
If your blades are in good shape you really only need natural stones.
the only time I will vary from that is if a blade has a nick, or really needs to be bashed into shape. Then I use my DMT. But mostly, natural stones.
don’t have experience with Arkansas stones.
Nowadays I do all the heavy work on my coticules and finish on my jnat. If I have to work a bevel, chips, I use mostly me Cretan hone.
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For the past several years my razor maintenance has all been done on one coticule. My knives and woodworking tools are almost completely done on naturals as well, save the JNS 300 which comes out when I get a really bad chip.
Diamonds come from nature... right?
I am 99% natural with my knives... very rarely I go to a DMT or carbo low grit to remove chips from new (to me) vintage acquisitions.
I'm 99.9% natural finishing on my razors... but up to 8k I'm 99.9% DMT.
I am 99% natural with my knives... very rarely I go to a DMT or carbo low grit to remove chips from new (to me) vintage acquisitions.
I'm 99.9% natural finishing on my razors... but up to 8k I'm 99.9% DMT.
After bevel setting I go natural all the way. Many roads you can travel.
I do everything on coticules, but there are lots of guys who prefer the arkansas stones. I have tried lots of honing methods over the years and will still play with anything, but coticules are home for me. Be careful, they are addictive and I have more coticules than razors. One is all anyone needs, but like razors they multiply.
I learned that the hard way! Think is HAD is still pretty strong on me[emoji12]
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Have you tried 8k-Coticule-Translucent?
I recently got a Translucent, still burnishing so I haven’t honed on it yet.
I've tried for a long time to get where I wanted to go with a full Ark progression. I threw in a coticule in the middle and finished on Arks and got a big jump in edges. I started using a synthetic bevel setter before the Coti and a slate after but before the Ark.......Nirvana!! I'm totally amazed with Arks for finish work but found no real love for mid range. Very doable but labor intensive. I try to ease onto the Ark finisher. Nail that edge before even going to the Ark. In my limited experience, Arks are worth the trouble and labor. Laser sharp but smooth and forgiving of my crummy technique Reluctant to cut me but not my beard.
Synthetic bevel set and natural from there. That's the ticket!
Synthetic bevel set and natural from there. That's the ticket!
Yes I have and finish some of my razors that way. Running water on the ark, or lather only can make a huge difference with no pressure. Same with the coti‘s...
I lapped my ark on 1200 sandpaper on granite top and worked a GD on it for a bit and its ready to go. YMMV
Good to know. I dressed my translucent with 600 w/d on my atoma. Been working beater razors on it with oil for a few days (sometimes only 10-15 minutes a day).
I will try to hone on it probably tomorrow.
A full set of Arks....
A soft Ark can be used for bevel setting, but it would not be my first choice for that slot. A great Washita can be used instead, but great Washitas are not available new.
Many Soft Arks are so close in hardness to so many hard Arks that it can be frustrating to build a progression. A softer soft-ark might be too sketchy, depends on the stone. It's not easy to figure out.
Hard Arks run from 'just harder than soft' all the way to 'almost true-hard'.
So achieving balance in how the stones map out can be challenging.
Skills, surface condition, and choice of honing medium can alleviate some of the mystery.
But one does not come without the other. Which came first, chicken or the edge? Skills or stones?
Yah, sure - a full Ark progression can be done and it's great to do - Arks are great stones, they make great edges when they're in the right hands.
But honestly, I have yet to see but a couple of stones cut bevels that rival those made on Choseras or Shaptons. Even the best Washita leave a bit of room for improvement in that arena. Punnily, I am literally splitting hairs here but that's what I spend a lot of time doing, comparing and judging. I have a mid 1800s Washita on my bench right now, it's one of the best things I've ever sharpened anything on, but I'll probably choose a Pro 1.5k to do the bevel on my Boker 8/8 awaiting its turn on the stones.
A soft Ark can be used for bevel setting, but it would not be my first choice for that slot. A great Washita can be used instead, but great Washitas are not available new.
Many Soft Arks are so close in hardness to so many hard Arks that it can be frustrating to build a progression. A softer soft-ark might be too sketchy, depends on the stone. It's not easy to figure out.
Hard Arks run from 'just harder than soft' all the way to 'almost true-hard'.
So achieving balance in how the stones map out can be challenging.
Skills, surface condition, and choice of honing medium can alleviate some of the mystery.
But one does not come without the other. Which came first, chicken or the edge? Skills or stones?
Yah, sure - a full Ark progression can be done and it's great to do - Arks are great stones, they make great edges when they're in the right hands.
But honestly, I have yet to see but a couple of stones cut bevels that rival those made on Choseras or Shaptons. Even the best Washita leave a bit of room for improvement in that arena. Punnily, I am literally splitting hairs here but that's what I spend a lot of time doing, comparing and judging. I have a mid 1800s Washita on my bench right now, it's one of the best things I've ever sharpened anything on, but I'll probably choose a Pro 1.5k to do the bevel on my Boker 8/8 awaiting its turn on the stones.
The only time I use a synthetic is if I have to repair a razor with a chipped blade. I mostly use Arks.
My advice would be to get some inexpensive stones and play around with them. They don't need to be big and a label doesn't necessarily make the stone any better or worse.
My advice would be to get some inexpensive stones and play around with them. They don't need to be big and a label doesn't necessarily make the stone any better or worse.
+1 on the Shapton Gamma! The Shapton Pro 1500 has changed my life. Should have gone there sooner.
Yes, I have a full set that I do use on some blades but not others, the others I use Jnats and coticules but I must say lapping the arks are fun. But do use sic powder makes life much easier I found out the hard way this is my setup.
1 Soft Arkansas 6" 400 to 800 grit
2 Hard Arkansas 6" 800-1000 grit
3 Hard Black Arkansas 10" 2000-3000 grit
4 Surgical Black Arkansas 10" 4000-6000 grit
5 Arkansas Translucent Extra fine 6" 8000-10.000 grit
6 Washita 203x51x18 8" x 2"
But I will say I'm still learning these and I don't regret getting them.
1 Soft Arkansas 6" 400 to 800 grit
2 Hard Arkansas 6" 800-1000 grit
3 Hard Black Arkansas 10" 2000-3000 grit
4 Surgical Black Arkansas 10" 4000-6000 grit
5 Arkansas Translucent Extra fine 6" 8000-10.000 grit
6 Washita 203x51x18 8" x 2"
But I will say I'm still learning these and I don't regret getting them.
I had forgotten about this video. I don't personally know this guy and maybe he is a member here? He knows his way around Arks pretty well.....
- Thread starter
- #19
which ark do you use to finish?
Trans or Black. Most of my stones are vintage Nortons but I have modern 8x3x.5 Nortons than work really well also.
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