Just curious, why would you go from 8k synthetic to soft Ark?
Does the bevel move back?
- Thread starter kohalajohn
- Start date
Just curious, why would you go from 8k synthetic to soft Ark?
- Thread starter
- #22
That's exactly something I am currently pondering.
My soft ark has been in the background, unused, mainly because I'm not sure where a soft ark fits in the progression.
Years ago I bought a double sided, convex both side, pair of arks. A soft ark on one side and a black ark on the other. Jarod at The Superior described the pair as a soft ark bevel setter that could also take you all the way and then you jump off to the black ark to finish.
I had my doubts, and really only used the black ark. It's a good finisher.
I suspect it may be possible to do it all with just these two stones, but I also suspect it would take a great deal of time.
I'm currently looking to upgrade my mid grade progression. Maybe a couple of Shaptons.
But what grade of Shaptons and where would my soft ark fit into all of that?
Photo of the double arks below.
I would think it would be a mid range stone at best (soft Ark).
An 8k synth edge would certainly better it and prepare for the black Ark that much better also.
Although even an 8k edge to black Ark would not be so fast, perhaps more so because it is convex but not significantly.
Just seems like a large step backwards IMO.
An 8k synth edge would certainly better it and prepare for the black Ark that much better also.
Although even an 8k edge to black Ark would not be so fast, perhaps more so because it is convex but not significantly.
Just seems like a large step backwards IMO.
- Thread starter
- #24
I think I agree.
My Naniwa 12k (now broken) was a great step before finishing on a natural like the black ark. I might just buy another nani. The double thick one this time.
And lock it away from little boys who open drawers and break things....
I once noticed a big chip in my Friodur and had no idea where it came from. The chip was larger than yours and even though I’d never repaired a chipped edge before I just couldn’t leave it like that. I used my coarsest piece of lapping film but it was taking forever so I switched to a piece of 320 grit sandpaper on a tile. This did the job nicely and it’s been back to it’s old self ever since. It almost hurts using something so aggressive on your shiny razor, like it almost hurts when you drive over a pothole in the road but I just couldn’t stand to see that big chip in my otherwise mirrored edge like that.
I'm a little lost as to why some people go to such aggressive stones/grits to remove chips; unless it is a massive chunk missing out of the razor, something like a 1K or fast 2K should be plenty to get the job done.
This chip on an old Cape razor I got for cheap to introduce a friend to straights is probably worse than what most people encounter from a contaminated strop or bad technique, and it only took about 10 minutes to remove on a Shapton Ha No Kuromaku 2K, including taking the time to stop and take pictures of the progress.
I don't mean this as an insult to anyone or their methods, just offering another point of view and my personal experiences.
This chip on an old Cape razor I got for cheap to introduce a friend to straights is probably worse than what most people encounter from a contaminated strop or bad technique, and it only took about 10 minutes to remove on a Shapton Ha No Kuromaku 2K, including taking the time to stop and take pictures of the progress.
I don't mean this as an insult to anyone or their methods, just offering another point of view and my personal experiences.
Last edited:
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
There is no reason to feel lost. It is perfectly okay to hone out chips or do major repairs with a typical bevel setting grit, if that's what you want to do. It is also perfectly okay to start quite a bit coarser, as long as you begin working up through the grits before the damage is completely gone, so that after the repair, you are not still removing steel in order to hone out the coarse scratches. Ideally, the repair work is finished at the 1k level, or 2k if you insist.
From the size of that bevel that looks like a relatively unhoned extra hollow though... so probably the easiest/fastest razor you're going to ever have to grind chips out of. Move towards a near wedge that's been honed down a bit so there's a fat spine and a bevel 10x that size, and it becomes more of a chore.
Heck a NOS razor with a small chip you could probably work it out on a finishing stone with a little time. When New, Hollow grounds tend to have almost nothing contacting the hone, so you're essentially using dozens of times the pressure you would be using on a fat-spined worn down razor because the force applied is concentrated over such a tiny fraction of the area it would be in a worn razor.
Heck a NOS razor with a small chip you could probably work it out on a finishing stone with a little time. When New, Hollow grounds tend to have almost nothing contacting the hone, so you're essentially using dozens of times the pressure you would be using on a fat-spined worn down razor because the force applied is concentrated over such a tiny fraction of the area it would be in a worn razor.
