Finally bought an Ark

[alpster]

I just unwrapped this NOS Norton Hard Arkansas. It's a little black beauty with a nice streaking pattern in the middle of the stone. It even came with a coupon for free Barney Dolls.

Pretty Sweet stone. Congrats David!

 

[kelbro]

Nice one!

 

[David]

Thanks guys!

 

[Steve56]

A beauty David, congrats!

Cheers, Steve

 

[dta116]

There must be a procedure. I'd ask this of the folks at Dan's or Smiths. There is a real risk of unexpected fracturing. Why would you want to do it?

Dan's uses a diamond blade on a stone saw with oil for a hard/trans and water for lesser density stones.
Be VERY careful as the harder stone will chip easily. That's how Dan's gets the flint for muskets/fire starters (fire treated to make them more brittle).

 

[dta116]

Where did you guys buy your SiC from to lap the Arkie? Mine cleaned up pretty nicely so now I just need to get this puppy lapped.

This is where I get mine.
http://www.hisglassworks.com/shop/loose-grit/silicon-carbide.html

 

[David]

I'm just getting back from a trip and this was waiting for me in the mailbox. It's a nice little 5" trans. I'm putting it away for now until I have the time to lap and burnish it. It's a mostly clean little stone with one small fissure on the bottom corner.

 

[kcb5150]

Nice to get one so clean

 

[David]

I'd love to find a NOS trans. I've seen pics and they look almost pure white.

 

[David]

I've had this a few weeks but just getting around to posting it. It's a giant 10x3x1 Trans ark. This should be great for big knives.

 

[PapaFish]

I'd love to find a NOS trans. I've seen pics and they look almost pure white.

I've seen pictures on Dan's site of new stock Translucent stones. Some of them have smattering of Butterscotch in them.

 

[SliceOfLife]

That's a beast. Is it an inch thick? Vintage? I'd only ever seen vintages that size in tristone sets (<0.5" thick)... never benchstones.

 

[PapaFish]

I've had this a few weeks but just getting around to posting it. It's a giant 10x3x1 Trans ark. This should be great for big knives.

That's a nice one!I like big stones and can say you won't be hand-honing with that one

 

[David]

That's a beast. Is it an inch thick? Vintage? I'd only ever seen vintages that size in tristone sets (<0.5" thick)... never benchstones.

According to the seller it's an ancient stone that belonged to a jeweler. You can see traces of gold in places so I'm guessing it was used some as a metal testing stone. It also came with a sweet but small black ark gold testing stone.

EDIT: Yes its 1" thick

 

[David]

That's a nice one!I like big stones and can say you won't be hand-honing with that one

Definitely no hand honing! It weighs just over 4 pounds.

 

[eKretz]

I hear that! My translucent black is a 3" x 10" x 1" - heavy S.O.B. If you calculate the volume, they're almost twice the weight of a 2" x 8" of equal thickness.

 

[Alum of Potash]

I've seen pictures on Dan's site of new stock Translucent stones. Some of them have smattering of Butterscotch in them.

Any pix you can link to here? I'd love to see a picture of a recently harvested trans Ark with some butterscotch in it.

 

[PapaFish]

Any pix you can link to here? I'd love to see a picture of a recently harvested trans Ark with some butterscotch in it.

They were in the discount stones section maybe 2 years ago. I saw them, pondered buying one, decided against purchasing, was going to grab pictures to post on B&B but they sold and pictures were gone. I haven't watched Dan's specials much since, but that's where there are lots of real pictures of stones (warning: you will want to purchase many of them).

 

[Alum of Potash]

They were in the discount stones section maybe 2 years ago. I saw them, pondered buying one, decided against purchasing, was going to grab pictures to post on B&B but they sold and pictures were gone. I haven't watched Dan's specials much since, but that's where there are lots of real pictures of stones (warning: you will want to purchase many of them).

Thanks. I do watch Dan's specials, just wish I'd seen something butterscotch as I have a pet theory that this might be due to oil/swarf staining or wooden box gassing.

 

[eKretz]

Certainly that's possible. But it's just as likely I'd think that there is some butterscotch colored novaculite rock out there. I bet Dan could tell you pretty quick.