rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
For many months I have coveted a black Arkansas whetstone. last week a knife bloke in Brisbane offered to sell me his 200mm x 50mm x 12mm (8" x 2" x ½") black Arkansas for a price I couldn't refuse. His reason for selling was that it was just too hard for him to use on his knives.
My black Arkansas arrived in this morning's mail.
Fig. 1 - As Received
It came without a timber case (to save postage) but did include a black silicon rubber base support. I didn't mind not having a case as I intend to make a western red cedar case for it, to match my other natural stone cases. The surface shown was noticeably smooth except for the ends and along one side. I an guessing this was the surface he used to try and sharpen his knives.
After inspecting it all over, I decided to measure the stones SG. Volume was measured three times using the water displacement method and gave an average reading of 129,326mm³. The stone has a measured mass of 352g ±2g. This gives an SG of 2.72, surprisingly dense.
I had a few sheets of 100grit W&D, so got out my polished granite slab and got to work. About an hour and six W&D sheets ($18) later, the top side was lapped reasonably flat - removing the marker pen grid in about 10 laps. There are still two 8mm triangular areas at diagonally opposite corners that show marker pen. I am not bothered about those two small areas for now.
I then broke the edges (12) of the stone all round with some of the worn W&D. Realising that I needed to be able to differentiate between each side of the stone, I ran a white paint marker around the edge of the surface I had just roughly lapped. Here is my black Ark now:
Fig. 2 - Lapped & Marked
As suggested to me by @Tomo, I have some 160 grit SiC on order that should be delivered within a day or two. Once I get that, I will finish the initial lapping of both sides.
My black Arkansas arrived in this morning's mail.
Fig. 1 - As Received
After inspecting it all over, I decided to measure the stones SG. Volume was measured three times using the water displacement method and gave an average reading of 129,326mm³. The stone has a measured mass of 352g ±2g. This gives an SG of 2.72, surprisingly dense.
I had a few sheets of 100grit W&D, so got out my polished granite slab and got to work. About an hour and six W&D sheets ($18) later, the top side was lapped reasonably flat - removing the marker pen grid in about 10 laps. There are still two 8mm triangular areas at diagonally opposite corners that show marker pen. I am not bothered about those two small areas for now.
I then broke the edges (12) of the stone all round with some of the worn W&D. Realising that I needed to be able to differentiate between each side of the stone, I ran a white paint marker around the edge of the surface I had just roughly lapped. Here is my black Ark now:
Fig. 2 - Lapped & Marked
As suggested to me by @Tomo, I have some 160 grit SiC on order that should be delivered within a day or two. Once I get that, I will finish the initial lapping of both sides.
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