I purchased a "Black Arkansas" "1200 grit" stone from "Natural Whetstone Company" and when I first received the stone I noticed that it wasn't smooth or black like I had anticipated.
I added some honing oil and the stone quickly became dark black and I decided to burnish the stone by simply using it. After this process was completed, I realised that the stone was leaving a MUCH coarser scratch pattern than my other Arkansas stones and a stone I had purchased as part of a Trihone kit. The stone had also become dished, which made me realize how low quality this stone actually was.
I decided to flatten the stone with a 220 grit piece of silicon carbide sandpaper and quickly realized this process was completed in a fraction of the time my other two Arkansas stones required. The other Arkansas stones I had took an incredible amount of time to even start to remove the grid marks and this stone was finished in mere minutes while producing swarf instantly.
The moral of the story is: purchase your stone from a reputable seller like Dan's Arkansas Stones and don't try to save money like I did, only to receive an inferior product.
I added some honing oil and the stone quickly became dark black and I decided to burnish the stone by simply using it. After this process was completed, I realised that the stone was leaving a MUCH coarser scratch pattern than my other Arkansas stones and a stone I had purchased as part of a Trihone kit. The stone had also become dished, which made me realize how low quality this stone actually was.
I decided to flatten the stone with a 220 grit piece of silicon carbide sandpaper and quickly realized this process was completed in a fraction of the time my other two Arkansas stones required. The other Arkansas stones I had took an incredible amount of time to even start to remove the grid marks and this stone was finished in mere minutes while producing swarf instantly.
The moral of the story is: purchase your stone from a reputable seller like Dan's Arkansas Stones and don't try to save money like I did, only to receive an inferior product.