New Black Ark, now what
- Thread starter skyfire1
- Start date
You have a methylene chloride filled ultrasonic cleaner?! At your house or at work?
Ah... yeah busting out the dental picks sucks.
I’m sure it has a few triglycerides in the residue, but the starting oil can’t have a very high concentration right? I mean It’s nowhere near the heavier cooking oils... I’d use WD-40 no issue, I’d never resort to an olive oil or flax oil... there are stories of woodworkers in Italy using olive oil on everything and it just makes me twitch thinking about it.
It’s almost as bad as Californians injecting filtered fry oil into a diesel and pretending heating the oil is the big factor in durability... the glycerine doesn’t burn bro, it just slowly ruins EVERYTHING.
I believe the fish oil content is fairly high (20% maybe?), so the residue left after the solvents evaporate is probably mostly fish oil.
I would definitely NOT recommend flax seed oil for stones (read linseed oil in the US) -- it makes pretty good paint if you can tolerate the several week drying time! In spite of being all unsaturated lipid, olive oil is fairly resistant to oxidation though, that's why it's good for so long after pressing. It will go rancid, but it takes a long time. Unless you refresh it all the time though, on stones it will eventually pretrify.
The worst part with the watch was getting the hairspring clean, and I eventually trashed the balance by having my work lamp topple over on it. Another project for retirement, eh?
I would definitely NOT recommend flax seed oil for stones (read linseed oil in the US) -- it makes pretty good paint if you can tolerate the several week drying time! In spite of being all unsaturated lipid, olive oil is fairly resistant to oxidation though, that's why it's good for so long after pressing. It will go rancid, but it takes a long time. Unless you refresh it all the time though, on stones it will eventually pretrify.
The worst part with the watch was getting the hairspring clean, and I eventually trashed the balance by having my work lamp topple over on it. Another project for retirement, eh?
Hahaha man I’m sorry to hear about that one...
Yeah real refrigeration required flax seed oil is actually the very best commonly available oil for “seasoning” cast iron because it can make such a tough polymerized coating at ~480* or so. Nobody go buy “linseed oil” or god forbid “boiled linseed oil” and rub on pans though, most commercially sold products with those labels are not food safe and are solvent loaded. BLO is a fantastic wood finish for working surfaces or tool handles though.
Basically the layman’s guide id say is anything with an expiration date or anything used as cooking fat is a terrible choice for stones. I’ve never had a problem using WD-40 though. I’m sure it could be an issue if you use stones less than once a year, but if you use them that infrequently I’d recommend water with a soap for surfactant or just running water so you never have to bother cleaning up before storage.
Yeah real refrigeration required flax seed oil is actually the very best commonly available oil for “seasoning” cast iron because it can make such a tough polymerized coating at ~480* or so. Nobody go buy “linseed oil” or god forbid “boiled linseed oil” and rub on pans though, most commercially sold products with those labels are not food safe and are solvent loaded. BLO is a fantastic wood finish for working surfaces or tool handles though.
Basically the layman’s guide id say is anything with an expiration date or anything used as cooking fat is a terrible choice for stones. I’ve never had a problem using WD-40 though. I’m sure it could be an issue if you use stones less than once a year, but if you use them that infrequently I’d recommend water with a soap for surfactant or just running water so you never have to bother cleaning up before storage.
I've been using WD 40 for 46 years with no problems. Yes it gums up. I don't use it on guns, dial indicators, micrometers etc. for that reason. I've never had trouble on a hone. Maybe my hones don't sit still long enough to gum. Couldn't live without it....buy it buy the gallon. I feel it's the absolute best for Arks. There are other things that work just fine. Experiment and find your favorite.
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
My experience is with Dan's Hard Black, Norton's Hard Translucent, and Superior Shave's Double Convex Ark which is a soft Ark on one side and a Hard Black Translucent on the other side.
I wash my Arks after using them. With soap and water at the sink. I've used everything listed above except drinking alcohol. I've also used several other lubricants.
Some lubricants feel too thick to me. That doesn't mean they don't work (in fact the opposite is true).
The only lubricant I don't use anymore is the 3 in 1 oil with PTFE (pictured). I became convinced by a member that it wasn't a wise choice. As far as I can tell everything else is fine but not everything else suits me.
My current lubricants on the Double Convex Ark 8x3 are these.
I've seen a video of Jarrod using the Arks dry with no lubricant.
Does it matter? Probably not. Use whatever you like. Experiment. These are very hard stones and don't soak up the oil.
Happy shaves,
Jim
I wash my Arks after using them. With soap and water at the sink. I've used everything listed above except drinking alcohol. I've also used several other lubricants.
Some lubricants feel too thick to me. That doesn't mean they don't work (in fact the opposite is true).
The only lubricant I don't use anymore is the 3 in 1 oil with PTFE (pictured). I became convinced by a member that it wasn't a wise choice. As far as I can tell everything else is fine but not everything else suits me.
My current lubricants on the Double Convex Ark 8x3 are these.
- Ballistol.
- Ballistol mixed with water (most of the time I use this, adding water as I go).
- Water.
I've seen a video of Jarrod using the Arks dry with no lubricant.
Does it matter? Probably not. Use whatever you like. Experiment. These are very hard stones and don't soak up the oil.
Happy shaves,
Jim
It pays to recall that at the end of the day, you need a liquid on your Ark to pull out the particulates from the pours as you hone your blade, and not to ease the actual process of honing. Note the term lubricant is misleading. You could run a blade over a dry stone just fine, but if you do, eventually your stone’ll become as smooth as glass - and as useless as honing on a piece of glass. What pulls those particulates out effectively is what makes for a good “lubricant,” not something with enough viscosity to get you to the moon.
I’ve tried em all over the years. I even went so far as to concern myself with food grade oils thinking that somehow that would be safer. At the end of the day, I find it all to be academic at best, moronic at its worst. Buy the oil made for the stone from Dan’s or whoever, and have at it. It’s light, and pulls particulates out like a champ. Clean your blade/knife before shaving eating. Then recall to sand your stones down now and again. Smooth as glass is a fantastic waist of your time.
Peace
I’ve tried em all over the years. I even went so far as to concern myself with food grade oils thinking that somehow that would be safer. At the end of the day, I find it all to be academic at best, moronic at its worst. Buy the oil made for the stone from Dan’s or whoever, and have at it. It’s light, and pulls particulates out like a champ. Clean your blade/knife before shaving eating. Then recall to sand your stones down now and again. Smooth as glass is a fantastic waist of your time.
Peace
- Thread starter
- #30
Or you could let the stone glaze over with gummy oil and swarf and just balance an elephant on whatever you are trying to hone -- I've had a few of those, Arks or similar silicate stones with a trough worn in them from excessive pressure. Even been told plane blades work better when sharpened on them, too, although I cannot see how.
Any light oil will work, just clean them once in a while (or often) and refresh the surface as needed. They will polish up like marble floor tiles, and hone just as effectively.....
Any light oil will work, just clean them once in a while (or often) and refresh the surface as needed. They will polish up like marble floor tiles, and hone just as effectively.....
A lightly cambered bevel seems to improve chip resistance in some plane irons, but it’s just as easy to lightly round the bevel on a flat stone so... I’m on team flat stones for life.
Some old, really garbage barbers synthetic hones advised this. They basically said, never clean the hone... getting clogged is what makes it fine.
Some guys have tried coti slurry. I seem to recall they thought it wasn't much use.
At least one guy has done a Jnat Nagura progression on one. Don't recall the results. I seem to remember he liked it alright.
Don’t do it. It’s a waste of time at best. If you’ve never experienced a bevel done start to finish on Arks that’s a much more worthwhile endeavor. It’s as simple as finding a Washita and going to work. My best series is soft Washita->harder/burnished Washita->Dans ultra fine black. I find that makes as much difference in the finished product as changing finishing stones.
I think it was Mark (oakshott ?) that did the Mikawa/Tomo progression on a hard ark. He sent me a razor honed this way and it was incredibly sharp, but left some irritation.
I’ve tried it, I would label it unsuccessful. I’d hoped like anyone that I could get some hybrid edge action, but the two cutting actions don’t seem to be sympathetic or compatible from what my face tells me.
It’s ultimately better to go all in one way or another or to hybridize by using the other type pre-finisher.
It’s ultimately better to go all in one way or another or to hybridize by using the other type pre-finisher.
I mean try it out I only attempted two JNATs on one Dans ultra fine black... I gave up though.
Now JNAT slurry on a coti is a bit more interesting. That’s like the home brew Les lat hybrid.
Now JNAT slurry on a coti is a bit more interesting. That’s like the home brew Les lat hybrid.
I’m a bit confused as to what Slice likes. At one point he says he has Sesame Street characters on his oil bottle and then he says he gets rids if his dwarf.
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