Thoughts?

[northbushcraft]

Picked up these 2 stones (a third came but it seems to be a synthetic dual grit stone so I haven't cared to even look at it much) for around 30 bucks. They are translucent, so Im assuming they're probably translucent arks? Anyone got any idea?

iirc the thicker stone has a concave in its surface (from use I assume) which surprised me, how long would a slight concave take to form in arks?

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Look like translucents, you paid $30? Smoking deal. What is the size?

Look like factory boxes, likely vintage stone. Spray them down with Oven cleaner after soaking in hot water to heat them up a bit. Scrub them down with a scotch bright sponge of stiff brush and rinse well.

If they still need cleaning or are smelly from rancid oil or diesel fuel, a common old school lube, soak in simple green 100% or cut to 50%, depending how much oil they hold and how clean/white you want them will dictate how long you need to soak.

Boxes can be cleaned with Goop or other pumice hand soap, scrubbed in with a cut down chip brush, and wiped out with paper towels.

“The thicker stone has a concave in its surface (from use I assume) which surprised me, how long would a slight concave take to form in arks?”

So, imagine you are a Carpenter, cabinet or furniture maker running a hand plane all day and stop ever hour or so to sharpen your plane blade, or chisel, using oil and pressure, cause as an old carver I studied under said, “We get paid to cut wood, not sharpen tools,” “Get er done”.

Yea, you could wear down your favorite finish stone, they weren’t finishing razors on them.

I would try the faces of those stones before doing any lapping, that stone face likely has years of burnish on it, may not be dead flat, but may not matter. You can always lap it but try it first. Or lap the back side.

Nice find.

 

[David]

Great score. Congrats

 

[Wid]

Score!!

 

[Gamma]

Would be hard to concave a Trans Ark with razor finishing.
Not so hard to do if polishing tool edges, etc.
Stone might not have been all that flat to begin with so could be nealry any length of time.
The box joints remind of some old Norton/Pike boxes from the 40s. Not conclusive but nice either way.

 

[Bowmaker]

Picked up these 2 stones (a third came but it seems to be a synthetic dual grit stone so I haven't cared to even look at it much) for around 30 bucks. They are translucent, so Im assuming they're probably translucent arks? Anyone got any idea?

iirc the thicker stone has a concave in its surface (from use I assume) which surprised me, how long would a slight concave take to form in arks?

Hard to say exactly, I can tell you that after about fifty years of occasional use (perhaps two or three times a week) they will have some dish.

 

[Koop]

The box joints look similar to one of my translucent Arks that dates back to at least the 1950s.

 

[duke762]

You scored big time! Congats! Lapping it may break you if you have a dished Trans. Don't sweat it, there are ways to fix them up fast.

You didn't have the seller at gun point or anything else sketchy, when you stole these, did you ?

 

[SliceOfLife]

As others have said, looks like two old Translucent Arks. Most likely Norton or Pike.

I assume 6x2's? You got an amazing deal.

 

[Kyle89]

Nice!!!

 

[northbushcraft]

Look like translucents, you paid $30? Smoking deal. What is the size?

Look like factory boxes, likely vintage stone. Spray them down with Oven cleaner after soaking in hot water to heat them up a bit. Scrub them down with a scotch bright sponge of stiff brush and rinse well.

If they still need cleaning or are smelly from rancid oil or diesel fuel, a common old school lube, soak in simple green 100% or cut to 50%, depending how much oil they hold and how clean/white you want them will dictate how long you need to soak.

Boxes can be cleaned with Goop or other pumice hand soap, scrubbed in with a cut down chip brush, and wiped out with paper towels.

“The thicker stone has a concave in its surface (from use I assume) which surprised me, how long would a slight concave take to form in arks?”

So, imagine you are a Carpenter, cabinet or furniture maker running a hand plane all day and stop ever hour or so to sharpen your plane blade, or chisel, using oil and pressure, cause as an old carver I studied under said, “We get paid to cut wood, not sharpen tools,” “Get er done”.

Yea, you could wear down your favorite finish stone, they weren’t finishing razors on them.

I would try the faces of those stones before doing any lapping, that stone face likely has years of burnish on it, may not be dead flat, but may not matter. You can always lap it but try it first. Or lap the back side.

Nice find.

If I remember correctly one seems to be 1x3x1 and the other 1x3x 1/4 inch


"So, imagine you are a Carpenter, cabinet or furniture maker running a hand plane all day and stop ever hour or so to sharpen your plane blade, or chisel, using oil and pressure, cause as an old carver I studied under said, “We get paid to cut wood, not sharpen tools,” “Get er done”."


I never would have thought a carpenter would take his tools all the way up to a translucent ark but I suppose it makes sense, and they seem to cut really nicely but Im guessing that only from the gritty sound from a passes. Maybe they cut faster than I think...


Thank you for you insight and help!

 

[northbushcraft]

Would be hard to concave a Trans Ark with razor finishing.
Not so hard to do if polishing tool edges, etc.
Stone might not have been all that flat to begin with so could be nealry any length of time.
The box joints remind of some old Norton/Pike boxes from the 40s. Not conclusive but nice either way.

Yeah tool edges make sense to me or maybe a small carving knife but the concave doesn't seem like it. It really looks like someone took a carving chisel and carved/dished out the center.

 

[northbushcraft]

As others have said, looks like two old Translucent Arks. Most likely Norton or Pike.

I assume 6x2's? You got an amazing deal.

Sadly not, 1x3x1 and 1x3x 1/4 but that's a good size for pocket stones. Then again I don't know how good a translucent ark is for that.

 

[northbushcraft]

Hard to say exactly, I can tell you that after about fifty years of occasional use (perhaps two or three times a week) they will have some dish.

Could you flatten an ark with another ark?

I was thinking maybe it could sped up by crushing some ark stones into grit, what do you think?

 

[northbushcraft]

You scored big time! Congats! Lapping it may break you if you have a dished Trans. Don't sweat it, there are ways to fix them up fast.

You didn't have the seller at gun point or anything else sketchy, when you stole these, did you ?

Haha, no I was kinda surprised no one else bid on them and tbh I thought I was getting a creten stone which Im still on the hunt for but this is cool too.

 

[northbushcraft]

The box joints look similar to one of my translucent Arks that dates back to at least the 1950s.
View attachment 1921593

Does your stone cut fast compared to the usual ark stones?

 

[northbushcraft]

If I remember correctly one seems to be 1x3x1 and the other 1x3x 1/4 inch


"So, imagine you are a Carpenter, cabinet or furniture maker running a hand plane all day and stop ever hour or so to sharpen your plane blade, or chisel, using oil and pressure, cause as an old carver I studied under said, “We get paid to cut wood, not sharpen tools,” “Get er done”."


I never would have thought a carpenter would take his tools all the way up to a translucent ark but I suppose it makes sense, and they seem to cut really nicely but Im guessing that only from the gritty sound from a passes. Maybe they cut faster than I think...


Thank you for you insight and help!

1x4x1 and 1x4x1/4 actually it seems

 

[Gamma]

Translucent Arks, Charnwoods, Turkey Stones, etc -- all used heavily by woodworkers and cabinet makers. I use a small one to polish a 1/16" mortice chisel from time to time.

Most of the translucent pocket stones I've checked out over the years, the ones that were actually used, especially if they were in a worn tackle box or Gerstner chest, had that appearance. I think it comes from people using them without worrying about whether or not the wear pattern will impact its value.

Trans Arks can wear faster than imagined, depending on the usage. Saw a whittler's stone that had an angled concave dip, maybe 1/4" deep and 1" wide, right in the middle of a 4" stone. He only had that stone a few years. It looked like someone goofed with a dremel sanding drum.
Lotta guys like that just spit on them and then go to town on the blade, beating up both the stone and the knife.

 

[Bowmaker]

Could you flatten an ark with another ark?

I was thinking maybe it could sped up by crushing some ark stones into grit, what do you think?

I wouldn't want to try to flatten arks by rubbing them together, add loose grit, sure.

 

[kcb5150]

You need silicon carbide powder for the grunt work and I would suggest periodically coming off the sic and moving to a fixed grit for a spell once the serious bulk is removed to keep the corners sort of in line.