Okay- SO, I am investigating the world of natural stones and am interested in domestic stones for now, I’ll play around with the global offerings down the road but for now I’m interested in black & translucent Arkansas pieces. It’s already confusing because the grit thing goes out the window and you go in terms of density. I don’t care about grit and density for now, suffice it to say I want them as dense as possible
My REAL question is I see posts and videos about burnishing these stones. I know a stone must be lapped. Burnishing is a new word in my vocabulary and I confess to not fully understanding the word in its full breadth and depth among the realm of possibilities.
All this being said, the most light I’ve seen shown comes from these forums:
“Arkansas stones will "wear in" or burnish with normal use. They are more aggressive and not as fine when new or freshly lapped. So just the process of rubbing steel on them will accomplish the thing.”
So I know I need to lap it if it needs it- probably lap it for good measure and remove my corners, etc. I now know it will burnish with normal use. Define normal use? Frequency? How often is normal use? See where I’m going? I now know they are more aggressive and not as fine when new or freshly lapped. So just the process of rubbing steel accomplishes the burnishing.
This is the most light I’ve seen shown on this topic and I apologize for resurrecting a zombie for the seasoned honing vets out there- but after reading that, I still don’t know if I need to burnish the stone or not- or just let the process happen naturally and that’s fine too. Do ya burnish after lapping or just let it ride is essentially my question. These are hard stones and I have a feeling it would take quite a bit of shaving and touching up to burnish a quality Arkansas. I’ve never owned one, I’m just guessing.
So: do you burnish after lapping once you get it? Do you let it burnish as you use it? I know it’s a matter of choice, but my life span and geology are on different schedules so if letting it burnish with use is reasonable, I suppose that would be viable- I could sharpen kitchen knives with it to speed up the process- I just never knew if it was always necessary or what. Thanks for any input.
The two shops on my radar are Dan’s & the Whetstone company. That’s all I know of because it’s pretty much all I see in the forums- I’m looking for quality and willing to pay the price for quality.
For lapping, I’ve considered the following progression assuming lapping is an automatic necessity for these
46# Aluminum Oxide
150# Silicone Carbide
400# Silicone Carbide
Thanks in advance for any advice- I know very little about this and have done a lot of digging before deciding to post a thread- so I apologize if I’ve dug up a horse only to beat it once more. Cheers!
My REAL question is I see posts and videos about burnishing these stones. I know a stone must be lapped. Burnishing is a new word in my vocabulary and I confess to not fully understanding the word in its full breadth and depth among the realm of possibilities.
All this being said, the most light I’ve seen shown comes from these forums:
“Arkansas stones will "wear in" or burnish with normal use. They are more aggressive and not as fine when new or freshly lapped. So just the process of rubbing steel on them will accomplish the thing.”
So I know I need to lap it if it needs it- probably lap it for good measure and remove my corners, etc. I now know it will burnish with normal use. Define normal use? Frequency? How often is normal use? See where I’m going? I now know they are more aggressive and not as fine when new or freshly lapped. So just the process of rubbing steel accomplishes the burnishing.
This is the most light I’ve seen shown on this topic and I apologize for resurrecting a zombie for the seasoned honing vets out there- but after reading that, I still don’t know if I need to burnish the stone or not- or just let the process happen naturally and that’s fine too. Do ya burnish after lapping or just let it ride is essentially my question. These are hard stones and I have a feeling it would take quite a bit of shaving and touching up to burnish a quality Arkansas. I’ve never owned one, I’m just guessing.
So: do you burnish after lapping once you get it? Do you let it burnish as you use it? I know it’s a matter of choice, but my life span and geology are on different schedules so if letting it burnish with use is reasonable, I suppose that would be viable- I could sharpen kitchen knives with it to speed up the process- I just never knew if it was always necessary or what. Thanks for any input.
The two shops on my radar are Dan’s & the Whetstone company. That’s all I know of because it’s pretty much all I see in the forums- I’m looking for quality and willing to pay the price for quality.
For lapping, I’ve considered the following progression assuming lapping is an automatic necessity for these
46# Aluminum Oxide
150# Silicone Carbide
400# Silicone Carbide
Thanks in advance for any advice- I know very little about this and have done a lot of digging before deciding to post a thread- so I apologize if I’ve dug up a horse only to beat it once more. Cheers!
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