Last night my wife and I joined a friend, Marsha for Happy Hour and dinner. At one point my wife had to excuse herself to take a phone call. Marsha asked me what I'd been up to - she knows I dabble in a number of hobbies. I reluctantly brought up straight razors - I say reluctantly because a lot of eyes glaze over when the topic comes up.
I explained the challenges of learning to straight razor shave and how honing a razor is much different than the kitchen knife sharpening I'd been doing for quite some time. She asked me if I honed on stones. When I said yes, she said she threw one out that afternoon. What? She said it was an old stone in a box, but the box broke so she threw it in the trash. I pictured a plastic box with a coarse carborundum hardware stone. She said it was just in her kitchen trash bin and she could retrieve it if I was interested in it. I told I would be interested in taking a look at it.
She came by this afternoon with the stone and wooden box. The box top was in four pieces, but it was all there. I looked at the stone and told her it appeared to be an Arkansas stone. She said it was her father's or grandfather's - I'm not clear on who originally owned it. It was a little oily and loaded with swarf. I asked her what she wanted for it. She laughed and said she'd thrown it out, if I wanted it I could have it!
This is what she brought to me.
I soaked it in Simple Green, there wasn't all that much oil - I had it cleaned up in a couple of hours. It's a translucent Arkansas with a light butterscotch color. No markings on the stone or box and no labels. After cleaning, I lapped it flat - it wasn't far off and I was done in under an hour.
Putting the box back together wasn't hard at all. A little Titebond glue and a couple of clamps - job done!
The color doesn't show as well in the box pic. The stone was originally glued in the box, but it's free now. I don't think I'll glue it in - at 4-3/4" X 2" it will be a good handheld finisher.
If my wife hadn't left the table to take a call, I probably wouldn't have brought up the subject of straight razors and honing. Now I have two translucent Arks and both were gifts from neighbors.
I explained the challenges of learning to straight razor shave and how honing a razor is much different than the kitchen knife sharpening I'd been doing for quite some time. She asked me if I honed on stones. When I said yes, she said she threw one out that afternoon. What? She said it was an old stone in a box, but the box broke so she threw it in the trash. I pictured a plastic box with a coarse carborundum hardware stone. She said it was just in her kitchen trash bin and she could retrieve it if I was interested in it. I told I would be interested in taking a look at it.
She came by this afternoon with the stone and wooden box. The box top was in four pieces, but it was all there. I looked at the stone and told her it appeared to be an Arkansas stone. She said it was her father's or grandfather's - I'm not clear on who originally owned it. It was a little oily and loaded with swarf. I asked her what she wanted for it. She laughed and said she'd thrown it out, if I wanted it I could have it!
This is what she brought to me.
I soaked it in Simple Green, there wasn't all that much oil - I had it cleaned up in a couple of hours. It's a translucent Arkansas with a light butterscotch color. No markings on the stone or box and no labels. After cleaning, I lapped it flat - it wasn't far off and I was done in under an hour.
Putting the box back together wasn't hard at all. A little Titebond glue and a couple of clamps - job done!
The color doesn't show as well in the box pic. The stone was originally glued in the box, but it's free now. I don't think I'll glue it in - at 4-3/4" X 2" it will be a good handheld finisher.
If my wife hadn't left the table to take a call, I probably wouldn't have brought up the subject of straight razors and honing. Now I have two translucent Arks and both were gifts from neighbors.
