Buy/Sell/Trade forum on the lower part of the main page.
Ideally, I'd like to keep the stone all in right around $100 and have something that is super consistent. What are your guys opinions on options? Look forward to your thoughts.
Duh! Ok, I got it now!Buy/Sell/Trade forum on the lower part of the main page.
You should be able to do pretty much everything with an ark and a coticule.So I've honed two razors, one from 3000 grit, then onto an 8000 grit, then onto a hard Ark and finished them with the Vermont Slate, both with slurry and clean, and I'll say they both came out very well. I'm really pleased with the edge I'm getting out of this slate. But I don't have enough experience to say it's the best finishing stone around yet.
I'd like to someday get a translucent ark to compare the two, but a decent sized one can run some bucks. My real need first however is to get some better lower grit stones, as the ones I'm using are from a cheapish Amazon box set. They did the job I guess, but I know I can do better. I'm not sure what to look for there, maybe a soft Ark? I don't know yet.
Thanks.You should be able to do pretty much everything with an ark and a coticule.
@Saloogie, Do you have a kitchen scale? Can you measure the specific gravity of the small Ark as per this video:
Use two (2) pieces of cord/line/string. Don't sweat finding the perfect cord/line/string. Just make sure that the two pieces of cord/line/string can easily carry the weight of the stone. Practice a few inches above a soft surface like a bed to avoid dropping the stone during the actual show.
Two (2) more references:
Specific Gravity Confusion
This is something I find myself explaining or pointing out to people quite a lot, and I'm going to write it out in case it's helpful for anyone, and so that next time I can send a link. --- Specific gravity is a measure of density. It is not a measure of hardness, and it is not a measure of...www.badgerandblade.com
The specific gravity collection
Today I had a bit of time so I thought I’d measure the specific gravity of a few of my natural hones. First I tried a washita and a trans Arkansas. They came in at 2.24 and 2.65, so no real surprises there. But next I did my Lynn Idwal, also novaculite, and that was 2.74! And then a...www.badgerandblade.com
Congratulations on your new ark. You have a top tier razor finishing stone.Hey Gents, Dan's Black Ark (6x2x1/2) arrived in the mail yesterday. I proceeded with surface prep for one side only (i.e. one side burnished, one side left untouched). I need some advice based on my prep as outlined below on how to best proceed (e.g. start using the stone for honing, re-prep the burnished side all together, etc). Welcome all thoughts. Thanks.
Phase 1
1. Began by chamfered edges with wet / dry sand paper and then lapped with Atoma 400 with water (all thatched pencil marks removed after ~7 minutes).
2. Placed wet / dry 600 grit sandpaper on a panel of glass from our kitchen and continued to lap / buff (~3 minutes).
3. Burnished with a new wood chisel (started with Dan's honing oil and then moved to water for ~3 minutes).
4. Cleaned off all oil from the stones surface with paper towel and let dry.
Result: I did not achieve that classic "polished" ark look, instead the surface was slightly buffed in some areas and not others while I'd say half of the stone still gave off that "dull" ark look.
Phase 2
Note: Out of fear that when lapping on the wet / dry 600 grit sandpaper that I had brought the ark out of flat, I went back to the Atoma 400. As you can tell, I like to make things more difficult than they need to be.
1. Lapped on Atoma 400 (again) for ~7 minutes (until all hatched pencil marks were gone). For the last ~2 minutes, I gave the stone very light touch on the Atoma 400. Scratch marks on the stone surface were fairly visible (as noted in the picture below).
2. Restarted the burnishing process again with chisel, this time using Dan's honing oil only (for ~8 minutes with a liberal amount of honing oil and stopping to re-coat surface regularly).
3. Cleaned off all oil from the stones surface with paper towel and let dry.
Result: Similar to results from Phase 1 - stone surface did not achieve much of a "buffing / polished" look (see picture below). The "burnished" side feels pretty much identical to the untouched side of the stone. Ha.
Burnished side of ark stone (below)
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Untouched side of ark stone (below)
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