I assume it is. I'm really not sure.
Finally bought an Ark
- Thread starter David
- Start date
I assume it is. I'm really not sure.
Got my shipping notice from Dan's today. Should be here in 6-10 days (not bad for international).
After reading through this thread I need to find someone to hone a razor on an arkie for me. I would really like to shave with an edge from one of those beautiful stones
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Hone on an ark or finish on an ark? You'll get two very different edges.
Finish on an ark, Sorry I should have been more specific
On Gamma's website, he has a video using his surgical Ark with glycerine and water. I think that he meant that he did not want an oil stone.
This brings up an interesting question in my mind. I prefer water as well. It does not stain, and spills can be cleaned up. Has anyone here in addition to Gamma used this approach on Arks? If Gamma wants to chime in regarding his philosophy here, I would love to here it.
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- Thread starter
- #227
I've used glycerine and water. It works fine. It's a little too 'sticky' under the blade for my liking. I don't necessarily like oil either, but we're only talking about 3 or 4 drops here with a black or trans so it's not like its messy. Now, the washitas and the softer arks...that's a different story.
Oil on an Ark isn't all the messy, you don't use much. I also use a drop of soap with water, it too works great.
The main reason I like water is that the volume of water to keep the swarf washed free produces desirable results. This I would argue is true when the grits are coarse and the amount of steel being removed is high. When talking about really hard Arkies, not much swarf, hence not much oil is required. So I do get everyone's point here regarding the use of oil. Another thing that I had always been taught is do not mix oil and water in a stone. Again this is good advice for the softer, more porous, stones where oil absorption is significant, but on uber hard Arkies, oil absorption is likely insignificant.
Clearly Gamma has an opinion, I'm interested in what it is as I start using my stones.
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- #230
Lmao
If you wash any of the stones off, soft or hard, with hot soapy water there is no harm in switching back and forth from oil to water.
This.
You'll find that the less viscous the medium, the more aggressive even a translucent ark will perform. If I'm touching up a chefs knife, I might do it with water on a surgical black. I find, however, that it takes more technique than I have to finish a razor with water on a trans arkie. Others might be able to get away with it, but I couldn't.
Looks like I have some experimenting to do to see what works. I have some glycerine, so I will try this, soapy water and USP mineral oil and see what I get.
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- #236
That's the thing to do. Read a lot, experiment with different methods, find the one that works best for you and hone away.
- Thread starter
- #237
Oakeshott, alum, wid and papafish are all VERY knowledgable when it comes to arks so pm one of them with questions if you have any.
Been suffering through lapping this vintage trans I bought in a group of vintage arks. Dry is definitely the way to go, these only start giving up material when it gets heat into it. Almost to the point where I cannot feel the surface fissure anymore.
- Thread starter
- #239
I've been a little busy lately. Big project incoming and a LOT of reading behind it. More reading/learning/set up time to follow also.
Anyway -
When I first started using Arks I used oil exclusively. That went on for a very long time.
When I was a kid - I used oil on whetstones exlcusively also.
Bottom line.
I hate having oil on my fingers - can't stand the feeling. It gets on the scales and then I hate that too.
Can't stand the messy bits of PT with oil soaked into them either. Can't stand the fact that I can't put the stone down anywhere without it leaving an oil ring. I hate the thought of having to scrub down the stone afterwards so I don't get excessive oil seeping into the wood box.
And that's with odorless mineral oil. If we're talking about stinky machine oils or kerosene or whatever - I don't even want that stuff in the house.
As far as I'm concerned - for the hardest Arks - using oil is not an enhancement - it's just a lubricant. Yes - it works.
I use soap/water and it's fine and it works too.
The right mix of glycerine and water is fine also. I'm sure there's other stuff that works fine as well.
Water alone is too weird under the blade - not my style, I feel better with something mixed in to break the surface tension and add some glide.
At the end of the day - it doesn't matter what you use. I just don't like using oil for the reasons listed above and probably a few more along the same lines that I'm forgetting.
