Don't be afraid of using the arkie with oil. Just wash it immediately afterwards. I only use mineral oil though. Maybe others present a problem but I don't know.
Finally bought an Ark
- Thread starter David
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Dan's honing oil is good, as is 1:1 pharmacy-grade mineral oil and kerosene. Use a light touch, just enough to coat the surface. I wear nitrile gloves when honing with it.
Yes, to burnish it while reconditioning with lather.
Yes, to burnish it while reconditioning with lather.
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- #43
Well heck, that just makes just too much sense to ignore, LOL. I did not know that it was about the way Novaculite cuts! Many thanks for that bit of information!
Mike
Ok, if I am going to be using oil on these arks, I hear about people using honing oil, mineral oil, and/or mineral oil and kerosene mix to hone with. I personally use honing oil for all my knives and have for many years. Is this more of a personal preference kind of thing? I have never done straight razors though so what is the scoop on this?
Mike
Mike
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- #46
I used the norton honing oil, which is highly refined mineral oil. It did a fine job, but was a little thick. Edge came out great though.
To expound on that. Novaculite isn't abrasives in a softer than steel binder, it's a solid structure which is as a whole harder than steel (mainly quartz), and the metal is removed by running over teeth or fissures in the surface of the stone. Because of this, these area's doing the cutting are extremely prone to clogging unless a sufficiently viscous liquid is there to keep swarf from building up in them. When water is used, they tend to still clog, so folks using them with water will use stiff brushes under a sink to clean the surface of the stone.
Honing oil, is I believe just thinned out mineral oil. Usually a mineral oil/mineral spirits mix, if my memory serves. I've even heard of guys using baby oil, if they don't mind their stones smelling like baby oil. Some folks swear by 3in1.
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I've been using armies for quite a while. Since I was a kid in the boy scouts. I have black stone that is very old and I have one from Dans both similar but the old one is slightly translucent and seems finer. It has a crack in it that goes all the way through but cannot be felt. This is my go to finisher. I have different ways of using it depending on the razor. I will use water at the beginning but only running water so it doesn't clog. This makes it cut faster as the water isn't as cushioning. Next I will use wd40. This is just so that I have a one step above over water as its a thin oil. Then after that I will use sewing machine oil it's thin enough to allow whatever feedback there is but thick enough to get that stupid smooth finish. You know how people will describe some finishes as crisp. Well I describe a properly done ark finish as mush. It's so smooth you don't feel anything. Also I have never dug into the skin with a razor finished on an arkie. Never. As for the oil to water issue. These stones are so dense that unless you keep it soaking in kerosene for years non is going to soak through. I just was mine with soap and water after each session.
As for breaking it in, we'll it's just time and effort you have to put in but when you can read off of the reflection clearly your there and unless it is mistreated you will/sshould never have to do it again
P.s. sorry for any missplells. I am using my phone and the auto correct is very annoying
As for breaking it in, we'll it's just time and effort you have to put in but when you can read off of the reflection clearly your there and unless it is mistreated you will/sshould never have to do it again
P.s. sorry for any missplells. I am using my phone and the auto correct is very annoying
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- #49
Haha. Every time I type arkies it comes out armies as well. Don't forget to oil your army. Can you put up a pic of your old black stone? I love looking at the vintage arks.
I'll do it when I get home
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- #51
Find another you don't need and I'll double your money for ya. lol
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- #53
There were a lot of Arkansas stones there today. This was the only trans that I saw but there were tons of the softer ones
Many thanks to all the posters who have put up a lot of good information about arks and how they work and all. By the way, as far as making your own honing oil with mineral oil, there is an odorless kerosene that you can pick up at Lowe's to get away from the kerosene odor.
Just water on a softer stone will, as Ian noted, cause issues. I don't even know that obsessive cleaning would relieve the clogging actually.
I believe the idea was to use oil, and then soak the stone in Kero regularly to draw all the swarf off and out of the stone.
Seems to me that most people just layered on oil over and over again though.
On my SB ark - I use water/soap - works fine, same with my translucent Arks.
Glycerine/water is good too - that was a favored medium for doctors and dentists back when Arks were 'the' stones to have.
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- #56
I'm going to try water/soap. Not a fan of oil, mainly because all my other stones will turn into Gremlins if they see oil.
On lapping these things...I swear the finer paper you use the better it works?? I just tried some 325 w/d on that little pocket stone and it didnt even scratch it. Then I put it on some 5 micron film and its removing stone now. Wish I had some 1 or 2k..I think that would do it.
On lapping these things...I swear the finer paper you use the better it works?? I just tried some 325 w/d on that little pocket stone and it didnt even scratch it. Then I put it on some 5 micron film and its removing stone now. Wish I had some 1 or 2k..I think that would do it.
Arks eat w/d for breakfast. Once the stone is dead-flat it goes better.
SIC powder works - hard to get a truly uber-flat surface but it removes the bulk of the uneven stone off so fast that finishing up on w/d is a breeze.
SIC powder works - hard to get a truly uber-flat surface but it removes the bulk of the uneven stone off so fast that finishing up on w/d is a breeze.
Nice score! What size is it? I recently got a 5x1 coti at an antique store. If I can manage a good edge off it, I'll be really happy.
Nicely done. Pretty sure I bid on that one too.
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- #60
