It almost sounds like the kind of description a Q store would put on a hone for military hospitals.
Sharpening stone- Surgical- Black.
Black Arkansas?
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Sharpening stone- Surgical- Black.
The honemeister I learned from uses Smith’s Honing solution because it’s non-petroleum based and can be diluted with drops of water. Very inexpensive about $4 for a 4 ounce bottle from Amazon, and it won’t ruin your other stones should their be accidental contamination.
A modern thing much like the separation of the black and translucent. It's also interesting that the translucent is more expensive than the black when the translucent was much more common than the black at one time and both stones simply tagged as a hard ark.
I had a woodcraft Surgical Black that was from the late 90's at the earliest. Not sure if they were sourced from Halls, but whereas my Hall's surgical black is very much a blue-black, that stone was jet black, so I suspect it was from another mine. I've since sold it and bought a Smiths Black hard arkansas and an unlabeled but similar era-boxed black arkansas that are the same sort of jet black stone... Both I'd guess 90's-00's.
Gamma's website has a short paragraph about where he suspects the term comes from:
www.tomonagura.com
Where I remember these "surgical Black" stones being used 20+ years ago, was gold testing stones... cause the gold smear showed up well on the black stone. But those really only required a little penknife piece.
Gamma's website has a short paragraph about where he suspects the term comes from:
Surgical Black | TomoNagura.Com | Keith V. Johnson
The term ‘Surgical Black’ is sort of a mashup of Norton’s lingo, combined with the overall respect for the hardest black Arkansas stones.
Where I remember these "surgical Black" stones being used 20+ years ago, was gold testing stones... cause the gold smear showed up well on the black stone. But those really only required a little penknife piece.
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Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
It seems everyone wants at least a relative grit rating for every natural stone, and that’s just not possible to any degree of certainty. The Japanese tried that with stamps, all of which ‘I’m a great stone from X company’ except for size and mine stamps.
And Shapton is changing their grit descriptions too.
I’ve never had any problem just using the stone(s) and figuring out what they were good for or if they were good or meh.
And Shapton is changing their grit descriptions too.
I’ve never had any problem just using the stone(s) and figuring out what they were good for or if they were good or meh.
I kind of figured that is due to a couple of factors: one, the change in classification for hard arks, and the introduction of the Dunston, means that a translucent is more of a sure bet versus a black ark of unknown SG.
Tricky thing is my Pinnacle (now sold), I'm almost positive was a Dunston... and they sold it as "Surgical Black"...
Not Surgical Black Arkansas... Just "Surgical Black".
Pretty Tricky, sis.
Kind of goes to the same point, though. Harder to fake a translucent ark, and folks seem willing to pay more for that.
Yeah, there's some ceramics that can pass as a translucent ark, but they're pretty rare.
It’s that, but also wastage. A translucent stone is much harder to cut without any visible flaws in the rock. Even if they are not toxic and don’t effect the honing, they do effect the resale.
A black stone hides these, so you get more sellable rock.
I have one incoming as well. Did you do any further lapping or surface prep to it? Or are you using it as-received?
The factory finish on my Dan’s Translucent is fabulous. The factory finish on my brand new Dan’s Black (Ultra Fine) did not meet my standards so I rubbed it around on a sheet of 240 grit sandpaper (using only the weight of the stone) until the sandpaper was spent. The finish is now perfect, IMHO.
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
I believe AG Russell probably is to be credited with the term surgical black.
In one video of him on YT he mentions prepping black Arkansas for eye surgeons by lapping them with 600 grit diamond dust. A.G. was a wealth of practical sharpening advice. Disposable blades and precision factory sharpening ended the days the surgical blacks, at least for what A.G. made them for.
A few years ago I got into a discussion with a surgeon regarding sharp instruments and he told me about harmonic scalpels.
I'm pretty sure I seen the Dunstan at a Woodcrafters store but that has been many years ago now and I can't remember what they called it.
It used to be a black ark was just that and at least as fine as a translucent and now...
Black Arkansas Whetstone Sharpener in Wooden Box
Genuine Arkansas BLACK (1200 grit) Novaculite Sharpening Bench Stone in a Beautiful Hand Crafted Hardwood Box. This Authentic ALL AMERICAN MADE Arkansas Whetstone will literally provide a lifetime of sharpening excellence for any size knife or cutting tool. Nothing compares to the quality of...
arkansaswhetstone.net
I got to say Dan's don't F around with second rate rocks or finish which is why a recommend them to beginners even if they pay a little more it's going to be legit.
They are safe and have a good product, but if you live outside the US their international shipping fees puts you pretty much out of luck.
I prepped one side and left the other side as is. I did a progression of Silicon Carbide powder on a heavy glass plate, chamfered the edges and smoothed off the corners. Finished with wet/dry 800 grit? sandpaper and a whole bunch of laps with a heavy grind flat SR. Basically, taking advice from others that have used a similar system with good results. It all made sense to me and I like the fact that I’ve put some work in to prep the surface as best I can to take out any unknown variables. Very much enjoying this stone.
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
I think you are right on Woodcraft because they were selling the former Halls that were bought by RH Preyda last time I saw their Arks in store.I'm pretty sure I seen the Dunstan at a Woodcrafters store but that has been many years ago now and I can't remember what they called it.
It used to be a black ark was just that and at least as fine as a translucent and now...
Black Arkansas Whetstone Sharpener in Wooden Box
Genuine Arkansas BLACK (1200 grit) Novaculite Sharpening Bench Stone in a Beautiful Hand Crafted Hardwood Box. This Authentic ALL AMERICAN MADE Arkansas Whetstone will literally provide a lifetime of sharpening excellence for any size knife or cutting tool. Nothing compares to the quality of...
I got to say Dan's don't F around with second rate rocks or finish which is why a recommend them to beginners even if they pay a little more it's going to be legit.
These days, for me it’s Dans or old Norton for the hard variants. I would not trust blacks from others but you can probably trust translucents but depending on where you get they they may not be flattened or finished to Dan’s or Norton’s standards.
That listing does say "Novaculite"... So I'm thinking unless they're outright lying, that's actual Hard Ark (But again, plenty of sellers seem fine with lying about this Dunston stuff)... Just maybe not polished as well as we are used to. But as @Gamma points out, Black arkansas doesn't necessarily mean as hard or good as a traditional "Hard Arkansas" translucent or black... A Black Novaculite out of Arkansas doesn't automatically qualify to be a Surgical Black, or a Dan's Black Ark... etc.I'm pretty sure I seen the Dunstan at a Woodcrafters store but that has been many years ago now and I can't remember what they called it.
It used to be a black ark was just that and at least as fine as a translucent and now...
Black Arkansas Whetstone Sharpener in Wooden Box
Genuine Arkansas BLACK (1200 grit) Novaculite Sharpening Bench Stone in a Beautiful Hand Crafted Hardwood Box. This Authentic ALL AMERICAN MADE Arkansas Whetstone will literally provide a lifetime of sharpening excellence for any size knife or cutting tool. Nothing compares to the quality of...
I got to say Dan's don't F around with second rate rocks or finish which is why a recommend them to beginners even if they pay a little more it's going to be legit.
I'd worry it's not very hard mainly because it appears to be the soft version of their "Ultra fine hard black arkansas"... that sells for 3.5x the price of that stone.
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On their Whetstone Grades page, Arkansas Whetstone explains the difference between their grades:
Stone #1 is still a mystery because the listing does not include one of the 5 grades.
These guys clearly need someone to review their website for clarity.
Had I not taken today off, I never would have had the time to perform this level of analysis
.
Arkansas Whetstone: If you are reading this, please update your site to clearly list which grade each stone is. Thank you.
P.S. I am super happy that I bought my three Black Arkansas (Ultra Fine) stones from Dan's.
- Soft Arkansas (Medium)
- Hard Arkansas (Fine)
- True Hard Arkansas (Extra Fine)
- Translucent Arkansas (Extra Fine)
- Black Arkansas (Ultra Fine)
- Black Arkansas (1200 grit) for which 6 x 2 x 1 is $62.95
- Black Arkansas (Ultra Fine) (minimum grit 1200) for which 6 x 2 x 3/4-1 is $168.95
Stone #1 is still a mystery because the listing does not include one of the 5 grades.
These guys clearly need someone to review their website for clarity.
Had I not taken today off, I never would have had the time to perform this level of analysis
.Arkansas Whetstone: If you are reading this, please update your site to clearly list which grade each stone is. Thank you.
P.S. I am super happy that I bought my three Black Arkansas (Ultra Fine) stones from Dan's.
What Dan has to say about color....
"Soft Arkansas (Medium) is the most popular of the grades of novaculite. It is an all-purpose stone used by woodcarvers, sportsmen, butchers, commercial knife sharpeners and even housewives. This stone is used by people who desire keen, sharp edge on their knives and tools in a minimum amount of time. Soft Arkansas stones may be white, gray and black, or pink and gray in color."
Note that he said "grey and black" not black.
No color is mentioned in the hard grade it's probably safe to assume it's the same as the soft.
And the black ark that he built his business on...
" Black Arkansas (Ultra Fine) Black Arkansas stones are black or blue-black in color. This crypto-crystaline novaculite structure is the most dense and therefore has the properties to achieve the finest polished edge possible."
"Soft Arkansas (Medium) is the most popular of the grades of novaculite. It is an all-purpose stone used by woodcarvers, sportsmen, butchers, commercial knife sharpeners and even housewives. This stone is used by people who desire keen, sharp edge on their knives and tools in a minimum amount of time. Soft Arkansas stones may be white, gray and black, or pink and gray in color."
Note that he said "grey and black" not black.
No color is mentioned in the hard grade it's probably safe to assume it's the same as the soft.
And the black ark that he built his business on...
" Black Arkansas (Ultra Fine) Black Arkansas stones are black or blue-black in color. This crypto-crystaline novaculite structure is the most dense and therefore has the properties to achieve the finest polished edge possible."
