Black Arkansas?

[Legion]

Again, despite Dan and others assertions, the translucent and hardest black stones should be functionally the same.

The blacks may sometimes come in at a marginally higher SG, but that is because of the minerals that give them colour, not that they are more dense.

 

[Bowmaker]

Again, despite Dan and others assertions, the translucent and hardest black stones should be functionally the same.

The blacks may sometimes come in at a marginally higher SG, but that is because of the minerals that give them colour, not that they are more dense.

I think he actually asserts that the blue black is the finest but I can't remember where I got that so maybe it's just a "trust me bro" internet thing.

 

[Frank Shaves]

I have heard that Dan's Blue-Black Arkansas can be finer than the standard Black Arkansas (Ultra Fine) and that it shows up when it shows up. Therefore, they do not list it as a standard product on their website.

When I ordered my last two stones, I asked Dan's to provide a stone of uniform color that is good for honing razors, if possible. Whether this made a difference, I cannot say. But I can say that in both cases I received a stone of uniform color that is excellent for honing razors .

 

[Chandu]

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'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.

It's a grey area, well probably not to you or me.... Arkansas stones traditionally mean novaculite. But Dunston is a slate from what I understand, but it too is a stone from Arkansas.
Dunston is not a bad stone, but it's not worth the class of novaculite they want to put it in. It's colored the same, but that's where the similarity ends. To me Dunston should be priced as soft or maybe regular hard Arkansas. Not Dan's True Hard, Black or Translucent or anything that was ever called "Hard" by Norton as far as pricing.

 

[Chandu]

I have heard that Dan's Blue-Black Arkansas can be finer than the standard Black Arkansas (Ultra Fine) and that it shows up when it shows up. Therefore, they do not list it as a standard product on their website.

I've heard a lot about the blue black tranlucent from a knife sharpener I know - Red Rooster on YT. I've sent him many stropping compounds and we've talked stroppping at length.

I'd love a blue-black, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to pay for one.

Though I do have a Dan's Black Hard that has never been used in 12x3x1. I'm treating that like a 401k given how Ark prices are going.

 

[Chandu]

On their Whetstone Grades page, Arkansas Whetstone explains the difference between their grades:

1. Soft Arkansas (Medium)
2. Hard Arkansas (Fine)
3. True Hard Arkansas (Extra Fine)
4. Translucent Arkansas (Extra Fine)
5. Black Arkansas (Ultra Fine)

If I then go to their Shop page, I see two black stones:

1. Black Arkansas (1200 grit) for which 6 x 2 x 1 is $62.95
2. Black Arkansas (Ultra Fine) (minimum grit 1200) for which 6 x 2 x 3/4-1 is $168.95

Stone #2 is clearly grade #5 for 93% of the price of Dan's Black Arkansas (Ultra Fine).

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.

If I am guessing right, Arkansas Whetstone was previously Natural Whetstone. The owner passed on as I understand and a friend took over. The original owner was a good guy and the new owner may be as well.

My experience was they had really good softs. Better than Dan. Dan's softs are basically hard when it comes to cutting speed. If you want a soft one of these or a Smiths of Eby is probably the best.

Natural Whetstone had several grades of Hard and I don't think any of them lived up to Dan's nor were cut / lapped as straight, flat what have you as Dan delivers. Except, I might try the translucent, you can't play games with them as far as real novaculite, dunston slate, etc. At the prices they are selling at probably worth a try.

Truly sorry if Arkansas Whetstone is not a continuation of Natural Whetstone, then my comments are probably bunk.

 

[Southbound1]

Buy from Dan's! You get what you paid for and then some! I will probably never buy another Ark but anyone who does go for Dans Whetstones because they're very transparent

 

[Southbound1]

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.

Grit charts for synth rocks are not always in synchrony. Fepa, Jis, anis you can look at 3 charts and they're all a bit different. Be careful buying loose grit SIC powder, anything over 2000 grit is rated either Fepa or Jis. I believe SIC powder is graded mostly fepa. Big difference between the two, i think a F2000 is rated and equivalent to JIS 8000 (depending on which chart you look at...

True what you said about signing a grit rating to a Nat Stone. I always will have a conflict within myself because i am guilty of 'roughly assigning' ( ballpark figure ) a grit rating to a Nat Stone ... For example I guess we do this ( i do) by taking notes on shave results comparing a nat on how it shaves compared to a specific synth. We are all here on shave forums not just because we are 'just shaving'. Just like a wine connoisseur, we get deep into hones, and thats part of the fun

 

[Bowmaker]

I have heard that Dan's Blue-Black Arkansas can be finer than the standard Black Arkansas (Ultra Fine) and that it shows up when it shows up. Therefore, they do not list it as a standard product on their website.

When I ordered my last two stones, I asked Dan's to provide a stone of uniform color that is good for honing razors, if possible. Whether this made a difference, I cannot say. But I can say that in both cases I received a stone of uniform color that is excellent for honing razors .

The example of a Dan's blue black that I have seen was a translucent black.

Dan's stone ratings match up with my personal experience, but I wouldn't argue with anyone over it the point being moot with the stones being so capable.

 

[Southbound1]

The example of a Dan's blue black that I have seen was a translucent black.

Dan's stone ratings match up with my personal experience, but I wouldn't argue with anyone over it the point being moot with the stones being so capable.

A blue black Ark is beautiful ! I thought about getting one but i settled on a jet black.

 

[helicopter]

I thought this was interesting from Preyda:

Since different manufacturers are using different sources, this won't translate to other manufacturers.

 

[Chandu]

I thought this was interesting from Preyda:

View attachment 2026532

Since different manufacturers are using different sources, this won't translate to other manufacturers.

They have a nice catalog. I don't think any other vendor does the catalog like they do.

 

[helicopter]

They have a nice catalog. I don't think any other vendor does the catalog like they do.

Perhaps. Case isn't terrible, but they only have a handful of products.

Preyda must have around five different sources to have the two grades of black below translucent.

I think Dan's sources are better, as well as their manufacturing processes. (Case stones come from Dan's.)