Arkansas stones black or transclucent

[brhodes]

Is the difference in the finished edge worth the difference in the price of the stones?
Thanks,
Bill

 

[DancesWithKnives]

I don't know the answer, but there have been some threads on this in recent months and you could probably retrieve them with the search function. Needless to say, opinions varied.

 

[Newt Livesay]

The best of the two stones is the Arkansas Surgical Black. You will pay more, but this is the finest stone you will ever own. I would suggest that you buy the largest one that you can afford. The large desk or bench stones are excellent stones when sharpening any tool.

Bill Clinton and his cronies just about ruined the Arkansas stone business when they put a clamp on the mining community here. Just a couple of hours from my house is where these find stones are dug out of the rich volcanic layers of earth, and sawed. I have some very large black surgical stones that I picked up right out of the tailing of some of the saw piles. One mill near Hot Springs had upwards of 3 or 4 pickup truck loads of the stones piled up in a rock trash heap.

Are the multi-colored stones any good or are the translucent stones better? Well it my opinion but the colored stones are junk. You can buy large soft, and medium hardness grade stones all day for .50 to $3.00, and I mean large stones. Hard translucent stones of a good size that are mis-cuts (odd sizes not standard) will cost from $3.00 to $5.00 around the mills. You might have to hunt but there are dozens upon dozens of cutters in the area of Hot Springs. Good Hard Arkansas Surgical Black Stone are expensive, and if you lucky you might find someone who has a pile, and is cutting them. I have bought nice large blacks a couple of years back in the 3” thick X 4” wide X 14” long for a low as $8.00. I have hauled off blocks of one side sawed chunks that are over one foot wide, and two feet long, and from six to eight inches thick for the rock. Right now from what I am told by a cutter or two is that it is hard to come by bcause of the tough mining laws that were passed by the Klintons.

Are the black rocks better? I think so.
Newt Livesay
maker

 

[Warriorsociologist]

Originally posted by Newt Livesay
The best of the two stones is the Arkansas Surgical Black. You will pay more, but this is the finest stone you will ever own. I would suggest that you buy the largest one that you can afford. The large desk or bench stones are excellent stones when sharpening any tool.

Bill Clinton and his cronies just about ruined the Arkansas stone business when they put a clamp on the mining community here. Just a couple of hours from my house is where these find stones are dug out of the rich volcanic layers of earth, and sawed. I have some very large black surgical stones that I picked up right out of the tailing of some of the saw piles. One mill near Hot Springs had upwards of 3 or 4 pickup truck loads of the stones piled up in a rock trash heap.

Are the multi-colored stones any good or are the translucent stones better? Well it my opinion but the colored stones are junk. You can buy large soft, and medium hardness grade stones all day for .50 to $3.00, and I mean large stones. Hard translucent stones of a good size that are mis-cuts (odd sizes not standard) will cost from $3.00 to $5.00 around the mills. You might have to hunt but there are dozens upon dozens of cutters in the area of Hot Springs. Good Hard Arkansas Surgical Black Stone are expensive, and if you lucky you might find someone who has a pile, and is cutting them. I have bought nice large blacks a couple of years back in the 3” thick X 4” wide X 14” long for a low as $8.00. I have hauled off blocks of one side sawed chunks that are over one foot wide, and two feet long, and from six to eight inches thick for the rock. Right now from what I am told by a cutter or two is that it is hard to come by bcause of the tough mining laws that were passed by the Klintons.

Are the black rocks better? I think so.
Newt Livesay
maker

Hmmm...the translucent stones I have seen can be as much as twice as expensive as the black ones...and even finer. Knifeart.com is one place you can find large bench stones in both varieties...

 

[Paracelsus]

Translucent stones are rarer than black and therefore more costly. Both are similar in texture and hardness, although the translucent stones may have the finest and most consistant texture. I do not know if the average user can tell the difference between them. I use ceramic stones and green polish on strops.

This is a previous thread with several links to good information about Arkansas stones

 

[Coonskinner]

I have no experience with the translucent stones, but I have used a surgical black hard Arkansas for years , and nothing else that I have used puts a polished edge on as well.

But they do seem to be getting harder to find.