Lapping a Arkansas stone

S

Slim7

Joined
Oct 11, 2015
Messages
84
Hi again,
Ive already posted on this subject before, but not many responses. I have a translucent Arkansas that needs lapping/conditioning. Its not out of flat i already got it flat or its not clogged with metal. This kind of stone is one that doesn't release abrasive, its like a Spyderco ceramic. Just one solid chunk of abrasive.

Over time with use these type of stones get burnished. The abrasive points that do stickup get rounded off with use. I maybe wrong but i have tried to recondition this translucent with a medium diamond plate. It will get flat, but no matter what grit diamond is used it will make the stone you are lapping Slick/burnished.

Ive come to find out these virtified stones, and solid naturals only respond well to loose abrasive. Not saying you cant do the heavy lifting with a diamond plate, you definitely can. When its time to put a final finish on the stone you just got flat with the diamond, loose grit IMO is the best option.

So thats were i need some of you alls advice and experience. I only have 80 grit sic powder, and thats definitely to rough. I need to buy some finer Sic powder. I dont want to mirror my stone its already there with the diamond lapping. I just want to restore back that "little bite" to the stone. Ive read that some guys on the shaving forums lap Black and translucent stones to a mirror. Ive read of guys getting mirror finish just off of 300-350 grit sic powder. So what grit do you all recommend to put my final finsh on the stone, or should i say bite without going to extremely high grit powder? I just kinda want to lap it just a hair coarser than it should be, and let the stone breakin with just a little bit of use.
Thanks,
Mike
 
Slim, I have all 5 of the Arkansas grit stones but have leveled only 2. Which I understand your not doing. I added enough bite back to my hard
Arkansas using a Norton fine SiC stone. Don't use much pressure. Then sharpen on it to break it back in. It took a axe to bring it back. You may try several knives. DM
 
80 grit should be fine to recondition the surface.
As David said, use light pressure.

I just did a 4x2 translucent at 60 grit and it has nice bite and will actually take off some steel.
It may give me a few more sharpenings like this till it smooths out too much.

It can be a pain but I like how Arks can be prepped different ways depending on situation.
 
The thing with silicon carbide loose grit is that the longer you use it, the more it will crush and break down - which makes it finer and finer as you use it. If you want a 320 grit finish, you'll need to refresh the grit multiple times and on your final refresh, only lap for a short period, say 10 seconds. I find 320 loose grit is pretty good for a fast cutting Ark. If you want a mirror finish or close to it you'll need to go a lot finer.
 
Try wiping it down with BreakFree CLP to lift out any embedded skarf. Works for diamond hones.
 
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