Recommendation? Sanding An Arkansas Stone

Eli Chaps

Eli Chaps

Joined
Apr 20, 2018
Messages
4,458
Hello Sharpners,

I have a soft Arkansas stone that has a couple hiccups in it. I'm guessing they must be tiny little pieces of the stone sticking up. You can't feel anything with your finger but if I hit the spots just right with a blade, especially smaller ones, the knife will catch.

It's a gorgeous stone and worth saving so I was thinking about running it over some sandpaper. I'm aware of the SiC powder but was hoping to just use what I have handy. I know I need to keep it flat.

Thoughts? I have up to 1000grit I think.
 
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Sandpaper is fine. 1000 grit seems excessive, but go ahead and start with a coarser grit and work your way up until you're satisfied with the resulting finish.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Sandpaper is fine. 1000 grit seems excessive, but go ahead and start with a coarser grit and work your way up until you're satisfied with the resulting finish.
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Thank you sir. Sorry I typo'd the original post. I meant I have up to 1000 (fixed). I was thinking I'd start with 600 and adjust up or down if needed. Have some overtime ahead so it'll be at least this weekend before I can try anything and report back.
 
Do you have a coarse stone of SiC? If you could pick up an ACE Hardware stone, they are economical, that will work. The 2"X 6" or 2"X 8".
They are more black. I did one of my Washita Arkansas stones with it (the coarse then fine side) and it came out great. DM
added: I would start with 100 grit. Then don't work it beyond 300 grit.
 
Great. Thank you David. I have a medium SiC but I can stop at my favorite Ace easy enough and get something to play with.
 
The medium SiC is listed on one site at 180 grit. That may work. Use plenty of water. After about 10-15 mins. of rubbing check the Arkansas's surface with one of your blades to see if the ridge is still present. Thanks & good luck. DM
 
A fresh surface on an arkie is great to work with.

Those 4-packs of diamond hones at Harbor Freight are great for lapping and refreshes.
 
A great tool to have in the kit in general is a cheap Chinese lapping disc. You can find 'em for about $50 shipped on eBay for a 12" diameter disc with no center mounting hole (continuous surface) and that's big enough to comfortably lap bench stones on. They're available in a range of different grits.
 
I cheated and did mine on the 6x? inch belt sander at work, used the flat platen, 180 grit. It took about a minute with light pressure..
 
Soft Arks are pretty easy to resurface. At one time or another, I've used the SiC stone (coarse), a zirconia-alumina grinding belt laid flat on a board, and even a very cheap aluminum oxide stone sprinkled with some 600-grit SiC powder (what I had on hand) to do a small soft Ark of mine. All of those options worked pretty easily, and I didn't have any issues with the finish left on the stone in any case.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Soft Arks are pretty easy to resurface. At one time or another, I've used the SiC stone (coarse), a zirconia-alumina grinding belt laid flat on a board, and even a very cheap aluminum oxide stone sprinkled with some 600-grit SiC powder (what I had on hand) to do a small soft Ark of mine. All of those options worked pretty easily, and I didn't have any issues with the finish left on the stone in any case.
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Thank you David.
 
Would it be fair/correct to claim that Dan's Black Ark is not as hard and wear-resistant as Spyderco's UF? Look at that!

 
no specific. just that. haha

i need my stones to be wear-resistant for high pressure polishing. but that video demos that the stone can develop a slurry rather fast. anyway i got confirmation that ruby is more wear-resistant than any natural stone.
 
K kreisler , "would it be fair to claim Dan's black Arkansas is not as hard..."
Yes, the Arkansas's are novaculite, a natural occurring mineral and not as hard as a man made stone. Especially a stone like ceramic.
However, for simple steels like razors and such they work well. And it is fine enough to get a great edge, even for shaving. Sapphire is harder and cuts better. DM
 
kreisler said:
no specific. just that. haha

i need my stones to be wear-resistant for high pressure polishing. but that video demos that the stone can develop a slurry rather fast. anyway i got confirmation that ruby is more wear-resistant than any natural stone.
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Remember there's a difference between the hardness of the abrasive grains and the hardness of the bond. Spyderco's stones are sintered alumina ceramic, which is both very hard in terms of the grains themselves (synthetic sapphire) but also in terms of bond, as they're subjected to such enormous heat and pressure that they fuse without the use of a binding agent. It's essentially synthetic sedimentary stone. One can find natural stones that are softer in terms of the hardness of the abrasive, but harder on a macro scale thanks to the strength of their bond vs. something like a common vitrified stone like an India stone, despite the abrasive grains in that synthetic stone being considerably harder than the natural stone. :)
 
David Martin said:
I wonder why guys lap or sharpen at the kitchen sink. DM
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If that's a serious question it's to allow for constant rinsing of the stone, though I would caution people doing so that it's possible to clog up your pipes with the fine silt. Working in a dish tote when lapping will still allow you plenty of water and then you can dump the silt outside to save your pipes.
 
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