A Box I Made for Dave's Favorite Arkansas Stone

[Chris Griggs]

Dave Weaver recently leant me his favorite arkansas finishing stone, a vintage yellowish translucent, so that I could try it on my straight razor and compare it to my newer Halls surgical black. Its a lovely stone, a very fine finisher that still maintains a bit of cutting ability. This ability to leave a a very fine edge while still have some cutting power is supposedly what sets the vintage Arks apart from many of the modern ones.

This lovely stone, however, didn't have a box, so yesterday when I was gluing up the base for the cabinet I'm building, I decided to forgo watching more reruns of Cheers, and, as a thank you to Dave, make a box for this lovely stone.

This is kinda a silly thread as its just a little box, but these quick little projects are always lots of fun and it came out nice so I thought I'd share. Of course, since it is for Dave, it had to be free of end grain so the box is all mitered. Also, its always fun to go a little overboard with this things so I made a bookmatched top and the fielded/raised it....total overkill for an oil stone box, but again, fun. Finish planed and coated with BLO. Hope you like it Dave.

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[David Weaver]

That's way cool!! It looks like it's getting far better treatment there than it ever gets on my bench.

Thanks Chris!

[Chris Griggs]

My pleasure. Glad you like it. Its a pretty sweet stone. I see why you like it so much. It deserved a box.

[Mel Fulks]

Nothing silly ,a handsome and practical thing. Kindly done and graciously accepted.

[Chris Griggs]

Thanks Mel. I must say I had a lot of fun building it. I never really get sick of building these kinds of things. Lots of quick gratification.

[george wilson]

You are making out,David!!

[David Weaver]

Yeah, I'd say. Now I won't have to wipe all of the dust off of it.

I call that stone "magic yellowstone". It's not spectacular compared to modern abrasives, but it's a very nice oilstone and it still retains chunky marks from hand chiseling on the bottom side. Maybe I'm biased, Chris may have found it not a lot different than other finishers, but I do like that it has some personality that's missing on modern stones.

[Chris Griggs]

You are making out,David!!

Not half as well as I am. Dave has sent a number of pretty nice things to play with.

Thank you for commenting George. Glad you like it.

Yeah, I'd say. Now I won't have to wipe all of the dust off of it.

I call that stone "magic yellowstone". It's not spectacular compared to modern abrasives, but it's a very nice oilstone and it still retains chunky marks from hand chiseling on the bottom side. Maybe I'm biased, Chris may have found it not a lot different than other finishers, but I do like that it has some personality that's missing on modern stones.

Its not a lot different, but I see why you like it better than the others. It is indeed very nicely worn in and maintains some cutting ability. Its hard to tell how much faster or finer it is then my halls black I've worked to wear in, but I think it is a bit finer and cuts about the same. Subtle differences. As you pointed out to me I do like how easy it is to see what the stone is doing. The ability to see the swarf and generally whats going on with the blade is probably the biggest consistent advantage translucents have over blacks. For tools I care less, but it made me want to get a translucent for my razor.

[Sam Murdoch]

Chris, would you like to borrow my violin?
What a wonderful and generous way to return a favor - no end grain indeed .

[Chris Griggs]

Chris, would you like to borrow my violin?

Is your violin a rectangle? If so, than I might be able to make a case that does is justice

[Mel Fulks]

Sam ,you need to make one of those cigar box violins!

[Jeff Heath]

I've got 3 stones you can borrow anytime......

Nice box, and a better "thank you" gift.

Jeff

[Jim Koepke]

Nice way to say thanks.

jtk

[Bob Jones]

Nice. I feel so slow when I see "quick" projects that I know would take me over 8 hours of shop time

[Sam Murdoch]

Sam ,you need to make one of those cigar box violins!

Just what I need - another project , plus that would mean 2 fancy boxes from Chris . I guess I'll be happy with what I have.