I landed 2 days ago in the US, but could not help myself giving my new Ark stones a shot at the first opportunity - a kitchen knife here needed attention badly.
the stones I got:
8X3 soft ark from natural whetstone
8X2 hard ark from natural whestone
8X2 Dan's hard black ark new from e-bay. this one came in at 1 5\8 inch wide which was a big disappointment, it's tiny. .
The hard and soft arks are very similar. the hard is more of a finer\harder version of the soft ark, not at all a smooth hard stone like I thought it would be. it's has pores like the soft ark. the soft ark seems to be great, I really like the feel of it, and I was able to regrind a double bevel on a cheap stainless knife, if it works faster with plain carbon steel and dosen't settle in too fine, I might end up loving this stone.
The Dan's Black looks like super quality compared to the "hard" stone. it's very dark and smooth. I haven't put steel to it yet but I'm already thinking that I'd like a 8X3 version. I was wondering what the differences are between the finishing stone at Dan's website, he has 3 choices:
1. True Hard - says this is the same as a translucent but with color variations within the same stone
2. Translucent - the most expensive
3. True Hard Black - the most dense and fine, cheaper than translucent but more than the 'true hard'.
Why is the Translucent more expensive if the Black is fine and denser? do they cut better? or is it a supply and demand result?
Anyone try a 'true hard' to compare it to a 'hard black'?
I will post more when I get home and actually put them to use with some tools and see how they work and settle in. so far - I'm loving natural stones! but except fore the soft stone, seems like you get what you pay for. and you must buy from the right place.