Translucent Arkansas: How long does it take to wear in?

[Luke Dupont]

Greetings all.

I bought a Translucent Arkansas a few weeks ago (from Dan's), and have been using it in an attempt to wear it in, but it just doesn't seem to be wearing quickly at all. It's still pretty coarse and cutting very quickly.

My soft and hard wore in fairly quickly, but I suppose it's only to be expected that the translucent, being much harder, would take longer. I'm curious as to other's experience. I suppose I could take a fine grit sandpaper to it to speed the process along, but I wouldn't know where to find anything finer than 2500 grit.

That said, it's so wear resistant that I almost wonder if lapping the reverse side with a medium or fine diamond plate might make it better than my soft arkansas for bevel work

[Robin Frierson]

Tools for working wood has 3M lapping film as fine as .3micron. My chart says that 60,000 grit or higher.

[Rob Luter]

Tools for working wood has 3M lapping film as fine as .3micron. My chart says that 60,000 grit or higher.

True. I use it on glass blocks as a final step for sharpening. As fine as it is it still cuts pretty well.

[Steve Voigt]

Just use it. Work the backs of your tools on the stone thoroughly, using the whole stone. I wouldn't be in a hurry to slow the stone down; it will happen soon enough, and you will miss having your stone cut quickly. In the mean time, strop after the stone, either with bare leather or on a piece of MDF loaded with some green paste.

As discussed here ad nauseum, if it slows down too much for your taste, or you want to flatten it, just use a diamond stone, or some SiC loose grit on glass.

[Patrick Chase]

Tools for working wood has 3M lapping film as fine as .3micron. My chart says that 60,000 grit or higher.

Depending on manufacturer and rating system #1000 is anywhere between 10 and 15 um, so 0.3 is about #33000-50000. Either way it's overkill. The abrasive on those films is aluminum-oxide (it's 3M 266X) so it's directly comparable to a modern synthetic waterstone in terms of "harshness".

I'd personally suggest the 1.0 um version of that film - it's about the same grit size as the Sigma 10K or Shapton 15K stones, and it works quite a bit faster than the 0.3 um film. I generally only resort to sub-micron grits with diamond films/pastes, which are quite a bit more aggressive and can benefit from more refinement IMO.

[george wilson]

Getting back to the original question: I would not take a diamond plate to it. That might make the surface even more coarse. Just keep using it. Or,take a plane iron you don't care about,and keep honing away with it till you get the Arkansas worn in.

I don't fin a translucent Arkansas stone particularly hard. Broken slip stones are very easily belt ground into special shapes. Now,ceramic stones,they're hard.

[Stewie Simpson]

As I watched this video, I couldn't help but think David Weaver may have been the person who tried to offer this guy some advice on how to flatten an Arkansas Stone.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke1Q-1ycjzE

[Pat Barry]

As I watched this video, I couldn't help but think David Weaver may have been the person who tried to offer this guy some advice on how to flatten an Arkansas Stone.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke1Q-1ycjzE

Loved it. Thanks Stewie!

[george wilson]

Well,I watched the video PARTLY(got too tedious). I couldn't be sure if the guy wanted to flatten the stone or "Pound our faces in!!" If he was tired or in a bad mood,not the best time to make a video(expect it was tongue in cheek anyway).

If you have an old,large sandstone farmer's grinding wheel,like we have in the museum,the quickest way is to rub the stone on the sandstone wheel with water. Really flattens it in just a few minutes. I taught the guys at the Gunsmith Shop how to do that after I saw one of them trying to flatten a black Arkansas stone with 600 wet or dry wrapped around a file( rather LOOSELY!)

I'll bet that you could get a slab of sandstone cheap if you have a stone supply place in your town. They don't charge a fortune for architectural stone(It'd cost too much to BUILD with it!!!!)

[Mel Fulks]

George,I watched that video. You neglected to mention it gives a behind the curtain look at the studio! He has as much talent as Arthur Godfrey...and more grumpiness.

[Patrick Chase]

As I watched this video, I couldn't help but think David Weaver may have been the person who tried to offer this guy some advice on how to flatten an Arkansas Stone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke1Q-1ycjzE

Hah!

On a serious note, the problem of SiC moving around is a lot less of an issue if you use a soft sacrificial surface like a laminating sheet. The SiC grit embeds itself if the laminating sheet, creating a fairly uniform abrasive surface that doesn't depend as much on lapping motion.

[Brian Holcombe]

My diamond plate is smaller than my soft ark, so I just check my work as I go with a straight edge. Something I've found to be worthwhile in any case.

[george wilson]

Author Godfrey!! THAT'S a name I haven't heard for quite a few years! When I was young,he was a radio favorite.