All the talk lately of oil stones made me itch for a proper one. I was two steps from getting a translucent Arkansas stone and instead got the Dan’s Black Arkansas. By the way, I got it on eBay from taylortoolworksllc for half what Dan’s was selling them for. (Which is still $200, but I got the huge 12”x3” one)
I used dish detergent and water instead of oil, just because I heard it works well. I’m sold on that- much less mess than oil and did a great job. Folks- you know I’m a hard-core “stoner” and I’m very much a waterstone guy, but I wanted to give a really fine oil stone a try. Wow. Just. Wow. I am telling you- better edge than on a Chosera 10k. The edge is more refined and polished. I never would have believed it. It is insane. I am loving this stone. I love natural stones for gouges because they are less prone to divots, but this is now going to be my go-to finisher for chisels and planes too. In fact, I’m goin to get a medium Arkansas and keep these two benchside for touch-ups. I never imagined I would be saying that about an Arkansas stone. I used to mountain climb and kayak a lot in Arkansas, and every gift shop sold these crappy little Arkansas stones in cheesy cedar boxes. I assumed that was what they all were like. Now that I have tried a REAL Arkansas stone, I’m sold.