Hey all,
In the oil stone universe, it seems like soft Arkansas stones don't get a lot of love.
Silicon carbide (Crystolon) and Alumina (India) stones can cut pretty darned fast. So does sandpaper. Then you hit the wall with a super slow cutting soft Ark.
There is a solution.
Lapidary abrasive.
I use the soft arkanas as a substrate for lapidary abrasive. It's sort of the best of all worlds.
I juice my soft Arkansas stones with a pinch of powdered aluminum oxide abrasive, and now, they cut FAST. Best of all, the stuff is cheap - less than $10/lb. I've tried them with both oil and water, and you can use them either way. The feel is fantastic and you still get good feedback from the stone. Oh, and if you want to switch from oil to water, or you don't like it, just scrub it off with dish soap and hot water, and off you go.
Also, if too much gunk builds up on the stone, just wash it off with dish soap and hot water, and off you go.
The only cautions...
1. Don't put this stuff on your super fine black and translucent Arks. You will absolutely hate it. Stick with juicing your soft Ark and you'll be happy.
2. Buy it from an actual lapidary supply. The "Rock tumbling" media on Amazon is poorly graded and doesn't give very good results past the more coarse grits.
Here's a pic of what I ended up with:
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I use "500 grit" silicon carbide rock tumbling abrasive on my fine India. (That particular stuff came from Amazon and is poorly graded. It is probably closer to 350 grit.). It turbo charges the fine India, but still leaves a fine, uniform scratch pattern that's a bit finer than P1000 sandpaper.
500 grit aluminum oxide actual lapidary abrasive on a cheap, ultra-soft and coarse soft Ark. This stuff is considerably finer than the silicon carbide rock tumbling abrasive stuff. It looks like dust where the SiC looks more like fine sand. This particular stone throws some grit and isn't suitable for anything finer, but it is FAST and amazing with the 500 grit Alumina. Finish wise, it leaves a matte gray haze with a barely discernible scratch pattern.
1-3 micron "Micro-alumina" on a cheap, low-mid density soft Ark that glazes instantly and doesn't cut otherwise. This one leaves a dull mirror finish. On a better quality soft Ark, this polish does not leave fine swirly scratches visible in a loupe, but this particular stone isn't high quality, and throws a bit of fine grit.
"Raybrite A" on a Norton soft. That's a 0.5 micron aluminum oxide polish. The Norton soft is extremely uniform and throws absolutely zero grit. It is a fantastic stone, and this makes it even better. This particular polish mixes better with oil than water, but it still works ok with water, it's just a bit clumpy. This particular stuff leaves a brighter mirror finish when used thick and a more hazy mirror finish when used thinner. This stuff also makes a fantastic strop paste if you want to do that instead of using it on a stone.
Here's a shot of the finish.
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