Black Arkansas Stone - Hall's & Dan's

[Robert Rozaieski]

I currently have Hall's soft and hard arkansas bench stones (6" x 2" x 1") that I like and Dan's soft and hard arkansas slip stones that I also like. I would like to add the black bench stone for a finer polish and was looking at the Hall's website and the Dan's website and wow, what a difference. The Hall's 6 x 2 x 1 black stone is $40. The Dan's 6 x 2 x 3/4-1 black stone is $85! Is there that much difference? What gives? Anyone have experience with black stones from both suppliers? Is there a reason to go with Dan's over Hall's at over twice the price? Of course I'm heavily leaning toward the Hall's stone at half the price of the Dan's but want to make sure I'm not missing something important here. All opinions appreciated. Thanks!

Bob

[Mike Weaver]

Hi,
You might also check out Keith De'Grau - he has nice prices.
http://www.handamerican.com/ark.html

Years ago, a bunch of Galoots, myself included, bought a batch of stones from him and have been very pleased.

-Mike

[James Carmichael]

Hi,
You might also check out Keith De'Grau - he has nice prices.
http://www.handamerican.com/ark.html

Years ago, a bunch of Galoots, myself included, bought a batch of stones from him and have been very pleased.

-Mike

Good to know, I've been contemplating a surgical black arkansas for a while, and his 8x3 is only $55. I use scary sharp but am tired of fiddling with the sandpaper, I touch my chisels up often and would rather just have a nice big stone sitting on the bench.

I would advise staying with a well-known, reputable dealer, as novaculite varies widely in quality and in the past, a lot of people selling them didn't know anything about the grades.

[Robert Rozaieski]

Hi,
You might also check out Keith De'Grau - he has nice prices.
http://www.handamerican.com/ark.html

Years ago, a bunch of Galoots, myself included, bought a batch of stones from him and have been very pleased.

-Mike

Read through his site and you'll see he buy's his stones from Hall's

[Mike Weaver]

Read through his site and you'll see he buy's his stones from Hall's
Heh! Missed that!

Well, if that was the supplier used 8 years ago, then you should be happy with them.

I guess that's a big - nevermind, I can't add anything to the discussion. :eek:

Good luck and let us know what you do.

-Mike

[James Carmichael]

Read through his site and you'll see he buy's his stones from Hall's

Yet somehow he sells surgical black stones for quite a bit less than Halls.

[Hank Knight]

Robert,

I don't want to start a fight here, but be sure you know what to expect from a surgical black Arkansas stone before you invest big bucks in one. I asked for one for Christmas last year thinking it would replace my 8000 Norton water stone and I could get away from all the flattening. My family gave me a very nice BIG surgical black stone from Halls. I was thrilled, until I used it. It doesn't polish an edge like a fine water stone. It appears to be about on par with a 4000 Norton. If I really want a polish, I still go to my 8000 Norton.

I'm still looking for a substitute for the final polish stone. For those who have used them, do transluscent Arkansas stones provide a more polished finish than a surgical black ones?

Hank

[Robert Rozaieski]

Thanks Guys. I think the Hall's stone is the way to go.


Yet somehow he sells surgical black stones for quite a bit less than Halls.
I noticed that too. I think he buys the rough cut stones from Hall's and flattens and pollishes them himself. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;)


Robert,

I don't want to start a fight here, but be sure you know what to expect from a surgical black Arkansas stone before you invest big bucks in one. I asked for one for Christmas last year thinking it would replace my 8000 Norton water stone and I could get away from all the flattening. My family gave me a very nice BIG surgical black stone from Halls. I was thrilled, until I used it. It doesn't polish an edge like a fine water stone. It appears to be about on par with a 4000 Norton. If I really want a polish, I still go to my 8000 Norton.

I'm still looking for a substitute for the final polish stone. For those who have used them, do transluscent Arkansas stones provide a more polished finish than a surgical black ones?

Hank
My understanding is that the black and translucent stone are about the same when it comes to polishing, just that some people prefer one over the other. For a polish similar to or better than the 8000 grit Norton, try a leather strop charged with microfine green chromium oxide honing compound in place of the 8000 grit stone (compound is 0.5 micron, which is finer than the 1.2 microns of the 8000 grit stone). Joel at Tools for Working Wood sells a real nice strop for about $22. The compound is another $6.

I'm doing the same thing as you. I'm tired of flattening the waterstones all the time. My order of stones is Soft to Hard to Strop. I want to add the black between the hard and the strop.

Thanks!

Bob

[Hank Knight]

Robert,

It sounds like you and I are on the same quest. My hard black Arkansas stone still gets used and I like it, but as you said, it's the pre-polish step. I'm trying out two approaches to the polishing problem - or at least I'm about to. I'm building a polishing/buffing station with hard and soft felt wheels and a slow speed motor. I'm also going to order a horse butt strop from Joel and charge one side with .5 micron diamond paste. I tried the diamond paste on one of Joel's Kanbans (lapping plate), but I think the .5 micron stuff is too fine for an iron plate - or that one at least; I didn't get much polish. It worked better on a piece of hard maple. I just don't trust the maple (or MDF for that matter) to stay flat. My "sharpening station" is in a small room off my main shop floor. I've set up my grinder and my stones in there to keep the mess away from my bench. I'll put the felt wheels in there and use the strop at the bench. I hope that will simlify the process and do away with flattening waterstones.

Hank

Edited for spelling/HSK

[Ken Bryant]

Keep us posted on the results, Hank.

[Ken Werner]

I don't want to start a fight here, but be sure you know what to expect from a surgical black Arkansas stone before you invest big bucks in one. I asked for one for Christmas last year thinking it would replace my 8000 Norton water stone and I could get away from all the flattening. My family gave me a very nice BIG surgical black stone from Halls. I was thrilled, until I used it. It doesn't polish an edge like a fine water stone. It appears to be about on par with a 4000 Norton. If I really want a polish, I still go to my 8000 Norton.


Hank

I've been using a very nice smooth black stone that I bought at a garage sale, and so I don't know for sure if it's a black Ark or not, but like Hank said, compared to the Norton 8,000 water, the result is less polished. I have a small strop charged with LV green, and it seems to round over the edge, and make for a less sharp edge. The one I think is Black Ark is on the left. The other, is just a little less fine.

Is there an oil stone that compares equally with the Norton 8,000? Any opinions as to what these stones are?

I am getting tired of flattening the Norton....

Ken

[Bob Smalser]

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/17020258/272093964.jpg

While I have a black stone, I rarely use it.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/3302197/68779318.jpg

For the majority of my work, after the hard arkansas stone, a power strop with a stitched 8" muslin wheel and green rouge seems to do all the work of the black stone and more. The hard felt wheel is even more effective but runs very hot, making it tricky to use. With a muslin wheel you can lay into it as hard as you like.