How To Burnish A Black/Translucent Arkansas Stone Part 1

[@chipgiguere]

I spent 30 minutes burnishing my black Arkansas stone. It didn't do much to the stone, But I'm getting the best shaves of my life with this chisel. thanks Doc !

[@drmatt357]

😆Ya kill’n me Chip!

[@mmllrjr]

😂

[@bearlynormalwetshaver1894]

So much can be taken for granted when someone simply says how they burnish a hard Ark. Seeing the process and hearing your explanations while in the process is sincerely appreciated. Thank you as always!

[@drmatt357]

Bearly Normal Wet Shaver - Thanks Doug and glad you could find time in your busy day to watch. 😉

[@philclennell]

A very erudite presentation enhanced by a talented cellist playing one of the Bach cello suites. Most enjoyable, these natural stones are truly marvellous things!

[@drmatt357]

erudite /ĕr′yə-dīt″, ĕr′ə-/ adjective Having or showing great knowledge or learning. synonym: learned. Similar: learned Characterized by extensive reading or knowledge; well instructed; learned. Similar: learned Thank you! I’ll let Dani know😉

[@knifetothebass1642]

Listening to unaccompanied cello suites while going to town on a black Arkansas stone with a chisel is the only way to roll. Well done sir. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@drmatt357]

Nice to the Face -Agreed Drew! Thanks for stopping by!😁

[@Knifeandbrass]

I'm new to straight razor collecting, restoring, honing and using. Thank you so much for your videos, there are no substitutes.

[@drmatt357]

You can go in the description and click on "Show transcript" and it will display the dialogue to the right of the screen.

[@carlosfedericolopezspindol3103]

Lovely music, stones, sharpening... really therapeutic and relaxing.

[@jakebullet3763]

Great video and love the Bach cello suite playing in the background👍

[@drmatt357]

Thank you Jake! That’s my son Dani. He’s starting college in the fall. He’s way better at cello than I am at sharpening.!😆

[@jtnachtlauf1961]

Sir, you made my day with the chisel-burnishing idea, I can't wait (after lapping my natural stone on 800 grit) to buy a wide chisel to make the stone shine. Thank you a lot for sharing your wisdom and practice!! Greetings from the Czech Republic.

[@drmatt357]

Glad you enjoyed it! If you don’t want to buy a chisel for this, I saw a guy do it with a chef’s knife. He did it just like he was sharpening the knife with the same intensity I used the chisel in this video and it works fine. Cheers Mate!

[@COMB0RICO]

Wow! I've never heard of this! You're blowing my mind over here in Texas. Thank you so much! Why isn't this done to ever natural stone, like Imperia La Rocca?

[@drmatt357]

COMB0RICO - The other stones aren’t hard enough. They’d pretty much crumble if you leaned on them with a chisel like that.

[@COMB0RICO]

@@drmatt357 Thank you for your time! God bless you!

[@shawn_530]

Nothing better with my morning coffee than a new Dr. Matt honing upload(s)! Love that shirt too! Hope you and the family are well! 👊🏻

[@jeffreyborrowman5518]

What an epic collection of stones

[@Orchidworld41]

Hi , Could you provide us link on where found the diamond support you use at start, and the diamond plate itself ? Thanks in advance. A Frenchy that crossed your channel by hasard, but was so impressed by your shave technic….. Pat. Merci.

[@drmatt357]

Thanks Pat. All all of the items I use can be found here and they ship internationally. www.chefknivestogo.com/drmastpr.html

[@pedrotrust]

Great vídeo Doc, people usually call those Surgical Black Arkansas or True Hard black Arkansas, but I'm no expert either.. I have a translucent from Dan's and you can see the light pass through it.. They're beautiful stones ! I like to use mine with wd40, but even dry they work fine..

[@drmatt357]

Yeah, I've heard people use WD40 and the names get confusing to me too. I picked the highest rated one. So far, makes great edges!! Thanks for stopping by Pedro.

[@StompingRabbits]

Mineral oil.....

[@magnoliamike]

What does burnish in Arkansas stones do? And do you have to do that with these kind of stones?

[@malachicousinSA200]

On the websites it says that is a 6”x1” stone on the gritomatic website and on dans whetstone they have the whetstone marked as 6x2x3/4 or 1/2”

[@drmatt357]

🤨… trying to decipher your comment. First off, which stone? Which website? Who is gritomatic? Which stone on Dan’s? Are you referring to something I said in the video? If so, how about a time stamp…

[@pederhalverson2591]

Just got a new stone from Dan’s I never heard of. Blue black Arkansas stone. I go from soft to translucent to black to blue black and my edges are insane.

[@drmatt357]

So the blue/black is even finer than the black?

[@pederhalverson2591]

@@drmatt357 MUCH! A black is assumed to be about 6k grit. A blue black is guessed around 12-15k. There is a very noticeable difference from finishing on a black vs blue black. They aren’t listed on Dan’s though .. you have to call and ask for 1

[@pederhalverson2591]

@@drmatt357 off the stone did a very nice video on the blue black

[@pederhalverson2591]

@@drmatt357 kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6qVe4COirdgesU

[@thewalnutwoodworker6136]

Burnishing is what happens during months of normal daily use in my workshop

[@scott8351]

I have a used translucent Arkansas stone and it's not flat on either side. It was used to sharpen plane blades and chisels, I intend to do the same. Any thoughts on how to flatten it? Another video showed doing it on a flat garage concrete floor or they recommended a flat cinder block. I think that might work if I follow it with some medium to fine or finer sandpaper and burnish it. or if you have another suggestion please let me know. I recently flattened a coticule but that was simple with sandpaper on a flattening granite stone. I have spent $14 on both stones total so I feel lucky on that, but they need work. Thanks

[@drmatt357]

This is how you flatten it with the SIC powder and a piece of glass.

[@scott8351]

@@drmatt357 Thanks I will have to get your setup, it should be done correctly since its a great stone. Thank you for the reply and advice.

[@wilfriedvomacka1783]

Nice video, but I don't get one thing. The glass is softer than black Arkansas. Wouldn't this process "lap" hole into glass rather then lap the Ark flat?

[@drmatt357]

Yes, good point and this will dish the glass. You should strategically use different parts of the glass and when it dishes, flip it over. Someone had a good comment that they covered the glass with 1200 grit adhesive wet/dry sandpaper. That would preserve the trueness of the glass.

[@wilfriedvomacka1783]

@@drmatt357 Thanks for reply. It sounds like good idea to use sandpaper. And thanks for great instructional video.

[@Johnny-Five]

So, this is arms day for the workout right? This is really cool to watch. Should you do this with every new stone?

[@drmatt357]

Johnny Five - Other stones are not this hard so they wouldn’t stand up to the chisel.

[@kenhamaker]

I strongly recommend using the SIC, it will ruin your diamond plate or plates which cost much more money.

[@philwilliams8328]

Is there any other method of flattening it such as a large DMT Lapping plate, which I happen to have?

[@drmatt357]

You can but those stones are so hard that they eat DMT plates for lunch.

[@jbgearhead]

Great stuff ! Good to see you again ! Always learning something new 👍🏼

[@bigoldgrizzly]

Never personally seen the need to burnish a stone, but I'm keeping an open mind. I wonder if what you are doing is detaching microscopic particles of steel which are then pushed into the ' micro valleys' in between the peaks of the microcrystals at the surface. If carried out to the nth degree this would in effect 'glaze' the stone. Presumably before this, there is a happy medium that allows tools or blades to more easily glide across the stone when sharpening, at. perhaps, the cost of slower metal removal. ??? If the objective is to wear down the tips of the microcrystals in order to make the stone smoother, I would have thought that lapping to a higher grit in the first place would achieve the same objective but quicker. ???

[@3spressoShot]

Quick question can this be polished up with wet and dry sand paper on glass. And just moving up ? Or is it so dense that it won’t work or take too long?

[@drmatt357]

Quick answer is maybe. If you need to lap it or flatten it, I don’t know if sandpaper will work. I’ve had guys tell me this stone knocked hell out of their diamond plate so doubt sandpaper will flatten it… but admittedly I’ve never tried. If you mean just polishing, like getting a mirror finish as I’ve done, paper alone won’t do it but you could get it close. The only way to get that glass smooth mirror finish is like I demonstrate here.

[@Master...deBater]

I've used sandpaper on glass for two Arks...a translucent black and regular black and it works great. Though it did take some time. I got the same mirror polish as the Doc by finishing the stones with a super hard Ozuku Asagi J-nat. I prefer to go that route because it doesn't leave any steel particles imbedded in the stone.

[@jelajemi]

Great video, you make things in an easy way to understand. Thank you for sharing this video Dr. Matt.

[@drmatt357]

Glad it was helpful!

[@malachicousinSA200]

What is that dust you put onto the plate over your sink

[@jimareas]

Is that a wood chisel that you burnish the stone? Thanks

[@DavidPerez-ck3dw]

How long are you able to use the glass plate before you have to replace it?

[@drmatt357]

It does start to dish out after a few stones. What I did on my next one is designate sections of the plate for every few stones then you can always flip it over. Glass is cheap tho. Someone gave a good suggestion here in the comments that they covered the glass with 1200 grit adhesive sandpaper so you could still use the powder yet the plate won’t dish.

[@bradamedee4955]

I will burnish my dan's black now, seems easy enough, Tks doc

[@drmatt357]

Let me know how you do...

[@bradamedee4955]

@@drmatt357 I will Tks

[@DanielWorkshop]

I was waiting for this video since you put the picture with the sharpening results on facebook.

[@drmatt357]

Thanks Dan. I was trying to figure out how to incorporate those slides in this video but it was getting too lengthy as it was and that topic really deserves an entire video by itself.

[@jim34morrison]

In your opinion, what is the different end result between a black hard Arkansas vs the ILR on a razor edge?

[@drmatt357]

Different stones. ILR is a finishing stone and the Ark is a polisher meaning you’d do it after the finisher if you wanted more edge. You can finish on an Ark but it takes longer as it’s really slow.

[@jim34morrison]

@@drmatt357 I just came across a full set of Jon Coe Arkansas stones. (Full being washita for coarse, black for the medium, and the highly coveted grey ultra fine) I purchased those but was also considering adding a ILR 3x8 with the nagura to my arsenal. Do you think the ILR is necessary? I currently own a soft/hard black combo and it seems to do a good job.

[@life2short1971]

Another good video Matt! Keep’m coming!

[@drmatt357]

LOL! I must not have realized who wrote this. 😆 Keep funneling me some more of your vast knowledge Scott and I’ll continue to be your conduit!

[@life2short1971]

@@drmatt357 as always its a pleasure to watch your videos and I can’t tell you how often I help someone and they tell me they have watched them and were of immense help. You are making an impact my friend! Thank you for taking the valuable time out of your day to make these videos!👍😊

[@williamsmith5429]

Ive never done this but if you want a finer finish could you go higher grits in the sic powder ive seen it go up to 1500 how much of a difference do you think it would make? Id like to add in a surgical black after an ultra fine ceramic for an ever finer edge

[@drmatt357]

Yeah, most people will say there’s not much effect after 600 grit on the powder. I went to 800 just to be sure. The kit goes up to 2000 grit powder and I’ve tried it and there’s no difference between that and the 6-800. If you want that mirror finish, there’s only 1 way and that involves some elbow grease!

[@flashingit]

You can lapped above 800 grits but the stone will cut very, very slow. The purpose of burnishing is the wear down the higher peaks on the surface of the stone. The surface of the stone will feel smooth but if you do some laps with a straight razor and then check the edge under magnification you will see quickly if the stone’s surface needs more burnishing. A cheap hand held microscope 60x to 120x from Amazon works great.

[@magnoliamike]

Nice shirt! Miss the old WWF

[@Nippeltitsch]

Nice T-Shirt 😉 I also use a Glass Plate for laping my stones and SiC powder until F1800

[@drmatt357]

Snap into a Slim-Jim!

[@Nippeltitsch]

@@drmatt357 I try to make a pic. But my stones are not so glossy.

[@RubricoA.]

Me: sparingly use enough SiC to save money Video: sprinkles the loose SiC like baby powder great vid btw, I don't have flat chisel at home. Can I use other flat steels? My plan is to burnish one side and the other is to lap it to 600 grit

[@drmatt357]

You can. The chisel is hardened steel and if you use another type of steel, it may not be hardened, it can load up the stone so keep an eye on it as you go.

[@RubricoA.]

@@drmatt357 yeah just did it recently with some chinese knives with really soft stainless steel, It loads the surface instead burnsihing the stone.

[@DanielWorkshop]

After I have lapped about 10 stones I check my glass with a metal ruler. It was concave. It had about 1 mm hole. :)

[@drmatt357]

Yes, that is true. I'm already on the backside of that plate. Good thing glass is cheap!

[@life2short1971]

The glass will last longer and your stones will be flatter if you use the whole glass surface with each stone you lap.

[@drmatt357]

@@life2short1971 - Thank you for chiming in Scott. Your input is always appreciated!

[@life2short1971]

DrMatt357 Thank you sir!

[@Master...deBater]

Just use sandpaper on the glass plate. I've been using the same piece of glass for a decade.

[@cornettojordgubb]

Hey doc! Just a quick question, couldnt this be done with diamond plates instead of the powder?

[@drmatt357]

dasepojken - possibly but I’ve heard these stones will eat a diamond plate. Also in this case, since it’s a 10” stone, you need a surface at least 2-3 inches longer to keep it flat while lapping.

[@vitodelorto1796]

Cool trick. They sell diamond sharpening and honing pads at harbor freight. Whatever grit you want and they are extremely flat. They open up the polish on your real stones, fantastically. If you have a blade that needs a remodel, those course diamond plates are the best. Other than that, I use them to flatten, tune and make slurry on my real stones.

[@donnelhuddleston2478]

That speeds up the cutting of the stone, burnishing takes it the other way, which is what you want in a ultrafine finishing stone that you are using for final finish honing on your straight Razor. 😉

[@vitodelorto1796]

@@donnelhuddleston2478 my point was that there are many ways to achieve the same results. This guy is good. That is why I watch him. The objective was flattening a stone. There are lots of efficient ways to go about that.

[@bobbarker5884]

​@@vitodelorto1796Yep. I have float glass and sandpaper so that's what I use

[@trueblu8]

0:11 Look at those guns. Dr Matt has been working out.

[@Master...deBater]

11:40...I bet you got the stone on your left from Natural Whetstone.com. I have the same one and I love it!!!

[@drmatt357]

MASTER deBATER. - Yes, you are correct. I got lucky with that stone. I’ve had some others from them that weren’t so good.

[@Master...deBater]

@@drmatt357 Really? Sorry to hear that. I only have two stones from them...the black trans and a regular black ark...admittedly not much of a sample. But both are great...my only complaint is that the first one took a good bit of flattening. They seem to have recently tightened that up. The most recent stone I bought came virtually dead flat...and at the same low price. All I had to do was polish it. Cheers.

[@sterlingcampbell2116]

Man alive, those are handsome stones.

[@drmatt357]

Absolutely gorgeous!!!

[@smokingblades1963]

Hello sir fm Greece..any idea about Ardesi Nera stone???

[@drmatt357]

Not familiar with that stone Mate! Thanks for stopping by tho. 😁

[@donnelhuddleston2478]

A Burnished in White hard Translucent Arkansas is as ultra fine as it gets when it comes to the Arkansas family of natural stones.

[@naturalwhetstone8100]

Maybe interested in Indonesian natural Whetstone?

[@nicola26x]

Hi! Can we use this method on the canadian novaculite Wild Rose?

[@drmatt357]

Not sure Nik. I've never heard of them let alone played with them. It is a novaculite but is it hard like this stone? Like glass? If it is, I'd imagine it would work.

[@nicola26x]

@@drmatt357 the seller is Royal Flint Abrasives in Alberta, Canada. He sell this very cheap novaculite style stones, called Wild Rose. This stone is very very hard.

[@agaralpha1842]

holy s*it this is the episode that i am dreaming off!

[@pederhalverson2591]

The hard black are slightly denser, but not by much.

[@bobbarker5884]

I suggest eveyone who does this with a chisel make sure its dead flat by sharpening/flatening the chisel 1st. They do not come this way when bought new, some are super janky and jagged

[@JohnDoe-zb7dz]

Most exellent.

[@RaiderLacrosse29]

That's a Black, not translucent. Translucent, as the name implies, allows light to partially pass through it. They're VERY similar. But not quite the same. They're pretty much identical in finish. But one is translucent and lighter in color and the other is pitch black. 😄😄 Nice video though. I loved the cello in the background.

[@drmatt357]

Yes, I did make the correction in the title. Thing was, depending upon the vendor, one called it black surgical and the other called it black translucent.

[@flashingit]

Surgical blacks (marketing gimmick), black and translucent black Arkansas stones. They are graded on their specific gravity so all 3 types of black Arkansas stones are the same. The difference in the three types of black Arkansas stones are appearance only. There are two other vendors but they are not finished completely flattened as Dan’s. The Dan’s Arkansas stones will still need to be lapped with SIC powder to at least 600 grit or more. Personally, I have mine lapped at 600 grit, burnished with an old junk razor. I prefer my razors honed up to a Naniwa 12k synthetic, followed up with a translucent Arkansas and then finished on black Arkansas stone both from Dan’s Arkansas.

[@PeterWoolworth]

I see some sign of the Schwartz up on that shelf.

[@drmatt357]

Peter Woolworth - Good eye Peter. I have a couple of JNATs up there I got from him and some sprays too

[@Samuel-ge7im]

Nice video

[@piecetoyou8285]

2 inch chisel not file lol anyway great video thanks' for showing technique

[@drmatt357]

Sheee-it… I was hoping no-one caught that! 😏

[@Swooop9530]

Why???

[@latetodagame1892]

Japan called! They want their expert back!

[@omarrodriguez6902]

❤

[@danielemansilla]

On a glass you would get more cut

[@vitodelorto1796]

Honestly. I'm not doggin at all. I'm just a carpenter that loves a straight razor shave. All you did was very moderately fuck up an invaluable (and fairly expensive) chisel. Bust that fine as stone open with some diomond plates. Try honing your razor on it after that, and please let me know how that goes❤

[@drmatt357]

LOL! The chisel is only for burnishing. The diamond plates will work to lap but these stones are so hard, it will eventually kill the plate. What I’m doing is burnishing or polishing the stone to get that glass like finish for polishing the razor edge. You can tune the stone finish to your liking so whatever works for you.

[@vitodelorto1796]

@@drmatt357 if it works, it works.

[@mattilindholm1941]

🤘😃🤘

[@malachicousinSA200]

I’m just hoping to buy that stone and not get a 1 inch wide stone in the mail.

[@ureasmith3049]

That's not a file, it's a chisel.

[@drmatt357]

I know, what a dumb-ass that guy is!

[@finnnielsen9690]

Looks more than a surgical than Translucent , a Translucent should be Translucent.....?

[@drmatt357]

You could be right. I thought they were all translucent, just different variants. I'll check on it.

[@drmatt357]

I just called Dan's Finn and you are correct. I'm using a Black Arkansas stone in this video which is different than a translucent one. I thought the black was a sub-classification of a trans but I guess not. They said the black ones and translucent ones are mined from different parts of the quarry. The burnishing process however is obviously the same. I made a correction in the description. Thank you!

[@finnnielsen9690]

That said, I aleays belueved that the Translucent was the finest, but according to Dan it’s the black, which other companies name surgical?