Translucent Arkansas Stone...

[HumbleHomeCook]

I have multiple softs (no true Washita's), a couple hard's, and a black. But I've never had a translucent. I know I don't need it but they're so sexy.

Maybe I'd be better off seeking out a Washita.

I don't know...

Really no point here unless someone wants to offer their opinion.

 

[deltaplex]

Having used many, many novaculites, I prefer trans arks for the very fine work , but I wouldn't be upset if it were a black or a very fine hard with no translucency; Washitas though: not really a close corollary for those, IMO.

 

[stringer]

I have multiple softs (no true Washita's), a couple hard's, and a black. But I've never had a translucent. I know I don't need it but they're so sexy.

Maybe I'd be better off seeking out a Washita.

I don't know...

Really no point here unless someone wants to offer their opinion.

How about a translucent washita? Much cheaper.

 

[deltaplex]

How about a translucent washita? Much cheaper.

Are there black washitas?

 

[stringer]

Are there black washitas?

I don't think so. They would just be black Arkansas.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

How about a translucent washita? Much cheaper.

That's a thing?

 

[stringer]

Washitas run from grainy soft fast to translucent glassy fine. I keep one coarse, one medium, and one translucent butterscotch almost surgical black fine on the counter.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Washitas run from grainy soft fast to translucent glassy fine. I keep one coarse, one medium, and one translucent butterscotch almost surgical black fine on the counter.

I did not know that. I knew there was some variation but I thought Washitas were basically all more on the course side.

 

[stringer]

Sure pics in a minute when I get home. They aren't really labeled or anything. But I would classify all three as washita. One is a lily white soft type. One is medium coarse and pretty hard. And two actually are translucent and super fine.

 

[Rangen]

Translucent arks are awesome. I have, well, too many of them (vintage). Never put a knife on one, though. They are razor stones, in my world.

 

[stringer]

There is a ton of variety in novaculite. It is tough to say where the boundaries of hard/soft/washita start and end.

Probable lily white. Kind of fine in feeling, but acts coarse because it is friable.

Ancient glassy coarse washita. Not fine at all, but slower because not as friable. For me this is like a medium stone.

And then the odd balls. They could be hard arks too. Like I said the marketing is mushy. One place to look for good cheap specimens of these translucent/washita things is old Smith's Tri-Hones. Not saying they all have them. But I have had good luck with the older wooden ones. I have had three with similar material 2 6" and 1 8".

These are two of them. I call them washita because I have had a bunch of ancient giant calico washitas that they remind me of. Smith's probably called them hard arks.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

There is a ton of variety in novaculite. It is tough to say where the boundaries of hard/soft/washita start and end.

Probable lily white. Kind of fine in feeling, but acts coarse because it is friable.
View attachment 231712

Ancient glassy coarse washita. Not fine at all, but slower because not as friable. For me this is like a medium stone.

View attachment 231723

And then the odd balls. They could be hard arks too. Like I said the marketing is mushy. One place to look for good cheap specimens of these translucent/washita things is old Smith's Tri-Hones. Not saying they all have them. But I have had good luck with the older wooden ones. I have had three with similar material 2 6" and 1 8".

These are two of them. I call them washita because I have had a bunch of ancient giant calico washitas that they remind me of. Smith's probably called them hard arks. View attachment 231726
View attachment 231727
View attachment 231728
View attachment 231729

So cool. Thanks buddy!

 

[stringer]

So cool. Thanks buddy!

I promised @Desert Rat that I would put a razor on one and I haven't yet. But for knives they act a lot like translucent/true hard ark/Norton hard ark etc. Not nearly as fine as Norton black hard or Dan's surgical black. To me those are in a class so their own. But the hard/true/washita is just as messy as the soft/washita boundary

 

[captaincaed]

I’ll second that. I’ve got a pile of rocks with different commercial designations. No two with the same designation are the same bit of rock.

 

[stringer]

I’ll second that. I’ve got a pile of rocks with different commercial designations. No two with the same designation are the same.

The only thing that I have found to be universally true is the older and cleaner the label the more it is gonna cost you whatever the words say.

 

[Legion74]

I've got several Trans, and way more Washita's. Washita are a more useful knife stone, IMO. Trans are great if you reed a super refined edge for some reason (like a razor), but I've never found them particularly useful for knives, especially kitchen knives.

 

[stringer]

I've got several Trans, and way more Washita's. Washita are a more useful knife stone, IMO. Trans are great if you reed a super refined edge for some reason (like a razor), but I've never found them particularly useful for knives, especially kitchen knives.

I am the opposite. I find translucent arks to be quite useful for in-hand touchups and final deburring of kitchen knives. They are far from my favorite for razor finishers. Adequate but nothing special. I much prefer my Dan's surgical black, jnats, jasper, and thuringian to a translucent finish. If anything for me they are more in the pre-finisher boat with coticules and Shapton Glass 8k. As far as washitas go, there is so much variety and so little precision in how the word was used over the years that it is difficult for me to make any generalization.

 

[stringer]

Here are some of my novaculites

 

[BillHanna]

“Some”

 

[stringer]

“Some”

That picture is a few months old. There are more recent additions that haven't made it into a group shot yet.

 

[cotedupy]

Are there black washitas?

I don't think so. They would just be black Arkansas.

Not really, no.

There is stone that quarrymen called 'Black Ouachita', but even back in 1890 it was basically regarded as trash, and so not commercially exploited.

 

[captaincaed]

These are all “washita” aka “porous novaculite of some variety or other”

 

[Desert Rat]

There is a ton of variety in novaculite. It is tough to say where the boundaries of hard/soft/washita start and end.

Probable lily white. Kind of fine in feeling, but acts coarse because it is friable.
View attachment 231712

Ancient glassy coarse washita. Not fine at all, but slower because not as friable. For me this is like a medium stone.

View attachment 231723

And then the odd balls. They could be hard arks too. Like I said the marketing is mushy. One place to look for good cheap specimens of these translucent/washita things is old Smith's Tri-Hones. Not saying they all have them. But I have had good luck with the older wooden ones. I have had three with similar material 2 6" and 1 8".

These are two of them. I call them washita because I have had a bunch of ancient giant calico washitas that they remind me of. Smith's probably called them hard arks. View attachment 231726
View attachment 231727
View attachment 231728
View attachment 231729

It's never occurred to me that them Smith's hards could be a Washita. But now that you mention it they do share some similarity for sure, the only one I have at the moment is married to a soft. I've had that stone for years and it's faster than the soft it's married to and never glazes enough to stop cutting, I finish razors off of it with no issue.

Lacking a better term I've called them semi-translucent. Have you ran a specific gravity on yours?

 

[stringer]

It's never occurred to me that them Smith's hards could be a Washita. But now that you mention it they do share some similarity for sure, the only one I have at the moment is married to a soft. I've had that stone for years and it's faster than the soft it's married to and never glazes enough to stop cutting, I finish razors off of it with no issue.

Lacking a better term I've called them semi-translucent. Have you ran a specific gravity on yours?

No. I have been so swamped at work. I need to take a personal day so I can play with new stone and razor arrivals. But yeah that's what I'm talking about for the translucent washitas. They remind me of some of the old giant calico ones that are pre-lily white, pre-soft ark, true oachita stones. So maybe they are semi-translucent oachita stones. Lol. Idk. But what you describe is what I'm talking about. The one on that 8" Smith's Tri-Hone is almost as fast as the SiC coarse stone it came with on simple carbons but easily finishes them at HHT levels.

 

[Desert Rat]

I have multiple softs (no true Washita's), a couple hard's, and a black. But I've never had a translucent. I know I don't need it but they're so sexy.

Maybe I'd be better off seeking out a Washita.

I don't know...

Really no point here unless someone wants to offer their opinion.

Washita's are much more versatile, a must have.

Blacks and translucents take me to about the same place, with a good black being slightly finer, but the translucent being faster. I would take a translucent over a black if forced to make a choice.

I think Oli prefers the black ark.....

 

[Desert Rat]

No. I have been so swamped at work. I need to take a personal day so I can play with new stone and razor arrivals. But yeah that's what I'm talking about for the translucent washitas. They remind me of some of the old giant calico ones that are pre-lily white, pre-soft ark, true oachita stones. So maybe they are semi-translucent oachita stones. Lol. Idk. But what you describe is what I'm talking about. The one on that 8" Smith's Tri-Hone is almost as fast as the SiC coarse stone it came with on simple carbons but easily finishes them at HHT levels.

Once you said it the light came on, damn fine Washita but ya, it could be and would explain why it's so good and I like it so well.

 

[Desert Rat]

 

[stringer]

That's a beauty. It even looks like a mix of butterscotch washita material and hard ark material.

By the way, I just won an auction for an im-313. Super stoked.

 

[stringer]

Not really, no.

There is stone that quarrymen called 'Black Ouachita', but even back in 1890 it was basically regarded as trash, and so not commercially exploited.



View attachment 231789

Does that mean that a black ark gets it's color from extra carbon?

 

[Desert Rat]

That's a beauty. It even looks like a mix of butterscotch washita material and hard ark material.

By the way, I just won an auction for an im-313. Super stoked.

I think you are going to like that 313, let us know what you think...

That stone was white when new. I cleaned it back to white and it started to turn yellow again with oil. I've had a couple more wood mounted that came to bad ends.
Been trying to find a bigger one with no luck yet, it's kind of a crap shoot if you get one of those or a regular white hard. On a positive note some of them tri-hones had some really nice stones.