Norton Hard Arkansas Oilstone
Arkansas stones are a siliceous chert known as Novaculite. They’re quarried in the state of Arkansas, USA. Since prehistoric times, Arkansas stone has been used for many tools, including sharpening stones.
The hard translucent grade has a high silica content and a specific gravity of 2.5; the SG of pure quartz is 2.65. It’s no wonder that the word Novaculite comes from the Latin word novacula, which means ‘razor stone’. These stones are nearly all quartz, which is the main cutting/polishing material in many well-known natural whetstones.
Arks like this are slow – they seem to polish more than cut. I put a chisel on this one and ran it back and forth for a good 5-600 strokes. There was no swarf on the stone but the chisel’s bevel was highly polished when I was done. At the beginning, the edge was extremely dull, afterwards is was cutting nicely.
I find that honing on these very hard Arks produces a bit of a burnishing effect which might explain the absence of metallic swarf when honing. I touched up a straight razor on this stone and the result was impressive; a blade that was barely ‘ok’ to shave with became super keen and very smooth. Another thing I find with edges from these Arks is that they seem to have a forgiving nature – as if they want to cut the beard with authority, without ever wanting to grab skin.
This is a smaller stone – but it’s quite effective as a finishing stone. Care has to be taken because it’s narrow but after a just few strokes the real estate becomes easy to navigate. This is a very fine stone – capable of putting a super keen and smooth edge on a blade.
I believe the box is original to this stone, and it’s in good shape but with some storage wear. I believe the stone was NOS when I got it – it was unmarked and the original paper info-insert is still inside. The end label on the box is intact, and it says this is a ‘size 4’ stone. The side label on the stone is in excellent shape, and it’s preserved with a lacquer coating.
Approx. Dimensions: 3.9 x 1.9 x 0.9” / 99 x 48 x 23 mm
Weight: 11 oz / 309 g
