Being a fan of the heavy grind, I was always disappointed when a famous maker honed up and quickly proved itself a 'silent shaver'. For whatever reason, if it doesn't give audible & tactile feedback - its on the block, don't want it. As you might guess, this means I'm not a fan of the heavy Sheffield - which seems to epitomize the silent shaver. (pay no attention to the raucus peels of uncontrolled laughter. that's just cudarunner) One frustrating wedge that had been silent, I re-rinished using some diamond stropping *before* the final finisher. And this time, it wasn't silent. When I use the diamond spray on felt, I'm on a 4"x6" pc of hard felt, using anywhere between 4-6 strokes. Surface travel-wise - that's only 16-30" of total stropping stroke. Five more quiet wedges, and each time - quiet or silent blades got more vocal. These were all Soligen, US or Swedish blades. Having been Jack the Ripper or Jeffrey Dahmer in a prior life, the Master of Ceremonies in Karmic Retribution - decided it was once again time for Pinklather to be sent another couple of unrestored, large Sheffield choppers that 'just needed honing'. Sigh. 5 hrs later, I had a semi workable bevel. In another hour - a low-quality 8k edge that defied improvement. Being in suitable frame of mind, it was time for the nuclear option - and out came the diamond treated felt. None of this wimpy 4-6 strokes, this meat-axe got 15. 'Not wanting to inflict harshness on a fairly new member, I then took the blade to about 35 strokes on the Gokumyo 20k. It was lopping hairs about 1" from the point of hold before stropping, and I thought the finishing stone would remove any possible harshness from the diamond treatment. I stropped and began what was usually 3-4 test strokes to confirm it shaved - and I heard and felt the sounds of a hard-steel 1/2 grind. The tactile feedback was not as strong as a hard-steel blade, but still unmistakable. The sound was quite comparable to a Soligen or US 1/4 grind. Using diamond to restore a silent blade's voice may be common knowledge to others - and I'm just late to the party. I would not have guessed it would work on a big sheffield. It certainly made this blade appealing enough to complete a whole shave - with cold water touch-ups. I'm still shaking my head - 'cause I wouldn't have believed it.