Thread: DSLR and reversed lens: high-magnification pichures of edges honed on naturals

Shameless plug: the technique of using DSLR and reversed lens for taking high magnification pictures is described in this brand new wiki topic that yours truly put together recently:

DSLR And Reversed Lens As Microscope - Straight Razor Place Wiki

All pictures displayed here in this thread are of much higher resolution (a.k.a. with even higher magnification) in that wiki topic.

I used an old beaten Solingen razor for this experiment (it has a logo of bee hive on it). I wanted to show how progression of naturals looks like in pictures taken with a DSLR with reversed lens. This first post shows coarser naturals only - an aoto, a washita stone (I am guessing it is a washita but I may be wrong) and a Belgian coticule with slurry. I do not use microscopes when honing, I usually trust the way edges reflect light or use a 28mm reversed lens as a magnifier for troublemakers.

Disclaimer: this is not a honing guide! The aim of the experiment was to take pictures of the edge, not to make it shave ready!

Let's start with the hones:

This is aoto surface with a toxic vein and wear pits: (my sample is of poor quality unfortunately)


Surface of the washita stone: (with a soap bubble attached)


Coticule:



Here is what the edge looked like before the experiment began:


This is what a couple dozens of laps on aoto did to it. Notice those ugly chips that can be attributed to toxic inclusions in the stone:


I tried to use the aoto slurry on a hard stone, the People's hone of indeterminate grit a.k.a. the C12K. Here is the result after a couple of dozens of laps. The chips began to disappear:


Then I switched to the Washita (?). It was apparently used with oil in the past. I cleaned it a bit and I use it with detergent. The edge is definitely smoother and the scratch pattern is finer than of the aoto.


...to be continued in the next post...