vast amounts of gratitude
'Can't say how much I appreciate your kind help, Gents. It invaluable when wading into this strange world. - Chips on the stone: At the widest point, it takes up 1/4 of the width, and 1/2" on one end. On the most straight side, small humps that could easily be removed or smoothed. I hit the bumps while doing x-stroke and sometimes with circles. These can be fixed. Thank you! - Stone width dictate the x-stroke be done with the blade at about a 70 deg angle (30 deg from vertical). - Edges came to the asagi, already at shaving condition from the c12k, except for stropping. I tried one blade coming off the 8k naniwa, and the results weren't good - so I kept doing the c12k before asagi. Any section of the edge not shaving adequately sharp are brought in with circles. That this would be needed makes me question the quality of my stroke. I've been convinced of the edge quality needed from the 8k, so I think I could shave off the 8k with no trouble. When using the 12k as a finisher, I use a moderate slurry, as it seemed to smooth out the harshness and speed the cutting. Here, I've not used the slurry, thinking the asagi would address the harshness - which it seems to do. - Strokes are light. The only added pressure seems to be a small torsional/rotational pressure for the toe, which seems to need the pressure for consistent contact with the stone on a couple blades. As to 'ringing', I'm probably not as familiar with the indicators. Blades make ringing sound on the c12k also. I'm under the impression (rightly or wrongly) that the blade tempering makes for the ringing. There are probably details I'm not aware of here. - "As for the Sheffields I do very minimal strokes on my J-Nat finishers." Oz, THANK YOU! - "Does the stone release any slurry with water only?" Yes, though minimal. Alot of strokes and you see faint slurry. - So far, I'm surprised and a bit confused about the role of slurry for this particular stone. 'Best results have been with just water. Smoothness is there - including on blades that were ho hum previously. The Vom Cleff became a wonderful shaver. Would you think that continuing to exploit any slurry raised by the blade would bring further results as the slurry breaks down into finer particles? It may be that I have to perfect the edges of the stone to allow a respectable x-stroke before that question really comes into play. Again, Thank You both for your kind & patient help. It helps immeasurably in loosening the knots between my ears on getting the process down with this stone. I still marvel at the surface texture - like silk.
Oz, Thank You Again (and again...)
A bit of time with the D8C 325 and I have 2 smooth side edges. One is 6" long, the other just shy of 4".
I also took another blade back to the stone after a concentrated effort at 8 & 12k. 'Didn't have enough beard (after a great shave w/ a formerly so-so razor) to fully test, but it seemed to be about the same as yesterday's water only finish (dang good, to be sure).
In the process, I started with much less water, and after about 30 strokes, could see some darkening of the slurry raised by the blade. I suspect I was obscuring some of the stone's feedback of color, etc by using too much slurry, too much water. So maybe it's not that slow?
So many confusing results. I feel foolish frequently. But I can't deny that it has improved every blade I have except one.
It's hard to face this, but I continue to get more keenness from circles than x-strokes. Both are very light - no pressure, but its sad to see that my stroke may have some repair work to do. I can typically do several x-strokes without degrading the keenness of the circles, but if I do 15-20 strokes, it has either gone downhill, or I'm confusing increased smoothness with a decrease in keenness. Maybe this is part of what Yamashita-san meant when he said a good stone will make you better at honing. Sigh. Back to basics to find the flaw and correct it.
On heavier grinds - you mentioned sort of a 'less is more' approach, and a preference for the coticule. Would this be true for the 1/4 grinds as well as the wedges? Riooso's edge on the 1/4 grind isn't that keen to the tpt, but the results are astounding. It's hard to separate out what is the blade and what is the edge finish. (it's a breathtaking Williams blade) It sort of adds fuel to the issue of maybe confusing increased smoothness with decreased keenness. That blade takes more forward force to initiate a stroke, but underway, no more than any other, and the result is a cleaner, closer swath cut than anything else in the drawer.
Yamashita-san didn't say that becoming better at honing would be easy :)
Again, Your help is so much appreciated.