Feedback adjustment w/ Diamond stropping
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.
Even unwanted results are important to know about
Gents, 'Got mail last night from the owner of the heavy sheffield that had my eyeballs changing sockets. It sounds like the much sought-after feedback is short-lived, and now mostly gone. Sigh. So maybe I am destined to be estranged from the heavy Sheffields for life. 'Even picked up a handsome one this wkend, hoping it would join the esteemed ranks of Pinklather's rotation. I'll repeat the process on this one - just to see how long the feedback lasts. It made the sheffield tolerable for me, and got a number of silent soligens to find their tongue.