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After a wonderful post by FloorPizza I went back to the hones.
It took over an hour on the 5k and and hour the 12k to get an edge that shaved my leg without skipping and being able to shave the stubble on my face.
50 hits on the leather and the result. A near BBS with two passes and my off hand is better and I do not have the rough patch on my right cheek and jaw. :y
That 8k will be needed after all. I skipped the linen. I am now afraid of it.
I am glad that it worked for you. It may be useful to replace time measurements for the actual number of strokes that you used. Remember to avoid overhoning. Have you read the wiki:
Category:Honing - Straight Razor Place Wiki
Also the honing videos in this section may also be useful:
Videos - Straight Razor Place Forums
Al raz.
Ease into the linen. It is your friend. Just start slow and easy with a light touch. Congrats on the shave. :tuQuote:
Originally Posted by singlewedge
Glad that helped. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by singlewedge
I read your other thread about getting suggestions for an 8k... multitude of replies, with a bunch of different solutions... all of em good. So maybe I can further muddy the waters a bit for you. :)
I specifically recommended an 8k hone for you as *an addition* to what you already have, instead of trying to replace your current stones. Ideally, it would be best to replace a couple of the things you have, but for the absolute least money invested, just adding an 8k would be best and least expensive. It would also give you maximum benefit for what you already have. It would fit right in between the 5k and 12k.
Lot's of people recommended spending the money on a coticule. IMO, this would be the overall best solution for you, especially if you bought a BBW/Coticule combination stone. Unfortunately, it's also very expensive. But... you could pretty much replace everything you have (save maybe your 1k and 12k) with a combination Belgian. A 1k stone, BBW/coti, and 12k chinese would be a *very very* nice setup.
You can do pretty much all of your honing on a BBW/coti combo. You would use the coticule side with slurry to replace the 1k stone (for bevel setting). Then the BBW side with slurry would replace your 5k stone, then the coticule side with water would replace the 8k stone, and possibly even your 12k depending on how good of a finisher your particular coticule turns out to be. I have very limited experience with coticules, but it appears I got lucky; mine finshes off (just the coticule with water) about like my Shapton 16k does. That's the cool thing about BBW's and coticules: they cut at 4k and 8k respectively, but leave edges that are much higher equivalent grit rates. I would rate my BBW at about a 12k for finishing, and the coticule side at about a 16k+ for finishing (smoothness) quality. I really think that's why the Belgian naturals are so popular: they are able to cut like 4k and 8k stones, but are able to finish off with a smoothness normally reserved for very high grit stones.
If you should luck into a perfect BBW/coti combo, it truly would replace all of your current setup. However, I would still keep a 1k stone and the Chinese 12k around. Those two stones (in your setup) are the ones most likely to *not* be able to be replaced by a BBW/coticule.
I have considered a coticule bout, relatively inexpensive but I would be limited to circular strokes only, which makes me nervous. I am comfy with eastern and western methods.
I found that King makes an 8k for $60 which is much more attractive than the Shapton or Norton or coticule bout (which is the same price as a Shapton 8k).
I was kind of hoping to get a Chinese 8k for around the same price as the 12k, but I do not think that is made.