Quote Originally Posted by Chris L View Post
Some of you watching the video of Randy honing on a Shapton 4k ceramic on glass stone may wonder why the swarf looks brownish; we used a cut piece of barber hone to create a slurry on the 4k. Why? On coarser grit stones, a colored slurry made with most any type of higher grit stone or hone (Belgian Blue, Coticle, Barber Hone, etc) provides a great visual aid when honing. It's a great training tool or great when honing blade styles that you're less familiar with. The colored slurry allows for better viewing of what the water/blade on the hone is or isn't doing (ultimately what YOU are or are not doing in ensuring the blade is in contact with the stone through the entire pass). As long as the grit of the rubbing stone is finer than the hone, you're good to go with using this method to better see the blade's contact with the stone/hone.
Hey Chris, thanks for posting that explanation of Randy's honing in the video. That is an idea I hadn't thought of or come across.