Quote Originally Posted by DaveW View Post
All of the novaculite stones refuse to release particles in regular use, other than the odd particle here or there. The pike washitas at some point had stickers on the end that said "hard and fine" or "soft" and they may have said fast or something on the soft. In washita type stones (still novaculite, but a little different in structure vs. cheap soft stones), the smaller pore stones are definitely finer cutting and can finish a razor once settled in. Maybe the soft ones can, too, but I don't know that I have any cutting that slowly.

On eschers, there must be something in translation about how the barbers used the soft ones. I wonder if soft means self slurrying (which results in an edge that's not very fine if the edge is worked to) or if it just means a better feel. I had a y/g and it took a while to settle in. Anything that would've described it as soft (as a sticker on the end) was long gone. Compared to jnats and such, though, I was surprised how long it took for the escher to stop slurrying, and since I was sharpening the entire bevel all the way to the edge, it was immediately clear that while the stone was still slurrying, the edge wasn't what I'd want.

If Id have, however, worked to the edge, put the razor on the linen and strop, and then given a few more light strokes (which seems to be a decent recipe for a marginal stone), it probably would've been better.

long story short, softer is coarser, but softer really means less density and more space between abrasive clusters and the clusters themselves with the sharp edges from the space can do cutting. If the stone is more dense with less air space and relief for the particles and matrix to cut, then it cuts more finely.

One of the reasons, I think, that the pike washitas were so well loved by carpenters is because they are porous and those pores cut and never quite stop cutting. Cutting speed obviously being more important to a carpenter or cabinetmaker than to a single individual shaving with a razor.

I'd like to have a conversation with a high end barber in the late 1800s to see how they're using their stones and what they like. When I see a self slurrying stone, I always assume that anyone using it wants a fast cutter and isn't going to use it all the way to the edge of the razor for fear of making the edge more coarse.
But don't forgot simply using a honing oil that's of the right thickness prevents the stone from slurying and files in some of the low spots on the stone making a cheap or lowgrade stone cut and put a finer edge on a blade. That's why's some vintage De blades say on them honed with oil. Plus I tried putting oil on my Chinese 12k stone that I didn't like it now puts a better shaving edge on the razors.