Thread: BBW as a one-hone?

Could a BBW be used as a "one-hone" solution to maintaining a blade? Or, more precisely, as a one/only hone for life (with slurry stone)?


Perhaps I've read too much into the Coticles.be article comparing results between BBW, Coticle and Coticle/BBW stones on straight razors but I want to put it out there. Yet many websites list it as a 4000-grit equivalent stone - as though they intentionally want to sway opinion away from it.
Link to study: http://coticule.be/heritage.html?fil.../BBW-study.pdf or http://www.coticule.be/the-cafeteria/topic/1452.html

From all that I've read elsewhere: it's functionally similar composition as coticle through slower due to the lower garnet content. I would assume that make it easier for new users from causing damage but, based on the results, could still equal the final output of more expensive stones.

Are there users that use a BBW to refresh their blades?

The issue with any "One Hone System" is the bevel set, after that there are very few that can't be used

Keeping in mind that Natural Stones by their very nature are quite variable..

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The issue with any "One Hone System" is the bevel set, after that there are very few that can't be used

Keeping in mind that Natural Stones by their very nature are quite variable..

Intent is to maintain a blade.

assuming a bevel is already present.

Originally Posted by SpikedLemon

Intent is to maintain a blade.

assuming a bevel is already present.

Here is my opinion for exactly what you just posted...

Without any doubt in my mind at all, I have absolute confidence that I can get a Sharper, Smoother, more Comfortable shaving edge off of a Norton 8k, Naniwa 8k, 10k or 12k, a Shapton 8k, PHIG, WHIG, or even most Barber's hones (might be forgetting some too) for the same price as an 8x3 BBW

I own a BBW and a dang good one at that, but it just isn't a stand out hone, not when there are so many better ones available at the same price point..


That is JMHO, but as I have often said "Natural stones are a romance, synthetics are an exact science, so make sure you have the time and patience to kindle the love affair"

G/L

If I really didn't like somebody I might gift them a BBW to maintain their razor .........

I agree exactly with glen. If you're maintaining a razor with leather and linen (and not a bunch of fast abrasives on a strop), then the maintenance of a razor is extremely little. It would be like light slurry on a phig and then clear every few weeks to every few months, depending on how good your linen and leather are. You'd want to pick a stone that does really well at maintenance, not one that does just OK or not well at all.

the only stones that I have ever seen that will set a bevel and give you a decent shave are washitas, and at that only the harder finer ones. Even at that, they set a bevel better when they're scuffed, and they do fine work a lot better when they're not. No razor gets them from scuffed to fine in one razor, so you have a dilemma.

Carvers and woodworkers don't even like the BBW for the most part, it isn't fine enough for its cutting speed. There may be a few who use them, but many many many more who use oilstones and synthetic waterstones.

Yes, absolutely yes, of course you can.
Not withstanding variation among naturals, I don't find a lot of difference to the coticule side (at least the ones I have).
Cotis and BBW are not easy to master, proficiency is usually the underlying factor.

I use a BBW to:
1. Come off a heavy coticule slurry, as an intermediate step before going to a very light slurry and water as the final steps on the coticule.
2. Re-hone my kitchen cutlery. The BBW does a great job on all my knives, especially the Japanese blades.

I just use the BBW side from a creamy slurry, lots of dilutions on circles. Ease up on pressure progressively to weight of razor.

Originally Posted by Phoenix51

I use a BBW to:

2. Re-hone my kitchen cutlery. The BBW does a great job on all my knives, especially the Japanese blades.

Ditto this japanese everything on natural everything. Even japanese chisels take a superb edge off of a washita stone. I think it's just the hardness preventing the scratches getting as deep. That's sort of like saying the sky is blue, I guess.

I've never been that excited about what oilstones do on knives that are too soft (like pocket knives that appear to be just above spring temper), they rely on the object's hardness impeding groove depth a little bit, or they'll just make a big fat wire edge on anything even on a stone that seems to barely cut softer steel.

I use a washita in the kitchen, which isn't a whole lot different in fineness (once broken in some) to BBW and some of the coticules.