Thread: Apache natural hone

Originally Posted by 32t

Insert into a slit on the end of a branch of wood. Wrap with raw hide. It does look like the right shape to use as a war club.....

Yikes ! suppose I can call and have my mail held at the post office and sneak it in when it arrives lol

Did one last night. Chosera 1, 5 then nakayama iromono tomo, worked it to water, then rinsed stone finished 10 laps in water only on apache. Fantastic shave. Hht 5 easy in or out.

NAILED another one tonight. Same routine, from 1k to bevel was 6 MINUTES! HHT 5 smoooth, 4 pass BBS no irritation no weepers. Different razor BTW. Dulled on glass to start it.

I have several razors I'd like to try honing this weekend (hoping my apache arrives in the next day or so).
My two processes:
chosera 1k > norton 4k > norton 8k > apache
chosera 1k > norton 4k > norton 8k > escher

Originally Posted by bill3152

Different razor BTW. Dulled on glass to start it.

For what purpose ? Was this to prove to yourself that you know how to hone ? Inquiring minds and all of that .......

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

For what purpose ? Was this to prove to yourself that you know how to hone ? Inquiring minds and all of that .......

Well it requires a new edge since the old one is gone. And I reset the bevel to pass my tnt so this eliminates 100 % IMO any issues at that stage and up from there. Iwasaki spoke of using it, he called it."joining" but for different reasons. I lile to.do this as.honing the same razor over and over may just keep refining the same edge. If you start a razor at the 1k, then you have a new edge and since I verify bevels with tnt its the only way I can do this. I know there are other methods but to me anyway its too tried and true for me to mess with it.

Tried mine out last night. I ended up switching over to a dovo that I had touched up with my zulu grey. I will have to play with it some more to get it dialed in, as it wasn't near keen enough for my chin whiskers. I will hold out on my judgment until I have more experience both in honing and using the apache.

Awwww MAN, seems you all have good results and price was nice for a little guy 4.5" x 2.25" so I pulled the trigger. Plus a 10% off code right on the site and FREE SHIP, dang! Hope she finishes as good as this thread suggests.

Thursday evening, I had the opportunity to hone two straight razors— two Red Imps; 5/8 & 6/8—using the same progression on both blades:
Chosera 1k > Norton 4k > Norton 8k > ...and then used a different finisher on each: an Escher Dk Blue (6/8 Imp) & the Apache Strata (5/8 Imp).
On both finishers, I used a very light slurry then diluted to just water with a comparable amount of laps (30/30) on each.
I'm happy to report that I got delightfully smooth and comfortable shave from both razors as I alternated during a 3-pass shave with 2-day growth. Still more razor testing to do, but I was encouraged after this initial test-run.


Yesterday, I took to the honing table a razor that was a bit more of a pain to hone, a restored Joseph Rodgers & Sons (heel hook (reduced), thick spine and shoulder, smiley blade). Same procedure I used on the Imps above, but finished with the Apache. Used a very thin slurry (generated with the DMT) 30 laps with gradual dilution with water until the final 30 was pure water. A half dozen on a CHrOx pasted strop followed by linen/leather laps (50/100). Very keen edge (quite sticky on the TPT). The resulting shave was one of the smoothest I've ever had with this challenging razor. Not a hint of tugging nor resistance…all & all, a very pleasurable experience so far using this stone. More to come…..

Originally Posted by Kevin78

Thursday evening, I had the opportunity to hone two straight razors— two Red Imps; 5/8 & 6/8—using the same progression on both blades:
Chosera 1k > Norton 4k > Norton 8k > ...and then used a different finisher on each: an Escher Dk Blue (6/8 Imp) & the Apache Strata (5/8 Imp).
On both finishers, I used a very light slurry then diluted to just water with a comparable amount of laps (30/30) on each.
I'm happy to report that I got delightfully smooth and comfortable shave from both razors as I alternated during a 3-pass shave with 2-day growth. Still more razor testing to do, but I was encouraged after this initial test-run.


Yesterday, I took to the honing table a razor that was a bit more of a pain to hone, a restored Joseph Rodgers & Sons (heel hook (reduced), thick spine and shoulder, smiley blade). Same procedure I used on the Imps above, but finished with the Apache. Used a very thin slurry (generated with the DMT) 30 laps with gradual dilution with water until the final 30 was pure water. A half dozen on a CHrOx pasted strop followed by linen/leather laps (50/100). Very keen edge (quite sticky on the TPT). The resulting shave was one of the smoothest I've ever had with this challenging razor. Not a hint of tugging nor resistance…all & all, a very pleasurable experience so far using this stone. More to come…..

very happy that your having success.. just curious the main objective i believe nelson was looking for in this stone was to find a natural finisher that provided a great edge with lil effort and only water.. have u tried water only?