Thread: La Roccia natural 12K-15K

not myself ,however I have a vid I made using an Imperia as a finisher and I am making another tonight I hope .I found it slower than a 10k king waterstone personally yet very keen imo.

Originally Posted by Blistersteel

not myself ,however I have a vid I made using an Imperia as a finisher and I am making another tonight I hope .I found it slower than a 10k king waterstone personally yet very keen imo.

Would like to see. Do you have a link?

My La Roccia arived, and I purchased some 320 wet dry 3M sandpaper. I spent about two hours getting the surface nice and smooth. I see some very very fine narrow groves here and there, but for the most part, the stone is very smooth. Would those narrow groves negatively affect the stones ability to produce an edge? Do I need to remove any hint of imperfection for the surface before I use this stone?

I don't have that hone, but those small scratches will not harm the function of the hone. I call them negative honing surfaces. They are below the plane of the cutting surface and will not have any impact on your edges.

Originally Posted by Slurryer

My La Roccia arived, and I purchased some 320 wet dry 3M sandpaper. I spent about two hours getting the surface nice and smooth. I see some very very fine narrow groves here and there, but for the most part, the stone is very smooth. Would those narrow groves negatively affect the stones ability to produce an edge? Do I need to remove any hint of imperfection for the surface before I use this stone?

Slate stones should be used with slurry, using the same material for the slurry stone, regularly. The act of building the slurry helps to minimize lapping and ensures a fresh surface. Higher polish is neither needed nor desirable. Higher polish will do little to get a finer finish, and will certainly slow the speed of the stone down noticeably. If you use only to finish with clear water, you are missing out on 60% of what the stone can do.
Just MHO
Cheers

Originally Posted by Slurryer

My La Roccia arived, and I purchased some 320 wet dry 3M sandpaper. I spent about two hours getting the surface nice and smooth. I see some very very fine narrow groves here and there, but for the most part, the stone is very smooth. Would those narrow groves negatively affect the stones ability to produce an edge? Do I need to remove any hint of imperfection for the surface before I use this stone?

when there are only a few, they are only a problem if they run perpendicular to the direction the razor is traveling on the stone.

These are very few, fine scratches, mostly at the ends of the stone, running for a half inch or so along the length. There are one or two spots near the center where the scratch seems to be in a swirl or a loop, but they are not noticeable without very close inspection. From what I'm hearing, nothing to be concerned about.

The hone comes with a slurry stone, but getting a slurry with it is fairly difficult. Polishing the stone as bigeasy1 pointed out makes building a slurry that much more difficult. In the end I took the unconventional approach of using the 320 grit paper to build the slurry on the slurry stone, and then used that to start the slurry on the hone. Seemed to work fairly well, but I'm not sure if I introduced any contaminate from the 320 grit paper. I used this as a finisher on my Dovo, after an 8K. Starting with a milky slurry, using 50 passes, strop, followed by 50 more passes. Re-wetting the stone after ever 10 passes. I'll be shaving with this in the morning, but I do see a definite difference in the hanging hair test. Most notably, in the past, the razor always rung when I sliced through a single hair. Sort of a TING sound. Now when the razor passes through hair, it's a much more quiet TICK sort of a sound. Anyone know what I mean? Not very scientific, but very noticeable. The shave in the morning will tell.

Originally Posted by Slurryer

These are very few, fine scratches, mostly at the ends of the stone, running for a half inch or so along the length. There are one or two spots near the center where the scratch seems to be in a swirl or a loop, but they are not noticeable without very close inspection. From what I'm hearing, nothing to be concerned about.

The hone comes with a slurry stone, but getting a slurry with it is fairly difficult. Polishing the stone as bigeasy1 pointed out makes building a slurry that much more difficult. In the end I took the unconventional approach of using the 320 grit paper to build the slurry on the slurry stone, and then used that to start the slurry on the hone. Seemed to work fairly well, but I'm not sure if I introduced any contaminate from the 320 grit paper. I used this as a finisher on my Dovo, after an 8K. Starting with a milky slurry, using 50 passes, strop, followed by 50 more passes. Re-wetting the stone after ever 10 passes. I'll be shaving with this in the morning, but I do see a definite difference in the hanging hair test. Most notably, in the past, the razor always rung when I sliced through a single hair. Sort of a TING sound. Now when the razor passes through hair, it's a much more quiet TICK sort of a sound. Anyone know what I mean? Not very scientific, but very noticeable. The shave in the morning will tell.

There is always a possibility of introducing contamination from the paper. I turn my slurry stone on the corner of the edge, make circles down one side of the stone, and back up the other. With less of the slurry stone hitting, it will start the slurry faster. Once the slurry starts, it will help to build more. This is a slower stone to slurry than many, probably a little harder than most? First time using an edge, there is a chance of larger pieces breaking loose, so watch for that. If it happens, just wipe the stone and start over. Or you might use that 320 paper to round an edge some, then rinse the slurry stone, and start from there. With slurry, there is no need to hone to 8k before this stone. It will polish from 4k or less very quickly. Once a good polish is achieved, go to clear water. When you think it is very close, go to lighter pressure and continue a few more strokes.
That lower sound on the HHT is usually an indication that the hair severed more easily. Wetter longer or sharper edge. Unlike synthetic stones, will take a few uses to really learn its capabilities. Have fun.
Cheers,

Sorry, forgot to ask, why do you strop part way through?

These are very soft stones, do not use Silicon Carbide you run the risk of imbedding grit into the stone, Wet & Dry 320 on a cookie sheet and a flat piece of cement floor or better yet, a Diamond plate.

There are a lot of good, inexpensive Diamond plates now and if you are planning on honing, a 50 dollar investment for a quality plate, is cheap for the dividends it will repay.

If you are finishing, use lite slurry and dilute to clear water or you may find yourself going backwards.
Don’t get caught up in hair test, they have nothing to do with the shave.

Slurry is an art form, some slurry will continue to breakdown and finish at a higher grit than the stone, but some don’t and then bang against the edge, dulling it, going backwards.

You have to experiment to find a combination that works best for your particular razor. Always use lite pressure, heavy pressure with slurry will micro-chip an edge, and then you have to hone past that edge to get to good steel.

These are fun stones, but I doubt they are close to 12K, much less 15K. They can finish and produce a shaving edge, in the right hands.