Thread: Dual Scotch Hone Find

Originally Posted by Phrank

Is that a Norton 4/8?

Ahhh...I get it!!!

Makes perfect sense...so this Dual Hone is essentially just a old school natural version of a 4/8??

We could only hope, Andrew. We could ONLY hope!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

We could only hope, Andrew. We could ONLY hope!

Yea, the old "try to guess the grit rating of a natural", and "not all Coticules are the same"....it's somewhere between 0 and 20...good luck with the honing!!!

I'll give 'er a go...not like I have much hair left to pull out anyhow.....

That's a fine looking hone, it looks to be brand new! Congrats!

Didn't take long to get here, just pulled out this Eiko I had been meaning to get to, just finished setting the bevel (on a Nani 1k), sheesh these Japanese razors hone beautifully.

Anyhow, going to try hitting the TOS side, then the WOA side, and let's see what type of shave this razor brings....don't know if you don't try.

The WOA side feels remarkably like a nice Thuri, very fine.

You should try shaving off the tam o'shanter side as well. Some of them are great finishers.

That's true. Even if the scratch pattern looks a little rough, it still can give a pretty good shave. It's sort of the same concept as a coticule edge feeling different than that of most other hones. The Tam edge will have a different feeling too, but it should shave just fine. Of course, like all rocks it will vary. I think I only have 3 or 4 Tams, with one of them being a combo with a WofA, so my experience is limited.

The lighter they are the finer, more gray coarser in my experience

Originally Posted by kcb5150

The lighter they are the finer, more gray coarser in my experience

Had a shave tonight with the Eiko I honed, and I tell you, this hone is like magic, or more probably, these Japanese blades are made to take an edge, they seem to hone so easily. Spent a lot of time with the loupe and the TOS, same with the WOA stone, and had a test shave expecting it to be a no-go, and it was surprisingly fantastic shave, really put a keen edge on the blade.

The difference I noticed was that it was not sharp and mellow like an Escher edge, this edge seemed to me at least, to be very, very crisp, and scary sharp, could use lots more time on the leather to mellow it out. But I have never honed a razor before with Nani 1k, 3k and then the TOS and WOA, four stones...for me, un-ferkin' believable. No pastes or CROX.

Again though, starting to suspect there is just something with these Japanese razors, they love the stones, or I just got lucky.....

Congrats phrank..
So you finished on the WOA side?
Sounds like a successful first go..
Should try the TOS as the finish on a similar blade for comparison. Look forward to more findings.
Cheers.

Used this stone last night to refresh the edge, or more precisely put the edge I like on my new K. Herr FBU. Decided to not go the Escher route....so went with this Dual Scotch Hone.

Took it to the TOS side, then some laps on the WOA side, 6 laps on the CROX, and some solid stropping, and wow, a very noticeable difference to my usual Escher edge.

To compare, the Escher edge for me always produces a soft feeling, velvet smooth edge. The blade doesn't feel sharp, uber close shave of course, but always feels mellow.

The TOS/WOA finishing, very actively bright, made it's presence known, clean and crisp and loud would be the words I'd use to describe it. When I started my test shave with it, WTG pass, as soon as I started, right away I noticed the difference, very keen, it felt sharp and crisp, and gave a closer shave than I'm used to, especially with getting used to a new razor at 13/8 size.

The smell coming off the WOA stone was very earthy and pleasant. The WOA side is very hard, uber smooth, hard to really tell the difference between my Escher and the WOA in terms of look, but a much different final edge.

I've got a couple of W&B Choppa's that are due a refresh, think they're going to get this treatment and I'll do a side by side.

Very impressed with this stone and noticing how different the edge feels in comparison...rocks really do make a difference!?!