What DON'T You Use (and why)

Great topic Steve :) I will come back to it, now gotta run...

Off the top of my head, I haven't used my coticules in a long while! There is no rational reason for this, since both I own are awesome stones.

I don't use Crox paste for honing. Why? Because I get edges that I like without it. It has it's place in cleaning and polishing blades, but that's it.

I don't use my Roo strop, I made when I started 5 years ago (horse feels better).

I don't use very dark hones anymore, just seems easier to judge honing on a lighter colored hone.

More to come, probably...

Good luck finding that coti again. I think it depends on the person on if a stone is worth it or not. What I think is overpriced might be a steal of a deal for another person. Also I don't really blame people for selling coticules at the price they do. As long as it is accurately described and they know they can sell it at that price then good on them. Hopefully everyone in the deal is happy.

Also I don't use Crox either at the moment but that is because I am happy with what I get from stone. I also had an okay experience with it but I think there was something I did wrong and it could have been better. sorry for any sidetracking

I rarely ever use Iyo nagura... not sure how many know about this rock, but it's a sandstone essentially. It's great for removing rust from various items, when you don't care about the polish. But it's unpredictable - I managed to set a few bevels with it some time ago, but then I noticed it contains large grains of sand, easily in the 200-300 grit range, or maybe even lower.

By the way, just thinking about it, this topic may inspire some interesting trades [emoji16]

I dont use my Nortons any more. Moved to the Naniwa's so i dont have to soak them before use. Not that they were bad. Just that im lazy.

I dont use my eschers and turingians no more:) - i have discovered that a coticule is sometimes a better finisher...actualy most of the times.

Dont use hard quartz based stones like novaculite and lidian or any of their kind...why...poor in feedback and performance...slow.

Same as mentioned before...i started to not like dark coloured hones...judging honing on a light background is far easier.

Dont use asano naguras no more...or at least i use them out of nostalgia sometimes or for demonstration purposes i found that a bevel setter a mid range jnat with tomo and a Jnat finisher with a tomo is all you need.

Sometimes i dont use tomo when i'm in a hurry...i have a well worn Ez Lap 26F no groove diamond hone that last dropped a diamond in the stoneage:))...it's @ 1000 grit equivalnt now but it's a damn perfect tomonagura for all my stones when i'm in a hurry.

Dont use slurry on coticules...although i have coticules taht perform extremly well with slurry i prefer to take the edge to a 5 k and do like 150 passes under running water...maybe it's just me but i love my coticules and slurrying them would make them use a lot faster:)) i do use a coti slurry stone when i want to refresh the surface of the coticule.

Dont use pastes CBN or Diamond sprays...if you cant get a good edge from stone and stropping you are doing something wrong or something is wrong with the razor or stone or strop you use...although these products can improve your edge...i se little use for them honestly.

Dont use paddle or loom strops...although they provide a better stroping surface i just misplace them or dont find a spot to keep them.

Dont use the linen component on my hanging strops...it's fine but i have the feeling it could be a bit brutal on a very fine edge...can't prove this yet it's just how i feel about linen and hard pressed felt and stuff... and i don't like how it feels while stropping...no matter how fine the material...just cant get used to the feedback.


Dont use Renaissance wax for protecting my razors...i found that after drying it has the tendency to be britttle..crack and chip exposing the metal...i replaced it with Balistol and i am very happy with it.

Dont use neatsfoot oil on leather strops or in strop restoration...balistol spray does a better job in my opinion.

Dont use tape when setting the bevel for the first time on a razor... after that i use it every time

Dont use my Gokumio 20k that often...i get sweeter edges of my jnats...i do use it when i have to hone a restored lot of razors because i get the job done faster...much faster.

That's about it...from what i can remember.

Them's fightin words about the slow novaculites!! If you scuff a novaculite with a diamond hone and leave a few of the particles on the surface, they will cut maddeningly fast, and uniform without being harsh like a synthetic - any direction you want to rub the razor on them, too, and the uniformity and range is available even on the cheap ones (like the old smith's marked stones that are about $20 on ebay).

Same with the linens - the vintage treated linens are wonderful if they are clean and haven't changed. Modern linens, I haven't got a great use for. Maybe if I had to rub something off of my hands.

No asano naguras (overpriced for what they are, and the higher the price goes, the better people seem to think they are - too many fakes, too) and no horizontally lying strops for me, either. Sooner or later, you leave a horizontal strop out and something settles on it.

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Originally Posted by DaveW

Them's fightin words about the slow novaculites!! If you scuff a novaculite with a diamond hone and leave a few of the particles on the surface, they will cut maddeningly fast, and uniform without being harsh like a synthetic - any direction you want to rub the razor on them, too, and the uniformity and range is available even on the cheap ones (like the old smith's marked stones that are about $20 on ebay).

Same with the linens - the vintage treated linens are wonderful if they are clean and haven't changed. Modern linens, I haven't got a great use for. Maybe if I had to rub something off of my hands.

No asano naguras (overpriced for what they are, and the higher the price goes, the better people seem to think they are - too many fakes, too) and no horizontally lying strops for me, either. Sooner or later, you leave a horizontal strop out and something settles on it.

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DaveW, my friend...Them's no fiting words ...i know a rought up ark can cut...but it does it as a file...if you rough up the surface of a hard cristaline stone like an ark it gets grooves like a file...those groves help it cut and indeed it is faster for a while...but in a few uses those grooves break and you're back to the natural condition of the stone...

It is not a thing of what's best, i know some ppl love arks and novaculite in general and get great edges off them...it's more a thing of preferance...they just dont fit my needs...

From what I've found, the ark will last about as long as a flattening of a waterstone, but it needs no soak and the balance of time is less. It's sort of point and shoot for bevel setting, because you can't hurt it. If it slows, 5 seconds of scuffing and it's faster than a synthetic 1k again, but leaves a better groove pattern for subsequent natural stones.

(not much about razors will get me to fight, I just like the term :p).

Those arks might be a little more expensive in Bucharest, i'll grant that. I've sold a lot of washitas (not for profit, just the ebb and flow of the collection) to folks overseas, and they often seem to end up in Eastern Europe or Russia.

I don't know if I'm singly responsible for this, but in the last couple of years, talking about how great washitas are and making videos of them, the unmarked washitas have about doubled in price. I kind of wish I'd have kept my mouth shut, because I'd like to increase the count in my stone bench and try a few more for fun. But not at twice what they used to be. It's just a bigger % for ebay and paypal to keep when I end up dumping them.

I guess we could add CrOx, CBN, and FeOx to the list of things I don't use. I've actually had some good comfortable shaves off them. But it's just not a necessary level of sharp. I'd rather shave with the edge from my Yellow Lake or any equivalent natural stone.

Well, I use the crayon CrOx on a slab of scrap oak for chisels and such. But the spray and pasted strop for razors remains untouched for well over a month now.

My ZY razor hone. It actually made a nice edge, especially considering the cost. Like 13 bucks all in. But the stone has a strong earthy smell when in use, it kinda reeks and I hate using it solely for that reason.