Llyn Idwal ID and use

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Still new to most things Straight Razor, certainly to hones and honing in general. I check local classifieds daily to see what might be available, and found this and an Illinois Razor Strop Co. Strop for less than 20.00. Before picking it up I did some research and I'm pretty sure it was advertised correctly based on the coloring and bit of chipping on the corner and flaking on one side. I chamfered the edges with 180 grit w/d, then did a progression on the better side of the stone with 180, 400, 600, 800, and 1000. Although it was clearly doing something to the stone due to the production of milky white slurry, I think the stone did quite a bit more work on the sandpaper...it destroyed the paper pretty quickly. I did that on a small glass side table on the patio, keeping it wet during the process.

I have several newly acquired razors that need honing, so I was able to try out the new stone a Fox Cutlery razor. I had great success with setting a bevel on 1k King, then went to the 4/8 norton (saying it that way makes it sound like I have options...but that wouldn't be accurate at all). I used water and a drop of dish-soap with the Llyn Wald. I understood that the LW should be in the 8-9k range, but I did the norton 8k first for comparison using a 30k loop. The Norton 8k seemed more reflective and felt shaper w hanging hair test than the LW, and through the loop the finish from the Norton was more reflective. The LW finish seemed more grey-ish than reflective. I finished it up with 25 passes on a pasted strop and another 50 on leather, but still didn't think the edge looked as nice off of the Norton, although I didn't try to shave with it. I went back to the Norton, then followed the same finishing progression, minus the LW, and it feels and looks as nice as any edge I've worked on yet. I shaved a bit of one cheek dry and it made me smile :)

I think I'll give it a go again today and if I can get a good bevel set on another razor (I'm up to about 75% success rate recently) I'll go from 4k to LW and take some pictures of the scratch pattern difference and follow up here.

A couple of things about some natural hones. Some, especially the very hard ones, get a smoother finish with use and burnishing, and the other is that using light oil, soapy water, glycerin, or honing solution can change your finish. I have one of those hones. I have used it very little. I also feel that it’s hard to judge a natural hone edge with a loupe because many leave a misty finish to the steel, as opposed to the mirror of high grit synthetics. I think if you shave with it, it will show you more of what you are getting. They are often compared to a 10K synthetic finish. Also a misty, very light slurry from a hard rubbing stone or very fine diamond might make for a finger finish. Often you need to develop a relationship with your natural hone.

RezDog - Thanks so much for those comments, in addition to helping my expectations, it helped me to slow down and get to know the hone a bit more. I think I just needed to be more patient, this stone doesn't seem to cut as fast as any of my synthetics. I used a cheap 60x clip on phone lens that has a light, it does a decent job if you take several and toss out the blurry ones. Ok here we go. I'm going to break the images up into more than 1 post. First two are the edge as received.
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Next images are after setting the bevel on the King 1k. 40 circles each direction w pressure, 20 x strokes w pressure, 40 circles again w pressure, 20 x strokes, 15 circles light pressure, 20 x strokes light pressure

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Then switched the Norton 4k and did very similar honing pattern as described with the 1k stone. Using a sharpie on the edge told me I needed a bit more attention on the toe that I assume is because of the slight smile. I used my left index finger to help roll the toe in a bit of a swooping x stroke (I think I am using that term correctly).

After the 4k.

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Rather than do anything at all w the 8k side of the Norton, I got started with the Llyn Idwal. I Set it on the Norton blue case/thing, and used a 400 DMT to create slurry to which I added a drop of liquid dish soap and mixed it around with water. I didn't expect the DMT to leave notifiable swirl marks on the stone..but there they are.

The hone before I started:

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After the first 25 passes. It actually felt less sharp on my thumb-pad, which is the thing that I experienced yesterday and made me think I was doing something very wrong, or there was a problem w the hone.

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Next image (my apologies that they look very similar moving forward) Is after another 25 or 30 passes.

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After the final 30 or so passes this is the final product (not sure if there would have been any gain from more passes):

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And finally, the last images are after 20 passes on a pasted strop, then 50 on leather.

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I'll shave with it in the morning and post my results and thoughts. It certainly feels pretty damn dangerous.

Thanks to all the wonderful folks who post their knowledge here, I sincerely appreciate the years and years of posts that I get to read through and learn from.

I think you are on the right track. Keep your eyes and mind open and feel free to experiment. I prefer HE laundry soap as an additive because it does not create bubbles. It is all the same effect on the hone. When it comes to finisher it’s all about how YOU like the feel of the edge.