Thread: Picking Toxic Jnat Lines

Gentlemen, there’s a discussion over on TSD about toxic glassy jnat lines. I posted about how I manage them and thought that it would be good to post here too. The first question is why bother with a jnat with a toxic line/lines. The reason of course is that some of them are darned fine razor finishers otherwise. Note that in the images, the line is picked and finished, so it’s kind of what you’re looking to see in a finished product.

You’ll need a carbide pick/scribe and a fiberglass brush (image 1).

Begin by pushing straight down on the ‘artifact’ until it yields (image 2). You’ll have a little divot. Repeat until the line is covered with overlapping divots. If you were to try and just drag the pick along the line, it will skate off and gouge the hone. You’ll make a mess and the line will still be there. Now you can move the tip of the pick along the line, most of it should be lower than the hone surface. Hold the pick vertical just like before and use very light pressure. You’re tying to break out or remove any remaining unstable material between the divots.

Now you can, again with very light pressure, move the pick at a 45 degree angle to the corners of the line (images 3 and 4). You’re using the side if the carbide insert to press against the corners of the line and remove any unstable material. You’re not using the tip of the pick so much.

Repeat the last step with the fiberglass brush, dressing the line and especially the corners of the crack and you’re done. You’ll need to check the line every time you lap and repeat as necessary if the glassy stuff gets up to the hone surface. To finish up, I like to raise a thick Mikawa slurry and rub the area with the line just to smooth things a little. I don’t know if this last step really helps, but it won’t hurt.