Thread: My Secret Shame

Well GL.
not easy way but the best to learn.

Yeah, the best way is to forget about what others have done, do do, or will try. The only person you are honing for is you, not the rest of us watching from the sidelines.

Oh, and the reason your barber knows so much?

Jim...... I am your barber.....!!!

James.

Originally Posted by JimR

Ok, so, here's what's happening. I'm following Kawaguchi--I'm using heavy slurry, with circular strokes, and learning to do it the way it's supposed to be done.

If it takes an hour, or a day, or a week to hone a razor right, that's what I'm going to do...just hone.

I got way too uptight about this, way too worried about other people's experiences and I forgot to just hone.

So...yeah. That's what I'm going to do.

I think you have the right attitude now

It's not easy, but you must not let emotion get involved. I don't have a nice hone like you do, but even with my Norton's I noticed the same thing.

When I felt I was starting to get frustrated with my progress, I just put the razor down and walked away.

Don't get down on yourself! You can do it, you just have to center yourself, and calm your mind

Ok....I think I'm beginning to get this stone.

Of course, I should have listened to my barber from the very beginning...this stone needs heavy slurry. Heavy, and heavier. Like, creamy.

I took the razor from the video, the one he said would take an hour to hone the smile out of, and I did it. What's more, somewhere along the way I put a nice big chip in it--an oblong area about 1.5mm long and .5mm deep. Big. And I honed it out, on this stone, with heavy slurry. I did circles in sets of three, no x strokes, keeping the edge straight and even.

Yes, it took a long time.

Yes, I had to do it in stages.

Yes, I had to refresh the slurry.

But eventually, I got the chip out and the smile is gone. And the shave?

Sharp and smooth. I did not finish on water, nor did I finish with a light slurry. I finished by honing until the final slurry was thick as glue, and dark grey. I stropped like normal, and shaved, and it was good--two days in a row.

Then tonight, I did the same to my Genco that had been dull. This time, no damage, so I honed on heavy slurry using circles until, again, the slurry was thick and dark grey. Again, a full stropping, and I shaved, and the edge was FREAKING sharp. Not that smooth, though...not rough, but not what I'd call a "velvet squeegee"

But I am BBS, with only two passes and no touch up, and no cuts or irritation now...so that's what I'd call a successful shave.

I'm getting there with this one...

You will Jim
i am sure the day will come you come back this threads and say wow what a learning curve i had.
have a great day.

Huh, every time I have tried shaving off a thick slurry it has been a disaster with my other stones.

Then again, I don't think I have given it a fair try with my Japanese natural either. It never passed my pre-shave tests with thin slurry, so I never got as far as you have.


Using water only or thin slurry causes a "bad" edge, but a super thick slurry yields a "good" edge...Does this make sense?

Something about using a thick slurry on final passes seems counter-intuitive for a sharp, even even bevel. I'm not disputing your results, I just want to break this down and figure out WHY it happens.

Well, I don't know. My barber did say, very emphatically, to use thick slurry. That without it, something is "too rough".

The theory with Nakayamas is that as you hone, the particles break down finer and finer, right? So...without slurry, there's no particles to break down, really...maybe that's it?

All I know is, I do what he said, and I get a good edge. I do anything else, and I don't.

Originally Posted by joke1176

Something about using a thick slurry on final passes seems counter-intuitive for a sharp, even even bevel. I'm not disputing your results, I just want to break this down and figure out WHY it happens.

Absolutely SECRET. TO KNOW THE answer you need to buy 2 bottles of vodka ,1 BOTTLE OF Champagne and have the willing to drive 2 hours. Dont worry about the food.
you get your answer right away Joe.

I think he just made the whole thing up to keep us busy while he slowly goes about plotting a hostile takeover of the shaving world with his twisted, diabolical schemes

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I think he just made the whole thing up to keep us busy while he slowly goes about plotting a hostile takeover of the shaving world with his twisted, diabolical schemes

Now THAT'S something I would never have thought of.

Did you ever think of getting your own talk radio show?