Thread: My Secret Shame

I can't get a good edge off my Nakayama.

My barber gave me the stone he's used to maintain his folding straight razors for decades--it's a small, hard, smooth piece of Nakayama (or rather, shouhonyama nihonkamisori...it might be a shoubudani or other Kyoto hone, he's fuzzy on the mine). But it's a fantastic stone, I know--I've got 4 razors that just happen to have been maintained since they were made on this stone, and they shave like a dream.

However, when I used it, I can't get good edges. I get super smooth, but DULL edges. All of the razors (getting up around 12 now) that I have finished on this rock are duller than when they came off the 8K. They shave, but they take forever to do so and always leave stubble.

All of them, that is, except one. This one.

Until recently, I thought I would never figure this stone out--with slurry, without slurry. 20 laps, 100 laps. Always, a razor that wouldn't shave the way it should.

Except for this guy--this hard as heck ABC. I got it honed, and finished it on the Nakayama, and got a fantastic shaver. Which, incidentally, was the only edge my barber approved at my little check-up last weekend in the "hone three razors" challenge.

So I KNOW this stone is good, but why just that one razor? I honed three others at the same time with the same general pattern, but none of them will shave...

I do have a theory. Tell me if I'm crazy.

This razor, the ABC, is super hard. I believe this is because it's made of Swedish steel--Glen implied that they are often super abrasion-resistant.

3 of the 4 razors I got from my barber, finished on this hone and fantastic shavers, are also marked Swedish steel. The other, the Iwasaki, MIGHT be Swedish steel--they do use it a lot here.

Soooo...my theory is: this particular stone is a really aggressive polisher. Softer steel gets eaten away too quickly on it, so any razor that isn't nice and hard will lose its edge quickly on this stone...Thus the harder, Swedish steel razors get fantastic edges, while the softer American and Solingen steels I've tried lose their keenness right away.

Crazy? Maybe.

But I'll be testing with sets of three passes on 0 slurry to see if I can hit a happy medium between those smooth, dull edges, and the keep, rough ones I've been getting off the 8K.


Any thoughts?

It's also possible your hone needs lapping. You'll see similar symptoms, but it's because the razor is scraping into the stone a bit and breaking loose the abrasive particles too fast, so you're honing on a 10k or so hone instead of a 40k hone. Which the harder steel responds better to.

My Maruka Nakayama Asagi did this same thing, until I lapped it. Which unfortunately cost me all those stamps which were so conveniently placed on the honing face...

how big is the stone?

we need pics.

Originally Posted by mparker762

It's also possible your hone needs lapping. You'll see similar symptoms, but it's because the razor is scraping into the stone a bit and breaking loose the abrasive particles too fast, so you're honing on a 10k or so hone instead of a 40k hone. Which the harder steel responds better to.

My Maruka Nakayama Asagi did this same thing, until I lapped it. Which unfortunately cost me all those stamps which were so conveniently placed on the honing face...

Well I thought of this, so I lapped the stone up to 2K sandpaper...same issue.

Originally Posted by Visibility

how big is the stone?

13.5cmx8.5cm

Originally Posted by Pyment

we need pics.

OkeyDokey (these are prelapping--when I first got it)

have you tried less # of laps?

OLD_SCHOOL, what, exactly, is your recommendation?

I didn't know you were using slurry- I personally don't and its a lot slower but the edge is better I feel.

Yeah, if you're using a slurry then you have to be careful that you're not really honing with your slurry stone.

I don't use any slurry with my nakayama, or I should say I only use the slurry that is created by the blade itself.

Originally Posted by khaos

I didn't know you were using slurry- I personally don't and its a lot slower but the edge is better I feel.

Originally Posted by mparker762

Yeah, if you're using a slurry then you have to be careful that you're not really honing with your slurry stone.

I don't use any slurry with my nakayama, or I should say I only use the slurry that is created by the blade itself.

From the OP:

Until recently, I thought I would never figure this stone out--with slurry, without slurry. 20 laps, 100 laps. Always, a razor that wouldn't shave the way it should.

I have tried both ways. Despite the fact that these stones have been used with slurry for as long as they have been used...