Thread: Q regarding slurry stones

I would say that it's not advisable to start using slurry until
you've got quite a bit of experience with the stones without.
The synthetics should cut plenty fast enough, and you don't
want to add factors that are tough to repeat consistently if
you don't have to.

That's just my opinion though

- Scott

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I'm neutral on this. I've never used a slurry on any synthetic stone myself. Never felt the need but if it works well .... what the hey

That reminds me of a very important question To the OP which I neglected to ask.

What is it you are hoping to achieve?

A finer edge. I have successfully produced a shave ready edge, but compared to the ones I've had professionally done, I know I can make them better. My blades always need at least one more pass than the ones I've had done for me.

Goog

Originally Posted by kevint

As well a rubber on the 8k when starting is kinda nice.

Safe honing is very important

Goog

Originally Posted by greatgoogamooga

A finer edge. I have successfully produced a shave ready edge, but compared to the ones I've had professionally done, I know I can make them better. My blades always need at least one more pass than the ones I've had done for me.

Goog

Same for me but sometimes I nail it. Babe Ruth didn't hit a home run every time he came to bat either. My average is improving though and sometimes I get the edge first time around. Other times I have to work harder and I will shave with the same razor for a few days running. Going back to the hones with it daily trying to get it to the next level. So much more interesting and challenging than popping a throw away blade into a DE.

Goog

A slurry stone or nagura is an accetable method of getting a stone prepared to use. Of course not all hones need to have a slurry built ahead of time and most stones will release enough grit to build a slurry as you are using the stone.

If you do use a nagura for finishing stones it is important to match the finess of the nagura with the finess of the finishing stone. If you use a 1000 grit nagura with a 5000 grit finishing stone you end up by default with a 1000 grit finishing action. If the nagura is doing its job, that is grinding up the host stones surface in order to release new and fresh grit particles, than it is doing this job with very hard nagura grit particles. The nagura cannot be soft like talk, it must contain very hard particles to encourage the host stone to wake up and get busy. This is why some very fine nagura in super high grits is more expensive than others.

With natural Japanese stones or other super high grit finishing stones used for creating the ultimate edge, the nagura may be too course for the job, and these nagura particles will leave scratches on the blade that are larger than the host stone scratches would have if a nagura was not used. This scratching action would defeat the purpose of using a very fine finishing stone.

One solution to this is to use a very clean diamond plate along with clean fresh water to rub up the host stones to act as a "diamond nagura". This will produce a slurry made up and comprised totally from the host stones material. This method does not introduce any foreign grit particles, it just acts to release some of the host stones cutting material from the binding matrix to act as a nagura slurry.

If you are using grit from the host stone as 100% of your slurry there is no chance of rouge grit particles being introduced unless you bring them into the mix from your hands or dust or dirty water. You can adjust the amount of slurry by how much rubbing you have done with your diamond plate. Of course this does wear down your fine finishing stone, but if you are prudent it will be negligible. I usually try to retain this slurry for the next sharpening session or leave the material on the stone after lapping my stone, which I tend to do often. Flattening your stone and building your slurry can be the same process.

A nagura or a pre-existing slurry is usually only necessary if the finishing stone is ornery hard. You should be able to use most stones just as they sit with water only by adjusting the amount of H2O and hand pressure. Sometimes easier said than done, as some stones just feel skippy and slick producing chatter as the blade is drawn across.

This same technique may have be discussed in previous posts, and I apologize for any redundancy. Alx

Originally Posted by alx

One solution to this is to use a very clean diamond plate along with clean fresh water to rub up the host stones to act as a "diamond nagura". This will produce a slurry made up and comprised totally from the host stones material. This method does not introduce any foreign grit particles, it just acts to release some of the host stones cutting material from the binding matrix to act as a nagura slurry.

I like the credit card sized DMT 325 for this when I don't have a slurry stone of the same material as my honing stone. Great info in that post Alx, thanks for sharing it.

Jimmy
I agree, those little DMT pocket size are really handy and they kick up just enough grit to get started. Alx