What makes final finishing stone Great stone in your Mind?'
What are you looking for or what you want from it?
i tried express as much as i can . i hope question is clear.
GL
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What makes final finishing stone Great stone in your Mind?'
What are you looking for or what you want from it?
i tried express as much as i can . i hope question is clear.
GL
The answer for me is how the final edge feels on my face. If the razor is sharp enough to shave me comfortably, I'm satisfied with that part, and I will gravitate towards the hone that combines "sharp enough" with very comfortable. I don't care for razors that are harsh or prone to giving me nicks when I make a slight mis-stroke.
+1,Quote:
Originally Posted by richmondesi
only sharp is not what is it about for me.
final edge for me has to be nice and smooth and soft on my skin
It has to have a label underneath that says Escher and one on the end that says Yellow Green or gelbgrun. :)
Smooooooooooooth.... :)
-good feedback: I like my finisher to give good visual, tactile and auditory cues when the edge is "getting good"
-quick finisher: able to take an 8k edge and refine it in a reasonable amount of time, i.e. less than 100-200 passes
-visually pleasing: a boring looking synthetic hone like the Spyderco does nothing for me, but some of the coticules and Japanese stones are works of art of their own.
-consistency: no unpleasant surprises lurking under the surface of the stone as it gets lapped over the course of time.
-face appeal: the most important part, how it feels on my face!!
It's also a combination of things for me as well. We are the fringe of the modern shaving community, taking a step back into a era we enjoy. To that end a few of us see straight shaving as a unique way to do an everyday (or so) duty. So why not take it a step further (or several) and look for those pieces of equipment that are also on the fringe of their arena :) On that note...
My finisher has to be a Natural hone, tried the synthetics and didn't care for their edge.
Feedback from the stone should be pleasing, and somewhat earthy :p
Place an easy to see edge improvement over lesser (grit) stones
And last (if not least) The Shave!! It must be smooth, no grabby sticky edges.
So as far as grit is concerned I really don't care what it is as long as it's smooth shaving. I've shaved off my 8k Norton in the early days. I tried the 16k shapton and was not happy with it's over crisp edge feeling. Getting my grandfathers Coticule combi stone was a huge step up for my shaves. Now I'm testing my Japanese naturals to see if I can give my Coti a rest (Don't want to wear out the Heirloom rock)
I guess what all this boils down to... I like a more Organic (not the over used food word..) approach to my finishing routine...
Just for it being the final finishing stone in my progression makes it a great stone for me.
Solong it's the finest stone I have I don't mind it being slow, ugly or awkward shaped, it's all good :)
You consider quick as under 200 passes? What are you finishing on, cheddar cheese? My Naniwa 12k takes maybe 15 for all but my TI blade, that one took 25 passes.Quote:
Originally Posted by joke1176
I'd never be able to be steady for 100-200 passes... Of course I usually hold my breath for the passes on the finishing stone >.>
I've noticed too that a good stone when its close to having a good final edge on the blade tends to have more drag, almost like suction when you are making a pass that resists your advance...slightly obviously but my 12K will do that, and i usually do about 20 more passes, 10 strokes and hit the strop.
When I get a haircut and my barber runs the back of his index finger UP my sideburn, he knows instantly whether I had a good edge on my razor. That edge usually comes off an Escher followed by a Shapton 16k and .5 diamond paste...............
For me the answer would be great feedback, fun to work with consistency of results, fast worker and smooth edge.
Smoothness is King. :)
That my Chinese Guangxi polishing hone aka. C12k and
Osaki Japanese natural finishing hone are slow is ok,
I'm in no hurry and I have nice slow music on. :)
some natural stones so slow cutters you made end up making 300 strokes.glQuote:
Originally Posted by DustinW
Unbelievable sharpness but now with enough smoothness to not feel harsh on my face is what I look for. That's why I finish on a natural (escher) after a Naniwa 12k, the ss 12k isn't smooth enough for my face.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DustinW
100+ passes goes pretty fast really, probably less than 10 minutes if I take a wild guess. To me, that's an acceptable amount of time to spend with a beautiful natural hone and a razor.
I agree. I recall one post when I first came around where a senior member referred to "the drudgery of honing." Thankfully for me it has always been something I enjoyed so more strokes isn't a negative. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by joke1176