Thread: Pictures of two hones

Just thought I'd share some photos of two hones that I'm using a lot these days.

The first is a Nakayama Asagi that I got from Alex Gilmore. It doesn't have any stamps or other markings, but according to Alex it is a true Nakayama stone. It gives off a very white slurry when rubbed with a diamond stone and leaves a very nice, well-polished edge. It cuts very slowly.

The second stone is a nice Escher that I bought recently. The label was in horrible shape so I sealed it with polyurethane, which makes the stone much nicer to use now because I don't have to worry about damaging the label further. It cuts and finishes similar to other Eschers.

Thanks for looking, and enjoy!

Nice!

I'm pretty happy with my hone collection as it is now, but if ever there were two stones that make the HAD flare up, thems are they..!

How does the edge from the Escher compare to the Asagi in terms of smoothness?

nice stones i'm getting real nice smooth edges of my escher' barber delight by using as recomended with a lather and shaving from there. very comfy and smooth

Thanks! There's so many here who have boxes and boxes of nice hones that I am a little reluctant to post pictures of my tiny collection, but I will try to post more as I have time.

The Escher certainly feels like it has the "finer" surface to work with. It is as smooth as glass, and the razor just glides right over the surface. I usually make a little bit of slurry on the top with my diamond stone, but even that gives very little resistance to the blade. The asagi is also very, very smooth, but I find that it's a little bit easier to work with, just because of the quantity of slurry and the speed with which the water soaks into the stone. When I'm using it, the water disappears very fast and what's left is a kind of sticky "paste" on the surface that gives very good feedback as you are polishing the edge.

I use both of these stones interchangeably and strictly for finishing purposes. I can tell when a razor has or has not been "touched up" on one of these two stones, but honestly I cannot tell the difference in the edges finished on one stone as compared to the other.

Jeff ,the water evaporates from the slurry it does not soak into the stone.

Without a doubt those are going to be wonderful stones. I use the Escher by building a slurry and doing about 60 strokes and then diluting it to water through about 50 more strokes. Works like a charm every time!!!

Now I need an Asagi!

Really? That's interesting -- I always assumed that some of the water was seeping into the stone. Anyway, I stand corrected! The asagi still seems to "lose" water faster, which makes for a more "pastey" slurry, if that makes sense. I'm probably not describing it well, but it's definitely a noticeable difference between using the asagi and the Escher.

I tend to agree with you Jeff. My Maruichi drinks water like its going out of fashion, and dries out far faster than my coticule with slurry. The first time I wet it, its almost dry inside a minute, whereas the coticule stays wet for a good couple of minutes.

I also find that it stays wet slightly longer each time I rewet the stone, hinting to me that its probably being absorbed rather than evaporating.

I might be wrong of course (it happened once before ), but thats what it looks like to me!

Originally Posted by JeffE

Really? That's interesting -- I always assumed that some of the water was seeping into the stone. Anyway, I stand corrected! The asagi still seems to "lose" water faster, which makes for a more "pastey" slurry, if that makes sense. I'm probably not describing it well, but it's definitely a noticeable difference between using the asagi and the Escher.

to my knowledge the stones are way too dense to be able to absorb water in the duration of honing. You can soak for 6+ hours to somewhat soften the surface but the use for that is for polishing knives not for razors.

There are some stones that are porous and absorb water. I don't know about the japanese but the coticules and eschers are not and don't absorb water.