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Hi there!
I just got yesterday a Naniwa 2000 for bevel setting on some old razors I got. There's one thing that keeps me worried.
The stone seems very soft and as soon as 7-10 laps I can see thick black scratches on the hone (I pressume from the razor itself). Are those normal? Do I have to clean them in order to get better results of the hone or can I leave them there?
Thanks!
The hone feels soft, but it is not. The black scratches on the hone are streaks of steel coming off the blade. That means it's working! You can remove most of the streaks just by rubbing the hone with your hand. When that doesn't work, or when surface has become a more uniform grey, that is the time to refresh the surface with a few lapping strokes.
a picture would be good. Is it scratches you see, or black lines?
I'm not at home at the moment, but what I see is black lines at first, and as I go on honing, the stone gets a grayish colour. If I can't remove that colour with my finger or a soft cloth, I lap until I get rid of that colour.
I also noted that I was getting such big black lines because I was not only removing metal from the edge, but from the blade as well as it is a wedge blade. I put 2 layers of tape (1 was not enough) and now I remove metal only from the edge, and the lines are not as big and take a long time to appear on the hone.
I just follow what Utopian suggested.
If you still need a pic on the hone, let me know and I will try to post one as soon as I can.
This sounds like normal swarf build up or clogging.
Coarser stones (finer, too) will file away shavings from the metal.
Normaly the lubricant being used (water) should wash away these,
but often times these shavings get trapped in the stone leaving behind a black trail.
For me Naniwa always get clogged/dark very quickly,
especially with bigger blades such as wedges, or kitchen knives.
Here is an example of a very fine stone with light swarf:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/l...icture1144.jpg
taken from Bladeforums
This isnīt really a problem but the stone should be cleaned
every now and then, bc. eventually this will degrade the stones cutting ability.
Your wedge razor must be worn out completely,
if the sides touch the stone. You did the right thing in taping the spine,
apply as much tape as necessary so you get a bevel of normal size.