Chinese hones: am I wasting my time??
Hello everybody,
As new into straights, I bought some chinese stones from ebay.de like 6 months ago, I didn't know by then.. Its a combo 4/8 synthetic and a 12k natural one. Since then, I've honed many razors with them: The 4k I use for a bevel setter and it doesn't take so much time after all, I think, to get the job done. The 12k is a very slow cutting stone but it seems to give a smooth polish in the end..
That way, I manage to give a sharp edge considering HHT and TPT and finally by the shaving test. The blade slides nicely, cutting through whiskers effortlesly, so I guess that's a descent result.
So, considering the fact I never used any Nani's or other popular stones to know what They can do, the question is: do I really lose some edge performance because of the low quality of the chinese hones or its just the extra time that it takes to hone a razor with them?? or better, Is a chinese ebay stone capable of giving a theoreticaly perfect edge on a blade? :confused:
cheers
There are many ways to "sharp"
Part of the fun in the sharpening game is figuring out what works for you. Over the years I have seen all kinds of setups - PSA honing film on granite surface plates, natural hones from all over the world, all kinds of artificial hones, and lots of pasted strops. You have to figure out what works for you! There are subjective tests such as the HHT but when sharpening razors, the test I use is the shave test. Every face is different, every beard is different, and razors are wildly different one from the other. There are lots of variables. Chinese hones are too slow for me and I don't like them. I like a natural hone such as a belgian blue or a belgian coticule. The blue cuts really fast and leaves a nice polished edge. The Shaptons are a honing system and they cut fast and give unbelievable edges. They're what I use on my razors. I use a belgian blue on my axes and on my dull razors.
Howard