Thread: Belgium Blue : Amazing Stones !

ok so im by no means experienced at this yet so i can only speak from current experiences ive had.

Basically i have a Straight that is shave ready and i use it / strop it and i also realize that at some-point i am going to have to stop getting others to sharpen my razor and do it myself.ive

so i decided that what i needed to help me practice and get ready for that day when i had to sharpen my razor i would buy a cheap razor from ebay (sub £10 ) i also bought a Belgium Blue Stone from Invisible Edge. After a lot of practicing and reading up on here about honing ive surprised myself and managed to get a decent edge on this cheap razor these Belgium stones really are fantastic value for money and seem to work miracles.

Hmm...the Belgian blue is a very slow stone and not generally thought to be a finishing stone. it's probably closer to a 6K.

Tell us about your technique. Maybe you made a discovery.

I tried the method described below and it gave a nice edge. I do not like to hone with electrical tape, nor do I like to deliberately dull an edge. There is also a Uniblue method that is likely somewhat faster. This is a direct quote from Dr. Ralfson's post on coticule.be:

"Here is how I perform the Dilublue, start as always with a razor dulled on glass, then I set the bevel using a thicker slurry than I would use on a Coticule, and I perform sets of 50 instead of 30 half strokes, expect this to take a little longer than when using a Coticule, then I thin the slurry to a milky like thickness, and perform 100 regular X strokes, after that I thin the slurry down again to a misty water like one, and perform a further 100 regular X strokes, that's it done, the HHT is usually a nice 3-4 and I find it typically improves less than a Coticule edge does after the 60/60 stripping on cloth/leather

Sounds very simple, only 2 dilutions and 200 X strokes once the bevel is set, and it is simple, however like I said it does take skill and practice to perfect, I would recommend doing it a good few times before you expect a wow moment during the shave, however once you have got it down, you should be rewarded with shaves as close and forgiving as you could wish for, and no resulting I'll effects to your skin.

Regards
Ralfson (Dr)"

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Hmm...the Belgian blue is a very slow stone and not generally thought to be a finishing stone. it's probably closer to a 6K.

Tell us about your technique. Maybe you made a discovery.

Not at all a discovery. BBWs have been miss-labeled as "4-6k" for a while now, the truth is that they can be used in a similar fashion as a coticule at a fraction of the cost. i rather like mine and have gotten pretty good edges off it. there is some technique to it, i think. perhaps more than a coticule, because it takes some coaxing, but you can definitely get a shave ready edge with the signature Belgian characteristics - "cuts hair not skin".
It is probably true that there are stones with finer finishing characteristics that yield keener edges, but i get a good shave currently with this.

The method the dr. stated above, in my experience, is probably the most direct method to a good edge off these beautiful and underrated stones.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Hmm...the Belgian blue is a very slow stone and not generally thought to be a finishing stone. it's probably closer to a 6K.

Tell us about your technique. Maybe you made a discovery.

I wish i had planned or thought out a technique but it was basically starting off using the slurry stone on the BB to develop what you may call a medium thickness slurry. then i just practiced my motions back and forth on the hone very light pressure, some x patterns, figures of 8 and then some simple back and forths (all this was to just get used to running a razor along a hone and keeping it flat).


the razor itself was bought from ebay (heres the link)
Imperial UK - SHAVING STRAIGHT CUT THROAT RAZOR on eBay (end time 26-Mar-11 21:44:18 GMT)

as you can see theres nothing special about it, i was warned by the seller when buying that it needs to be sharpened as its not shave ready, after about 20 minutes on the BB with a random mix of motions i re-tested it and it cut really well, not sure how long it will hold this edge but i was just surprised by how well the BB did its work.

hope this gives a bit of insight into how i managed to put an edge on this razor.

Have you shave tested this razor, as I have not had this exact model but similar ones of uk ebay and I could not get a good edge on them all, metal was just rubbish

Well done for getting a servicable edge from a BBW! I must admit they're not my favourite hone to use, they're very slow and I dont really like the edge they give. In the 18 months I've had my combo stone I think I've used it probably twice..?

But the most important thing is that you like the edge and are happy with the shaves!

BBW are used a lot, especially in Germany, for final polishing. Followed by CrOx you should be able to create a good edge for shaving.

I've always used my Belgian blue while honing and I agree it leaves a great edge.

Of course I always finish off on the coti whose edge I prefer more.

Maybe I will try just the bbw edge next time and see how that works out.

Originally Posted by basil

I've always used my Belgian blue while honing and I agree it leaves a great edge.

Of course I always finish off on the coti whose edge I prefer more.

Maybe I will try just the bbw edge next time and see how that works out.

There was a thread suggesting exactly that not long ago. I have a number of combo coticules and used to use the bbw with slurry before going to the yellow but pretty much leave it alone now. If you have a lot of patience and/or that is all you have it will get you there eventually. I prefer a stone that leaves a finer edge and gets you there faster. Coffee is good this morning.