Thread: Re-visiting the Silkvein Hone from Southern Africa

About a week ago I decided to have another day with my gorgeous Silkvein hone, that I got from "Jasper Kade", aka Mike, here on SRP. He personally mines, cuts, and laps them all by hand. They are absolutely gorgeous looking hones.

It just impressed me more than when I used it last time. I now feel it gives an edge equal to about 9/10K....at least that's what the BBS shave felt like.

I honed a J.A. Henckels Friodur (stainless steel) razor on it all the way from setting the bevel with a slurry, to finishing it off with just clean water, diluting as I went along. As a matter of interest, I use a DMT 325 grit credit card size plate to stirr up a decent slurry on this hone, in order not to contaminate it with anything else. The entire honing process took me around 45 minutes, if I had to guess.

I then stropped it on my magnetic bench strop ( Link here - Magnetic Table-top Strop with rubber feet, and 2 Hanging strops ) on nubuck leather impregnated with Chromium oxide, then on my home made cotton & Nubuck/suede strop ( link here - Italian suede and superb cotton...18 Inches of new Stropping bliss. )

The combination of the silkvein, CrO2 on Nubuck leather, then cotton and finally, plain Nubuck leather, gave me a superb edge. HHT absolutely effortless, and the shave is smooth as anything I've felt.

It feels like it gives me the same finish as about a Naniwas 10K stone, in my opinion. It seems to cut faster than some of my other naturals, especially with a heavy slurry. (Edit - Comparison to finishing, not cutting speed of Naniwa 10K)

My next experiment will be to finish with a C12K, after the silkvein, and I already know the result is going to be superb.

Has anyone else had a session with their Silkvein recently, and would care to comment? Maybe some tips on what you've done with yours guys?

Thanks!

I would love to see pics?

Youre kind of making me want one...

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Youre kind of making me want one...

Heh, that's exactly what I thought.

Originally Posted by leadingedge

It feels like it gives me the same finish as about a Naniwas 10K stone, in my opinion. It cuts a lot faster though, especially with slurry.

A natural that cuts faster than a Naniwa?!

There must be quite a range in properties from hone to hone as I remember Jimmy and Sham's reviews on their samples. It was around 8Kish and could be used at 4K+ I remember. I got the impression it was like a bit like a BBW but finer and slightly quicker. It was quite a soft stone I recall.

Yes leadingedge I do use mine. Attached pics with and without slurry. It is a beautiful stone I find to be be in the 8000 grit range with patience maybe 9000. I only use X strokes on this stone. Have fun..
MIke

Stop immediately. I'm starting to want one, its a seriously beautiful hone.

Originally Posted by Scipio

A natural that cuts faster than a Naniwa?!

There must be quite a range in properties from hone to hone as I remember Jimmy and Sham's reviews on their samples. It was around 8Kish and could be used at 4K+ I remember. I got the impression it was like a bit like a BBW but finer and slightly quicker. It was quite a soft stone I recall.

Sorry guys, mis-worded there, I meant to compare the finish to a Naniwa 10K, not the cutting speed! Mis-wording...

Originally Posted by MODINE

Yes leadingedge I do use mine. Attached pics with and without slurry. It is a beautiful stone I find to be be in the 8000 grit range with patience maybe 9000. I only use X strokes on this stone. Have fun..
MIke

Thanks for the pics Mike, I was just about to go take some photos of mine, but it looks exactly like yours! They are gorgeous stones...

They are very beautiful stones. HAD has replaced my RAD. That's why I refuse to open any threads about Japanese finishers. I purchased an escher 2 weeks ago and I'll be purchasing a CF momentarily.

You guys are killing me.