Thread: Japanese naturals - Finishing question

Hey all,

I have been experimenting with my many and many Japanese natural stones.. When finishing on water on some of my stones im finding the blade sticks and this can be a pain and trying to get a nice even stroke...

So, since i have more then enough jnats to experiment with i tested one of my cheaper stones (that i have two off) finishing with a light lather\soap with water.

This stone i used, when finishing with just water generally gives a matte finish... After trying it with a light lather it gave a mirror finish. I also noticed the stone it self had a shine after and this stone doesn't generally shine, no mater how much a polish it.

I'm in no rush to do this to my other stones and i wont be doing this to my other stones as I'm too scared about stuffing them, so here is my question is.....

Would this destroy the stone after a while or will it not harm it and has anyone else used a lather\soap on a jnat and what were your results if you did?

Never on my japanese. I have tried it on many others including every coticule I have, a chinese stone and even film. I don't know how the basic soap would affect the "binders" in a japanese, but I know that they won't affect the cutting media. Remember to keep the soap content very low when doing this. It sounds to me like you used it like a barbers hone, which is fine if you want to change the cutting characteristics as well, but a small drop of soap will reduce the surface tension without changing the properties too much.
If you want a real challenge, I know of a few guys who rub the dry soap on the stone directly and hone through the thick residue. I tried it, it sucked.

the questions if if the shave was good?
If the stone was giving you mate finish with water only then that means it is a prepolisher, using lather will improve the edge but does it improvet it enough to be a finisher?
I personally will never use my Jnats with anything but water.

Japanese stones are porous, meaning you are filling your stone with soap that doesn't evaporate.

Japanese stones have a very slightly water soluble binder. Adding soap increase that solubility, which could weaken the binder.

Not something I will ever do, but to each his own.

Its not a stone I generally finish on, or that I generally use.. But the edge I got off it visably a lot better and the razor I used on it did give a comfortable shave.

If i only had the one stone I wouldn't have tried it but since I had two of them I'm not worried if it causes issues in the future... I don't think it will cause problems though but time will tell..

I did use the stone again after with just water and it went back to its usual manner... Lets just call this 'lather on jnats' a science experiment

@ deighaingeal - using soap on your coticule, did that change the edge on your razor at all and/or how the stone hones after?

You can use oil on coticule's too can't you?

I find that the blade only sticks initially, later on the resistence gradually lessens. When there's no more stickiness I consider the final polishing accomplished. I have only one Jnat: a Nakayama. So it may be different on other stones.

Originally Posted by Kees

I find that the blade only sticks initially, later on the resistence gradually lessens. When there's no more stickiness I consider the final polishing accomplished. I have only one Jnat: a Nakayama. So it may be different on other stones.

In my experience you are correct, that is exactly how it is with other stones too.

All mine behave differently, some stick no matter how long I hone on it and others release some of the stone and eventually stop sticking..

I'm finding that, the harder the stone the more it takes before it stops sticking.. if at all..

Originally Posted by Brighty83

All mine behave differently, some stick no matter how long I hone on it and others release some of the stone and eventually stop sticking..

I'm finding that, the harder the stone the more it takes before it stops sticking.. if at all..

the ones that stick all the time do they leave hazy finish?

They actually give a mirror finish but they take a lot to get there, I only have two like this out of my 17

The stone i tested the lather on genegrly starts releasing its particles fairly quickly and I would estimate it to be around a 16k or lower, probably a level 4 stone. It generly gives a matte finish but not scratchy at all.

Using the lather it didn't release really any particles, maybe a small amount but nothing like it generally does. It gave an in between mirror/matte but much more mirror then it generally does and no scratching.