Thread: please show me how mirror finish looks achieved with the finest japanese natural

Ok so I know that the mirror finish achieved with natural
stones will not be like with synthetic stones and it will be
bit hazy. So how does the finish look done on a super fine
japanese natural? Please post some pictures of finish achieved
with finest(hardest) japanese natural.

Thank you.

My finest japanese hones leave a bright polish if they are used with clear water. It is the only hone that I have that will do that. You would not with the naked eye discern the finish it leaves from a high grit synthetic hone, but the feel of the edge is far nicer. If I slurry the stone, it won't be clear, but I never slurry that stone - preferring to leave it settled in and very fine so I can use it as a maintenance hone and shave right off of it (even without stropping at all I can get a comfortable shave).

Hazy or not hazy, except for the case when scratches are fairly large (always see haze or scratches) or extremely small (always look polished), I believe is determined by whether or not there is swarf moving on the surface of the stones. If a stone is being used with clear water, particles are fixed and small, and none are being released, you will get a polish.

I was under the impression that polished blade edge pictures are completely subjective, and thus, not really useful. You've been around a heck of a lot longer than me though. Maybe I'm wrong.

1: who took the pic(professional or novice photographer)
2: What light was used for it
3: What angle the light comes from
4: What magnification used
5:the ability of the person doing the sharpening

All affect the outcome of polished blade edge pics. Making them useless, except if you just like to look at them, and don't mind not placing any empirical value on what was used to achieve the pic. Then it's useful for eye candy.

Whenever I receive a new stone, the first thing I do is use a flat, already polished piece of high carbon steel on it to see how it looks. But a mirror polished edge doesn't always means it's shave ready. A surface can look mirror polished even from 3k grit sandpaper, as long as you don't use circular motion, so the light will not be reflected from the scratches everywhere making us notice them. True mirror polish can be achieved (when you can clearly see every hair of your eyebrows on the surface holding it from a distance), by my experience, using lapping films or pastes with particle sizes from 1 micron or under. For curved surfaces, big pieces of a hone are not the best option, even if you have the finest stone on the planet. I would also like to see pictures of surfaces finished on quality naturals, not only Jnats. I've heard that the best Nakayama give a haze finish, not mirror like.

@regularjoe: Nope yer right Pics are pretty much just that Pretty Pics.



I do believe what is being asked though is the difference it what is called a Haze finish and a Polished finish using a J-nat

First all this depends on the stone, certain stones give a better shave with a haze finish some yield a smoother feel with the polished...
Some stones give a polished finish when used with clear water some give it with a broken down almost dry /dry slurry on top of the stone..

To me the feel on my face is most important, secondly as soon as you strop the blade the finish is changed anyway

If I read the question correctly

I dont care that much if my edge is polished or not, its not necessarily a good indicator of blade sharpness to me

Originally Posted by bloodhoundman

I dont care that much if my edge is polished or not, its not necessarily a good indicator of blade sharpness to me

You're absolutely right . If the bevel isn't set properly , you will have what is called a "polished turd" .