Thread: Jnat buyers remorse: please help me ;'(

no one can tell you how sharp it is
You need to look at scratches, are they removed or not from Tenjyou ??
It sounds like you need more time on Mejiro

Hi! thanks Maxim



A big thank you to mainaman who agreed to evaluate one of my 8k then cnat edges and put a jnat edge for me.I will get to know if my starting edge is good enough for the jnat.

I will be experimenting furthur and I will post my results and progress. but at the moment I am very busy with school work, my time for honing is limited. I am now able to see the Botan, Tenjyou and Mejiro slurries change color from white/creamish to grey and I think that is a big improvement.

UPDATE:

I am currently waiting for my 8k/cnat edge to be evaluated. that would help a lot. (Thanks mainaman)
also I have purchased a softer smaller jnat that will hopefully make the learning curve a little less steep (hard jnats are better than soft ones but soft ones are easier to learn upon).

I am also studying mainaman's and maxims nagura videos and doing some experimenting on my blades as well. I am making some progress.

tonight I honed 2 razors on the jnat:
1- beaten up 4/8 (formerly 5/8) kabeso razor with serious honewear (2 layers of tape)
2- Dovo best quality 6/8 with 1 layer of tape.

the kabeso had the bevel set only. I took it on Botan and Tenjiyo. I am feeling confident with those 2 naguras. I can see the color changing and I get consistent edges under the loupe and shaving performace.

Dovo was tuggy but sharper than Kabeso(when I started with it).

I took both razors on Mejiro slurry. started with thick slurry and heavy circular strokes, until I could see the slurry turn grey, then I thinned the slurry down with water and did lighter circles and then x strokes. I did not count the laps but I continued honing until the scratch marks were uniform on the bevel and there was no more increase in sharpness from honing.

then I made tomo nagura slurry which took a long time. I had the same approach as I did with Mejiro. at the end I could not see any scratches on the bevel and I could say from shaving arm hair that the keenness of the blade was equivalent of what I get from cnat (or light strokes on 8k, for some reason I can get similar results from cnat and 8k, I just find the cnat easier to use for touching up).

the test shave will be tommorow morning on the dovo.

I had grown a 2 day stubble to test shave with the dovo I honed on the jnat. I had taken a hot shower and used GFT shave cream for pre-shave. although my blade could not pass HHT I had a great shave with the razor. very close shave and no irritation what-so-ever. 2 passes (WTG, XTG) means BBS.

for some reason the razor does not perform HHT at all, and I find that if the same razor is finished on crox it cuts arm hair with less tug and better HHT results but the jnat was a tad bit smoother on my face. Right now I like the edge but I have higher hopes for this stone. It is not as sharp as many disposable blades out there. I hope I can learn to use it to hone my razors to super sharp soon.

I have purchased a koma nagura today from a friend and I hope that will make it easier for me to go from Mejiro to tomo nagura. ( I know that advanced honers don't need koma nagura but even a little help to a beginner could mean a lot).

I have gotten much better results this time around the shave was not poor like the first couple of times I tried. under the loupe I can see that the bevel is smooth but it is not mirror polish, it still has some scratches. I did my best to take it to a mirror finish by doing light circular strokes on very thin tomo nagura and allowing the nagura to break down completely but I was not able to get there.

I am waiting for my softer jnat to arrive along with the koma nagura. I want to see if I can get better results with those.

Originally Posted by danielghofrani

I have gotten much better results this time around the shave was not poor like the first couple of times I tried. under the loupe I can see that the bevel is smooth but it is not mirror polish, it still has some scratches. I did my best to take it to a mirror finish by doing light circular strokes on very thin tomo nagura and allowing the nagura to break down completely but I was not able to get there.

A polished bevel is just that & doesn't guarantee a good shave. What's happening at the edge is what's important.
Wait till you get that mirrored bevel & then see what your strop does to it

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Wait till you get that mirrored bevel & then see what your strop does to it

Oh! so you mean the strop will ruin the mirror bevel?!

Not ruin so much but you will see random scratches that weren't there if you look with magnification.

Today I shaved with the blade that mainaman honed for me on his jnat (for free by the way, thanks mainaman)
It was very very sharp and smooth. HHT wise I have had results which were close by the use of diamond paste (not consistently BTW, and I had not set the bevels on those razors) but the jnats edge did not scratch my face at all like diamond paste does.

I had honed the razor I sent him on norton 8k and cnat, but the bevel was not set properly. he can explain better but apparently the blade I sent him was only as good as 6k level.

Originally Posted by maxim207

no one can tell you how sharp it is
You need to look at scratches, are they removed or not from Tenjyou ??
It sounds like you need more time on Mejiro

Dear Maksim,

It is very hard for me to distinguish scratches when I hone with the nagura stones because they leave a sandblasted bevel. roughness of the soundblast pattern is a lot harder to assess than linear scratches I am used to from synthetic stones. for now I will be trying to learn how to finish on my jnat an edge which I have honed to the best of my ability on the norton 8k.and I will jump on the koma.

Do you think that is a good idea?

Regards
Dan