Thread: South African Hones....

Man that's a nice looking stone, I hope whoever gets it posts some photos of it.

Very happy to have joined the club: mine arrived today.

I probably won't be able to try it out for a day or two thanks to a surfeit of overtime, but look forward to adding my $.02 when I can.

Time for my review about the stone.
It is a medium fast stone. It doesn't cut like a slurried coticule, but nowhere near C12ks and translucent Arkies. I honed a knife after my razors, and for the knife the (thin) slurry changed colour relatively fast.
The stone seemed a bit harder than the BBWs I have, close to the British slates I have or a C12k. Honing with it feels nice, there is some feedback.
Polished surface; the polishing from this stone looks superb. I spend much more time polishing knives and swords than honing them. Now, you can call the finish of 1200 grit sandpaper a mirror finish, and you can call the 0.5 micron diamond paste a mirror finish. This stone is close to the true mirror polish, better than coticules and I think even better than Thuringians, but further testing is needed.
Finally about its edge; I refreshed the bevel and use the "one stone honing" method, to be sure the edge is the edge from this stone, I shaved with it, go back to the 1k, one stone honing and shave after stropping, no pastes rouges or powders. I got HHT4, but I think if I spend some time with the stone I can do better and I'm sure everybody else. That means it's sharp enough, but, I find its edge on the crisp side. Not to the point it makes shaving uncomfortable, less crisp than a good C12k or Llyn Idwall (they don't make shaving uncomfortable). It might be because I shave with coticule edges last couple of months, or that it needed a few more passes.
Overall, I do intend to buy a second one, and it is a true finisher, an extraordinary hone, but it is not a miraculous hone.

Originally Posted by Vasilis

Finally about its edge; I refreshed the bevel and use the "one stone honing" method, to be sure the edge is the edge from this stone,

Hi Vasilis, I'm not familiar with "one stone honing method", could you point me to some reading or explain? Thanks Double O

Originally Posted by Double0757

Hi Vasilis, I'm not familiar with "one stone honing method", could you point me to some reading or explain? Thanks Double O

DOUBLE0. If you do a search for one stone hone you'll find videos with Glen and Lynn talking you through it and provide video refrence as well. It's explained quite well. I've attempted this and had some success. It involves setting your bevel then moving to your finisher with extremely thick, muddish, slurry and slowly diluting to plain water using 20 circles and 20 x strokes per dilution.
Have fun.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...lynn-glen.html

Hey Vasilis, I really like that idea. Just wanted to say so. Thanks very much for posting it!

So, here was my last experiment. I was going to take the Waterville finished on the Zulu and take it back to the 8k, then the 16k S. Glass and shave, but with such a sweet edge I dicided to do it a little latter and enjoy the edge a bit longer.

Ended taking a beautifull Henkel 401(carbon, not Frioudor) that I got on E-Bay. It looked brand new and I was surprised I got it for the price I ended up paying. The thing looked shave ready and I stropped and shaved. Painfull shave, I think it had a factory edge or it wasn't shave ready. Took it to the 4k then 8k shapton glass and stroped and shaved. You know the expression "rather be lucky than good", well, best shave out of the 8k I had to today, the bevel was straight and even, like a thin and straight tree snake, not like my boas constrictors with different sizes animals in various stage of decomposition along its degestive track on bevels I have set on past. Three passes, 94-96% BBS + touchups for 100% BBS with very little alum burn, just some tingle under the neck and some light burn on the mustache.

Then took the edge to the 16k shapton glass, ended up crumbling the edge, evident after the harsh but close shave I had with it, and the subsequent inspection with the 60-100X pocket microscope. Should have stopped at the 3rd or fourth pass on the 16k when I felt the edge suctioning on the stone, but decided to do the more standard of 15-20 passes I've done in the past (way to many, I know now). The edge was sharp never the less and it was a 2 pass 95-97% BBS. Alum burn was great on mustache and neck area, with tingle all across the face.

Took it back to the 4k till all the micro chips where gone, went to the 8K and ended with only 15 passes before the suction. Inspected the blade and it only had two very small micro chips. Decided to continue to the Zulu Grey. Did 25 circles with slury, white milky, 15X strokes, diluted half the milkiness, like when you put water on a glass that had milk in it, and repeated, then water only, same routine. Finished with light 10X passes, moist stone(130 total passes). Inspected blade and only saw the same two micro chips. Stropped and shaved.

The blade felt comfortable, but not as comfortable as with the 8k or others Zulu finished edges. It was sharp and ended with 2 passes 92-94% BBS + touchups for 100% BBS. The alum burn was great on the mustache area and medium under the neck and little to no tingle on the face, much better than with the shapton 16k, but not as great as with the other edges that have come out of the Zulu before. Inspected the edge and found several more than the two previous microchips but not as many as with the 16k. I think it must have happened during the stropping. Even though I want to think of myself as superman sometimes, my whiskers can't stop steel, specially after being subjected to the Kryptonite that is Hatian Vetiver from Jabonman.

Conclusion "rather be lucky than good". I think counting strokes is not the best way to go about sharpening a blade. I think I feel the edge (feedback) on the Zulu. I need to trust my gut and dilute when I feel it changing on the stone, and stop when it tells me to stop. I think I have been going into the Zulu with not so good of an edge and have been lucky that the edge hasn't crumbled, but improved with the high count of passes, till today. The edge did gain sharpness but not as much as the shapton 16K. I could add tape, to make the edge a little stronger, but I don't think is a geometry problem, since the only hone ware is the one I just put in. I'll think about it and decide if to put tape. Maybe, and most likely, I'm using too much pressure on the 4k an the scratch pattern is coming to haunt me on the finisher (yes, I been reading). Would like to hear what others think!

One last thing, I've been getting some of the most comfortable and closest shaves I had, with edges coming out of the Zulu and more consistently than with my spray system. This is the first dud, and I'm sure others will come, but overall, as a noob, I think it is a very simple stone for any beginner that wants to get his or her feet wet with a good natural finisher at a reasonable cost. "If I can do it, anyone can".

Well, till the next experiment. Looking foward to reading others experiences with the Zulu. Double O

Straight Razor Honing-One Stone method with Coticule - YouTube