Thread: South African Hones....

Originally Posted by BobH

Touched up a modern Revisor last night in the same manner I did the DD and added 10 laps on a Crox pasted balsa strop.

Cool, was it the hone or the chrom-ox ? That is why I can't understand paying $$ for a hone, honing the razor, and then taking it to a dollar's worth of chrom-ox before the shave. Shave with it after honing and stropping on leather. If you want to 'gild the lilly and add the chrom-ox treatment the next time at least you'll know what the razor feels like after honing and clean stropping alone. Just IMHO.

I don' think it was the chrom ox. My own happy usage of the brand new 3x8 Zulu Grey continues.

I go straight from 60-80 round trips on the hone to a very smooth vintage horse shell strop. No paste in between. All the razors have been noticeably smoother and sharper than my 12k Chinese and some balsa with Dovo paste could manage.

After 12 razors in two days I am officially out of arm hair BTW (I'm not that hairy to start with so I am at a disadvantage). And my left leg is a bit spotty too. Not sure what I'll do next!

Tell you what I think is the best review of the zulu hone ....... so far I haven't seen one for re-sale in the classifieds. Everyone that bought one is keeping it. That is a good review.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Cool, was it the hone or the chrom-ox ? That is why I can't understand paying $$ for a hone, honing the razor, and then taking it to a dollar's worth of chrom-ox before the shave. Shave with it after honing and stropping on leather. If you want to 'gild the lilly and add the chrom-ox treatment the next time at least you'll know what the razor feels like after honing and clean stropping alone. Just IMHO.

If you read my post on what I did with the DD you will see that I shaved right off the hone with that one. This time with the Revisor I added the Crox in the mix to see what would happen. Seems to work for me either way but I will "guild the lily" with Crox since it does not seem to hurt and may help slightly. I am so sorry you missed that post, #308 page 32 of this thread. I will now leave this thread to the bloody experts.

Bob

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Tell you what I think is the best review of the zulu hone ....... so far I haven't seen one for re-sale in the classifieds. Everyone that bought one is keeping it. That is a good review.

Excellent point! I am not going to sell mine for sure.

Retirement plan! Maybe I can auction it off in 30 years when they are sold out and people talk with starry eyes about the legendary Zulu Grey hones. (And my hands are too shaky to use a straight razor).

Originally Posted by BobH

I will now leave this thread to the bloody experts.

Watch your language please. This is a gentleman's forum.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Watch your language please. This is a gentleman's forum.

and also remember that all the gentleman have really sharp utensils at their disposal. (Whether sharpened with rocks, pastes or strops)

So my HAD kicked in & I just pulled the trigger on a new Zulu Grey hone; I am very excited to give it a try! I just have a question as I haven't had a chance to read the whole thread.

Have you guys found that the stone works better with or without slurry as a finisher? Can you start with slurry & do dilutions similar to like you would do with a Coticule? Or is it best to just start with plain water?

Also, would a DMT 325 work for lapping the stone?, or is this too course? I currently have a 325 plate, as well as a few sharpening cards that are finer grit (600 & 1200 I think?)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I am looking forward to sharing my experience with the Zulu once I receive it!

Hi jpcwon,

You'll love the Zulu.

It works well as a finisher, and you can use your DMT 325 both as a lapper and to create slurry.

If the Zulu is not entirely flat, then it takes a bit of time to flatten it, even with the 325, but it works fine. Some guys use finer sandpaper after the 325 to get a beter mirror finish, but IMO, it does not seem to be necessary with this hone. I get great results honing straight after the 325.

Use a nice slurry and dilute slowly to plain water. The stone gives great feedback, so you'll easily get a nice feel of the edge as you hone.

Have fun with it, you'll love the edge it produces.

Originally Posted by jpcwon

So my HAD kicked in & I just pulled the trigger on a new Zulu Grey hone; I am very excited to give it a try! I just have a question as I haven't had a chance to read the whole thread.

Have you guys found that the stone works better with or without slurry as a finisher? Can you start with slurry & do dilutions similar to like you would do with a Coticule? Or is it best to just start with plain water?

Also, would a DMT 325 work for lapping the stone?, or is this too course? I currently have a 325 plate, as well as a few sharpening cards that are finer grit (600 & 1200 I think?)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I am looking forward to sharing my experience with the Zulu once I receive it!

Originally Posted by leadingedge

Hi jpcwon,

You'll love the Zulu.

It works well as a finisher, and you can use your DMT 325 both as a lapper and to create slurry.

If the Zulu is not entirely flat, then it takes a bit of time to flatten it, even with the 325, but it works fine. Some guys use finer sandpaper after the 325 to get a beter mirror finish, but IMO, it does not seem to be necessary with this hone. I get great results honing straight after the 325.

Use a nice slurry and dilute slowly to plain water. The stone gives great feedback, so you'll easily get a nice feel of the edge as you hone.

Have fun with it, you'll love the edge it produces.

Great, thanks for the advice leadingedge! I currently have a few different finishing options, including a C12k, a Naniwa 12k and a Thuringian, so it'll be interesting (and fun!) to compare/contrast the different edges now that the Zulu is in the mix..

I'll be sure to keep you all updated