Thread: South African Hones....

Originally Posted by jpcwon

That would be cool. And given what your loom strops look like, it would probably be amazing craftsmanship!!

Thank you, it would be something like this paddle,but perhaps half as thick,perhaps african blackwood and ivory,possibiltys are endless for a 100% african paddle hone.

I have had my Zulu Grey for a couple of weeks, and have used it quite a bit now. While not having a lot of experience with straights I had been shaving with cheap paring knives for over a year.

It started out as a desire to get the sharpest edge I could, and the best way to find out was to shave with them.
Anyway I have a few finishing hones now, which include a Coticule, the three, what you call WHIGs, the 10 and 13k Sigma's, a polished Spyderco UF , a Chinese stone of about 8k, and a couple of other slates of unknown origin.
While I don't dislike any of them, as they are all pretty good finishers, the Zulu Grey is head and shoulders better than them all. While it might not get your razor as sharp as the polished Spyderco or the 13k Sigma, the edge is way smoother, similar to the Coticule.

It arrived nice and flat, with a polished surface, and like the green WHIG, that's the way I like it. Maybe if you want it to cut faster, you could work up some slurry with a fine diamond plate, or if you get a slurry stone with it. With my green Whig I have one side with slurry and leave the other side polished, but I really just like the polished side of the Zulu and haven't even tried it with slurry.

I also received my ZG a few weeks ago. The stone is really well prepared and looked like glass. I tried it right out of the package and found it to be a bit "grabby" but that was corrected with a bit of lapping and now it is really nice and gives great feedback. The ZG was very well packed but unfortunately it had been dropped and a small piece of one corner chipped off... the damage is only minor about 5x8mm so when I have some time I will chamfer the edge a bit to get rid of it. I am still learning the hone but my edges are improving and I feel that particularly on some of my razors the edges are better than off my 3 Belgium hones (not knocking them they are great getting the blades ready but feel they still need a final finisher so this seems to compliment them rather than replace any). I have now started using my TI which was a bit crisp for my liking after giving it a run on the ZG it is nice and smooth now and the pulling that was there before seems to be gone. I bought a ZG slurry stone as well but this does not really bring up a slurry very fast so have been using my Coticule or BBW slurry stones, I imagine using a DMT would be better and I may try that in future. All in I am very happy with this stone and for the money I paid I think it is an investment. I can see why Glenn only uses 60 laps as the stone is quite fast for a finisher but I think that is because his blades reach this stage in better shape than mine, so for me I have been doing about 100 and like others here I find it easier to get a good edge from this hone than I do from a coticule, BBW or Naniwa 10k but this has taken a little practice to get there as I am still learning... Being a South African in The UK I am happy to use a piece of my homeland to finish my razors on. I would like to make a nice box for this hone similar to my Belgians when I have some time.

Originally Posted by Daro

I feel that particularly on some of my razors the edges are better than off my 3 Belgium hones (not knocking them they are great getting the blades ready but feel they still need a final finisher so this seems to compliment them rather than replace any).

That's probably my favorite thing about the Zulu. I have really only been using coticules as of late, and I have found that I can use the Zulu with the coticule to produce a nice smooth edge. In other words, I feel like the Zulu improves the edge, but retains that trademark coticule smoothness....

Originally Posted by jpcwon

That's probably my favorite thing about the Zulu. I have really only been using coticules as of late, and I have found that I can use the Zulu with the coticule to produce a nice smooth edge. In other words, I feel like the Zulu improves the edge, but retains that trademark coticule smoothness....

I think this was the point I was initially missing as I expected a different feel on some of my razors to the edge off the coticule but it was not noticeably different. I did however feel the difference on an edge off the Naniwa 10k right away. I did notice less pulling but this has been incremental rather than a big jump. I do agree with others that this hone does help us rookies get a better edge for some reason. Not saying I have turned into a honemeister but my blades feel a lot more consistent and pass the HHT -4 which I was only getting to on some of my razors (I still have one Joseph Rogers full hollow that is not getting there, but I think it needs more than a finish )

everytime a new post comes up on here about the ZG i get excited waiting for mine ...lol

Originally Posted by gooser

everytime a new post comes up on here about the ZG i get excited waiting for mine ...lol

Trust me gooser, the edges it gives are worth the wait!!

Alright guys, I have found something that you MUST give a try. As you know I hone on Shapton GS's to 16K and then finish on a natural on every razor. I decided to give the Zulu a try with Smith's Honing Oil, the water soluble stuff. I don't really count, but I would have to say that somewhere in the 30x range is where I quit as the razor told me it was ready. Boy, was it ready. The shave went really nice and the edge was very crisp...but not grabby.

Not going to say much more, just try it and you will be pleased...much more so than with the slurries & just water. I'm not much of a slurry fan and don't believe in a LOT of laps. If I want a LOT of laps, I'll go back to Charnley Forest or set some more bevels...

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Alright guys, I have found something that you MUST give a try. As you know I hone on Shapton GS's to 16K and then finish on a natural on every razor. I decided to give the Zulu a try with Smith's Honing Oil, the water soluble stuff. I don't really count, but I would have to say that somewhere in the 30x range is where I quit as the razor told me it was ready. Boy, was it ready. The shave went really nice and the edge was very crisp...but not grabby.

Not going to say much more, just try it and you will be pleased...much more so than with the slurries & just water. I'm not much of a slurry fan and don't believe in a LOT of laps. If I want a LOT of laps, I'll go back to Charnley Forest or set some more bevels...

You know, I thought about doing this but never did. I have a small bottle of Norton Honing Oil, so maybe I'll try putting a little bit on the Zulu & see what happens.

The Smith's honing oil is water soluble, I'm not so sure I would put true oil on it unless you plan on keeping it an oilstone as the stone does soak up fluids.