Thread: Time to dive into Naturals.

Well my opnion very sided on naturals.
cause finishing natural stones out number my barber hones
and manmade stones. Going over the nice stone does make the
razor shave nice. But i don't have any pricey super fine waterstones must likely
never will. Cause i like my natural stones.

Congratson the new stone and sweet looking razor too :-) I also prefer the naturals coti is what I have.

Take this with a grain of salt, but through my experiences a natural finished edge simply lasts longer. I have used/learned the big three on synthetics: Norton, Naniwa SS, and Shapton GS's. My failsafe honing routine that works well for every razor I have tried it on (200+) is Shapton GS progression through 16K, finished on y/g thuringian. Next batch of razors I hone I will have to revisit my CF, it's been a year or more since I've used it. I finish hone CF on oil for a nice crisp edge. If you don't like a crisp and sharp edge, then CF may not be your stone of choice.

Nice thing though is you have what I would consider my (currently, ask me next year and my mind may have changed) favorite finishers. Take your time and learn them.

Congrats on the nice stone!

Keep us updated on the edges you get from this. I'm interested to hear if you can improve on the naniwa.

Michael

Originally Posted by drmatt357

I think you might have it backwards. I don't think there's much argument that a synthetic stone can produce a more refined edge than a natural. I would think that's what you mean when you say polished. Under a microscope, a refined synthetic edge can look like this:
Attachment 109281

Where as a Natural stone looks like this:
Attachment 109282

But, there in lies the rub. Many people do not like that refined, "surgical" edge. They prefer the feel of the natural stone. It's not too sharp and not the fear that one wrong move will slice their jugular.

Me personally, I like that refined feel and the super close shave I get from it that I can't from a natural. But it's all very subjective and obviously there is no perfect edge for everyone.

BTW, to the naked eye, both of the above look highly polished, mirror finish.

That appears to be a synthetic edge compared to a slurried natural edge. The two edges would look much more similar with a few random deep scratches in the second picture but a high polish otherwise if the comparison was done on a natural stone without slurry.

Compare the natural edges on this page to the norton 8k at the bottom right.

http://www.tzknives.com/razoredges.html

I have not noticed the tendency of any of the synthetic hones in the 0.75-1 micron range to make a stropped edge of superior sharpness vs. an escher or a japanese natural stone when they are used properly.

What a synthetic *does* have on its side is uniformity of aggressive small cutting particles.

So far i have only used my naniwa up to 10k then moved on to the thuringain (on sheffield blades). I seem to be getting a better edge and more importantly a smoother shave. Ill be trying the Chanley Forest with some of my American steel this weekend.

Originally Posted by drmatt357

I think you might have it backwards. I don't think there's much argument that a synthetic stone can produce a more refined edge than a natural.

I'd argue.
The natural stone in your pics is not very fine. Jnats can certainly make a very polished edge & then some.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...vel-grain.html

OK bud! i am coming up with my str8's! for a hone session!!

Congrats, Your going to like the Thuringian. I use Escher/Thuringian most of the time for finishing. I'm like Shooter, I've used the big three, and now I'm using the Shapton GS progression up to 16k, then to the Escher......But, every once in a while, I switch out to something different.

Like Sheffields, Nothing puts an edge on that hard steel quite like my
Nakayama Maruichi Asagi. It's really nice. I need to get one of those usb micro's, I'd love to see the edge.

Colin, I am so sorry that sparked your shopping spree .... Not
The Torrey razor I've traded you is capable to take an awesome edge, so it is hone and razor combination.
Good luck with your new toys.
This is one more reason for a new Toronto group meeting.