Thread: Time to dive into Naturals.

After 2+ years of honing with my Naniwa SS ive finally gone out and bought a Natural. I HAD to after using a razor i traded for at our meet up back on septerber29, i couldnt believe how much better the polish he put on the edge giving me just a beautiful shave. So in aprox 2weeks i should have a new to me Thuringian. Im hopping this will fill the need i have for that ultra fine polished edge.

I have been finishing on naturals (Coti & Chinese) for a while now and have been getting smoother more polished edges which relates to much smoother less irritating shaves. I do set bevels with a Norton 1k followed by a Norton 4k/8k but do the finishing/polishing work on naturals. The man made stones seem to leave an edge with scratches which is fine when creating the edge but its hard to beat naturals for polishing.

Check out gssixguns honing videos, in particular the one on honing with a Thuringian. He makes it look easy and does a great job explaining the process.

You know, if you got into Mario Andretti's racing car you probably wouldn't win any races and would probably finish worst than last. On the other hand if Mario got into a Yugo he would probably drive circles around you any day.

it's not the stone that necessarily makes the difference.

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:


Where as a Natural stone looks like this:


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.

To the OP, congratulations on your new purchase. I have every confidence, with proper practice, you will discover a new level of refined and surgically sharp comfort, obtainable by the use of several different man made and natural abrasives, and a goal we all strive for.

Congrats on the Thuringian, keep use posted with a pic when you get it.

I am convinced that some blades like some stones better than others once you have em settled down. I "know" my Dovo is a Coti whore for example.

If you find one blade that loves your new stone that much more - It'll be well worth it in my opinion. YMMV.

Congrats on your new stone!

Congratulations Colin!
I wish you the keenest edges from your new stone.
Regards,
Mike

Congrats. A great shave is only half the fun in this hobby as far as I'm concerned. It's a great time when you can experiment with different hones and see what the results are. This afternoon I honed two different razors; one I finished on a coti and the other on a Chinese Nat. Good time. Finding what works for you is fun.

John

So here are those pics as promised (Charnley forest, Thuringian, and a 1 1/8 WGreavse&Sons). I also inclued some razor porn.