Thread: Newbie honing journal

My Naniwa 12k arrived during the week (another quick service from Dieter Shmid Fine Tools - only 3 days from Berlin to Liverpool), and I didn't want to shave with anything until I had time to try it - so I had nearly a week of whiskers by this morning.

Joseph Rodgers

I had a good but not great result trying this on my Welsh slates earlier, so I've put those aside now that the 12k is here. I took the Joseph Rodgers 1/4 hollow back through 1k/3k/8k, and it didn't take long until it was popping arm hairs again. Then late last night, I couldn't sleep - so I reckoned an hour or so on the hone should help me relax...

The 12k didn't take long to lap on the DMT 325 - it was pretty close to flat when it came. And it didn't take long with the Joseph Rodgers to get it feeling sticking and undercutting nicely. Tree-topping just fine, and it felt very sharp on the thumb pad. It was a bit late to do a shave test, so I thought I'd carry on with the 12k and move to lather. And 100 or so laps on lather later (probably more, I wasn't counting), it was popping hairs on my arm better than anything I'd seen before!

Good strop this morning on cotton/leather, finishing on a bridle leather strop I've just made, and my razor sharpness has gone up a level - not as smooth as the JNAT edge that was done for me, but extremely sharp, and I had my best straight razor shave so far. Great razor too - love the feel of it.

Alan

I've done a bit more honing with the Naniwa progression to 12k and I'm getting about the same degree of success - it's a very good stone. I should really stick with the Naniwa stones some more until I'm fully comfortable with them, but I couldn't resist a little coticule I saw in the classifieds.

It arrived today and it's really nice, thanks Piet. So I had to try it...

Wade & Butcher, coticule

I left this last time (see page 4) after having removed a small chip or two and put a bevel on it with the 1k Naniwa, and I considered using the Naniwa 3k to take it up a level before trying it on the coticule. But people say you can use a coticule for one-stone honing, so I thought I'd jump in the deep end and try taking it all the way.

I've read quite a bit about the "dilucot" method, so I started by raising a fairly thick slurry and I got a nice-looking milky slurry quite easily - though the stone seems quite hard. I worked with that, starting with a few circles and then moving on to x-strokes, until I could see all the 1k scratches were gone - probably a few dozen circles and around 30 x-strokes, but I wasn't counting. The slurry was progressively getting darker, and by the time I was done it was a mid-grey.

There was very little slurry actually left and I didn't really think I could dilute it down, so I made a fresh slurry a bit thinner and carried on from there. I did 20-30 x-strokes at each stage, and diluted two more times until the water was just faintly misty - that was four progressive stages in total.

I then rinsed everything and gave it another 20-30 x-strokes with plain water.

Next I stropped on cotton and then leather, and I noticed less draw on the leather than I've been getting from my other razors (but that might just be the small blade). At this stage the edge looked a bit less shiny and more satiny than my Naniwa edges. It was popping arm hairs pretty well, though not as well as my 12k edges.

The shave…

Very nice indeed. It clearly wasn't as sharp as my Naniwa 12k edges and it took a little more pressure on the first pass to get the bulk of the whiskers off, but after that it was very smooth on my skin. It might not make much sense for a straight razor, but I'd say it felt less aggressive than my Naniwa edges. In fact, it felt so comfortable that I did more than my usual amount of buffing and touching-up, so I now have a closer-than-average shave. And no irritation - a pass with the alum only gave a mild tingle, and no sting from the alcoholic aftershave.

The narrow stone was surprisingly easy to use - wider would be nice, but this was fine. I also noticed that there was no swarf marking the stone at the end, which I guess is due to it not being permeable.

First attempt with a coticule, and I'm really quite pleased. I'm sure I'll be able to get a bit more sharpness out of it with a bit of practice, especially when I try lather on it.

Alan

Thanks for contributing! Its great to hear a first hand account from someone who is learning as they go and being objective with their results!
I'm just waiting on my 220/1000 4/8k nortons and its nice to hear that a learning honer can get ebay specials and practice and shave using newly learnt skills with some persistence!

Originally Posted by Hayzee

I'm just waiting on my 220/1000 4/8k nortons and its nice to hear that a learning honer can get ebay specials and practice and shave using newly learnt skills with some persistence!

Sounds like a pretty good combination - a lot of people would say you don't really need the 220, but I've worked on a few at 1k now where I would definitely have liked something like a 220 to start!

Big Kropp, Shapton 1k

I got a Shapton ceramic 1k this week - it was cheap enough on eBay to give it a go and sell on without much loss, and I wanted to compare it with the Naniwa.

I poked around in my razors awaiting honing and picked out the Kropp that I got quite recently. It was in a pair with that neat little unnamed German one a couple of pages back - it was really just making up the numbers, so I'd just left it in the box thinking one day I'll hone it and probably sell it on.

I noticed the heel was protruding from the scale, and it looks like its been rescaled in scales that are too small. I also noticed that it's 1/8 bigger than my other two Kropps at 13/16 (measuring to the back of the spine), so it's a bit different - I'll probably rescale it and keep it.

Anyway, a look at the edge with the loupe showed a lot of micro-chips and a couple of ratty-looking areas, so it seemed ideal for resetting the bevel with the Shapton.

And I'm impressed with the stone. It's a lot harder than the Naniwa, and cuts noticeably faster - I had the bevel set and passing the marker test much quicker than I expected. But it does seem coarser, and the edge looks rougher than a Naniwa 1k edge, so I might give it a few laps on the Naniwa 1k before I progress further.

In all, the Shapton seems like a good addition for stones that need that bit extra on the bevel.

Here's my next honing challenge...

After breadknifing very gently on a 325 and then a light session with a Shapton 1k to put the beginnings of a bevel on it, I have this...





I'm quite pleased with it so far

Well done, looks like you cleaned it up and kept a nice profile as well.

I've done a Naniwa 1k, 3k, 8k, 12k, 12k lather progression on the Filarmonica now, and after stropping on cotton and leather it's pinging away the arm hairs very nicely.

It honed up pretty quickly with a very narrow edge and very little wear put on the spine, which I guess is due to the thinness of the blade - it really is a beautiful grind.

Unfortunately I don't have enough daylight left now, so a shave will have to wait until the morning.

Filarmonica 13

Test shave with several days of purposely-cultivated whiskers - and it was very nice indeed.

I think this is the sharpest edge I've achieved so far, and I got it consistent all the way from heel to toe. It's easily sharp enough for my beard, but I think there is room for a little improvement in smoothness - so I might try a few laps on CrOx/balsa before I next use this one.

Here's what the edge and spine look like now...



I can't see it needing to go near any stones again for a while.