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I have been honing for about 2 years and am satisfied with the results that I get with Shapton 4, 8, 16K and finish on Gokumyo 20K. My question is:
Right before I fininish my progressions on the higher grit Shaptons and the Gokumyo, my razor feels like it wants to stick to the stone. Its like the blade is creating some kind of suction on the surface of the stone. Adding more water doesn't seem to help. Has anyone else experienced this? What causes this?
Thanks,
John
I'm pretty sure it's caused by surface tension :)
It means simply that you have removed the majority of the coarser striations from earlier grits in your progression, and that you are near what that stone will do on that level.
That suction is a good thing, and is one of the things honers look for as a sign that it is time to move to the next stone in the progression-
Read Birnando's statement again.
You will really notice it on the GS 8 & 16K. If you haven't gotten the "sticksion", you aren't done with that blade yet as a general rule of thumb on a straight edged blade. Big smiles sometimes don't give the same feel, but as mentioned: "...and is one of the things honers look for as a sign that it is time to move to the next stone in the progression."
It means you're doing it right!
The same thing happens when you rub two hones together to lap or smooth them against each other. As the gaps between them are reduced, they start to stick together and become very difficult to move.