Thread: From Finisher to Face

Hi Everyone,

Happy Easter, and hope you all had a great weekend.

I've had a bit of time off the past few days so I took the opportunity to do some honing. What I was trying to do was find which of MY natural finishers gave the smoothest and sharpest shave from stone to face. (No stropping). The reason for no strop is because while it improves the edge it also changes the feel/edge left from a stone, IMHO, and I wanted to decide on one finisher for future re-finishing.

So, my question is, from your experience, (and the particular natural stones you have, having just come off 8k), if you had to go from hone to face which hone would you choose? (Prior to naturals I use a mani 8k). And the hones I have are: new coti; vintage coti; Escher; Thurry.


Cheers

Tuff question

I tested that way for quite awhile, and it does work to an extent

With the rules you put forth I would chose my Blue-Green Escher


I would however recommend a minimum leather only stropping session to get a better feel of each edge, maybe 10 laps, regardless of how fine the edge is, honing still leaves a raw edge, and that small amount of slapping leather will change the outcome quite a bit.. at least on my Hollywood face

I've never shaved after honing without a minimum of 50 laps on leather, so I can't help much here. Because I find an increase in sharpness after even those 50 laps, I'm not about to start either.

I did this a lot when I first started honing. It was because I was never sure if my edge was finished yet so I would skip the strop for a little test shave. Over time the question of am I done got to knowing better that I was done and I did it less. I still do a little test periodically when I'm playing around with a new finisher, which come into my life often these days. For the most part I am testing hones I have cut, so not a hone you would be familiar with.

Originally Posted by ace

I've never shaved after honing without a minimum of 50 laps on leather, so I can't help much here. Because I find an increase in sharpness after even those 50 laps, I'm not about to start either.

Yes, that's part of the reason for not stropping. This is just an experiment, mainly to narrow down my choice. My canvas, cordovan and latigo routine improve the edge to such an extent I find it hard to tell which finisher I've used.

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

My canvas, cordovan and latigo routine improve the edge to such an extent I find it hard to tell which finisher I've used.

I was going to respond earlier, but decided to wait. I think you summed up my non-existent reply quite nicely, if you read between your own lines.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

... slapping leather will change the outcome quite a bit.. at least on my Hollywood face ...

I saw that photo of you Glen and you are right - the change is astounding!



Regards,
Neil

I wonder how many straight razor users could tell which finisher was used in a blind test after stropping their own razor honed by someone else on a variety of finishing hones. Guessing this question has been put forward more than once.

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

Yes, that's part of the reason for not stropping. This is just an experiment, mainly to narrow down my choice. My canvas, cordovan and latigo routine improve the edge to such an extent I find it hard to tell which finisher I've used.

Originally Posted by WW243

I wonder how many straight razor users could tell which finisher was used in a blind test after stropping their own razor honed by someone else on a variety of finishing hones. Guessing this question has been put forward more than once.

You might enjoy these two old threads, it was a bit of fun we had

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...7-day-set.html

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...ving-test.html

These were great reads! Thanks

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You might enjoy these two old threads, it was a bit of fun we had

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...7-day-set.html

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...ving-test.html