From Finisher to Face

[Frankenstein]

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

[gssixgun]

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

[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.

[RezDog]

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.

[Siguy]

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'd imagine this would be a rather standard path for most honing beginners. It was true for me also.

[Frankenstein]

Experiments finished; and the results were very interesting, if only for determining a stropping routine after the finisher.

I tried Glen's and Jimmy's suggestions as well, but found even minimal laps cause too much interference in the results.

So without getting too wordy about it, you can really notice a big difference in the edge on the face during the shave, and then hours after it (in terms of skin); and the way the edge cuts during the shave, and the feel of the regrowth some hours later.
Both cotis would really benefit from pastes and linen and maybe thicker leather; Thurry seemed smoothest but not as sharp; Escher seemed most balanced and mature, really only needing latigo or light leather strop.

YMMV, of course; and this was just a personal experiment to measure and compare my own tools, but thanks for the replies.

[Frankenstein]

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.

[Pithor]

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.

[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.

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.

[gssixgun]

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