Thread: The Mysterious Missing Slivers of Edge

I just wanna know where Oz and the mod team is? Cannot find em as you need em!
Oh well, boys. Onward and forward! Tally Hoooooooooooooooooooooooo

Factual! I did find a rough area on the hone even after lapping on the 325. But not until I ran the razor.....so whimpy lapping.

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

I expect it could. The crazing often leaves scale-like areas like you see on the surface of dried clay in the summer, and the edges of these scales are often raised.

So I suppose if you did not lap the affected hone and the bevel (quite refined by 5k and therefore fragile) hit a raised area, then it might well chip.

As always, there is one way to find out...

Regards,
Neil

SO! We have a suspect! STILL, make certain this hone is eliminated as the culprit, Get something to bridge that honing gap. Get a local mentor to show you a thing or two, and finish on 12K! (NO! I did NOT say Norton 4/8!)

Originally Posted by WW243

Onward to a Chosera 3K, loupe and sunlight on the bevel and we are cooking with gas....now the Chosera 5K and there is an 'event' that occurs on the hone that I know is bad....couple more licks on the 5K and I get off and go to the bay window and put the loupe on it again and guess what is back?

So to simplify, there is a problem with the 5k. If diligent lapping cures it, well & good. If not, adding an 8k to the progression will not fix the 5k IMHO. You guys know your Nanis better than me but 5k -> 12k is no problem with the Shapton pros.

As for cracking issues also consider how fast the stone is drying . Is it in direct sunlight or air-con ? The only crazing I've had was on the pro 12k which I left drying in the sun. I now simply allow the stones to drip dry or just wipe them, then put them back in their ventilated plastic boxes. They are also ceramic based as the Nanis & don't go mouldy or crack when treated this way.

I love my Naniwas, Oz. Some Shaptons would be nice to try! I regularly use the light blue 1K and the white 12k. As different as can be. If anyone wonders, I prefer the Norton 4/8 in between! Naniwas all seem to be custom-used as to their idiosyncrasies. Learning the hones is a big part! We need to get Bill a hone to match his desires!
Good to see ya, Cobber!

Bruce

Cheers Bruce ! but with a handle like sharpton I was sure you had a few .

I dry my hones on a paper towel on edge. After awhile, I flip them to the other edge. So non factor on that one. I missed the rough area but I don't think any amount of lapping will cure the crazing. For now I will lap the other side and go hunting for a bridge stone 8K. Again this is my only Chosera to do this. I have 3 others plus the Naniwa 12K.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

So to simplify, there is a problem with the 5k. If diligent lapping cures it, well & good. If not, adding an 8k to the progression will not fix the 5k IMHO. You guys know your Nanis better than me but 5k -> 12k is no problem with the Shapton pros.

As for cracking issues also consider how fast the stone is drying . Is it in direct sunlight or air-con ? The only crazing I've had was on the pro 12k which I left drying in the sun. I now simply allow the stones to drip dry or just wipe them, then put them back in their ventilated plastic boxes. They are also ceramic based as the Nanis & don't go mouldy or crack when treated this way.

The Greaves wedge is the only razor that this has happened to and it is the only razor I tape. Not sure either has anything to do with anything but they do add to the back page story. To be continued...could take awhile....oh yeah and one more thing which some of you know. All learning has been virtual. Not in my opinion the best way to learn but way better than trial and error. I guess you can't avoid trial and error, some are more prone to the error part than others.....guess who might be in that latter category? Old threads don't die, they just become too boring for words. Mentors......again, thanks!

The most info concerning these stones crazing (and cracking) comes from chefs knife sites and woodworking sites. People there have reported cracking in all the chosera range. A person who used to retail them (and no longer does for the high return rate) says that in his experience the 5k is most prone to this phenomenon - his one cracked clean in half!

When they first came out a 15 minute soak in water was recommended. However, these stones unlike some others are bonded with magnesium, and this tens to become mushy and/or leach out with prolonged contact with water. Because of the 15 min soak recommendation, some folk took to storing their hones in water - the result was that the whole stone became mushy and practically dissolved. Some soaked for much longer than 15 minutes, and I can recall seeing images posted of horrific cracks, with bits of hone completely falling off.

On these sites the concensus now is that a soak - at some point in the life of the one - plus drying out too quickly plus storage in too cold a place are major contributors towards crazing and cracking. Some put damp paper towels over the surface of the sponged-off hone to promote even drying and a longer drying time, some put the towelled-off hone in a brown paper bag for the same reason.

Me - I have never soaked, my house is kept at an even temperature and an even rH, yet I still have crazing most markedly on the 10k and to a much lesser degree on the 5k.

I also have shapton glass stones in 16k and 30k. These have not crazed and have no extensive cracks, but there are a number of cracks on the edges of both, going about quarter to half an inch into the hone. No doubt if they were not bonded to glass the cracks would be much worse and maybe cause bits to fall off. One reseller - Dieter Schmidt - says that these hones develop small cracks if not used often enough. They can also become soft if soaked for too long.

Regards,
Neil

Many thanks, I missed this but no borrowing of hones....part of my religion.

Originally Posted by Tarkus

Ok so the next question is so what stone grits would you like to borrow?