Thread: BBW slurry on C12k

A few days ago I have honed a Genco Head Barber. The edge was very sharp. It shaved very well, but the edge felt "dangerous". The skin feel was just not right. It was not smooth.

I had the idea to shave with it again today, but first I wanted to smooth out the edge. Because I don't have a C12k slurry stone I use the C12k with only water most of the time. Once in a while I like to experiment with a different slurry on the C12k. This time I used a BBW slurry which worked great. The edge is now very smooth and it still cuts hair easily. The edge is very easy on the skin. It felt a bit like a edge finished on a coticule, but slightly sharper. I would almost say it is the poor man's coticule method.

This is how I did it (I only tried it on this razor, but I will try it on others in the future).

1. Make a slurry on the C12k with a BBW stone
2. 10x laps with normal pressure (a bit more pressure than the weight of the razor)
3. Rinse the lower half of the hone to remove the slurry there
4. 10x laps with normal pressure
5. Rinse the lower half of the hone
6. 10x laps with normal pressure
7. Rinse the lower half of the hone
8. 10x laps with normal pressure
9. Rinse the whole hone (remove all slurry)
10. 10x laps with normal pressure
11. 10x laps with light (polishing) pressure
12. Strop the razor

(40 laps while diluting BBW slurry, 20 laps without slurry)

I hold the hone in my left hand and the razor in my right when honing. I rinse the lower half of the hone so that the left over slurry is facing me. After rinsing half of the hone, you should start the lap in the left over slurry. This will redistribute the slurry on the first lap.

I am not a honing expert, but this worked for me. I just wanted to share how I did it.

NOTE: Use a test shave to test the edge and not a HHT. I noticed that the HHT was not a good indicator. I almost did not try to shave with this edge because the HHT result was not what I am used to.

Hi John, thanks for this method. I had honed one of my razors on Coticule(first time I used coti), then I shaved with coticule edge(after stropping on linen and leather) to see how is coticule finish. I actually like the smoothness but not the sharpness. I think the edge should be sharper a little bit more. I will try this method next time.

That is exactly the same experience that I have with a coticule finish. Very smooth, but not sharp enough. It is usable after stropping on canvas/leather, but I prefer to use a Crox pasted strop before that when using coticule. I stropped with canvas/leather after using the BBW/C12k method without the use of Crox and it gave me a better edge than coticule/Crox.