Using Slurry on Shapton GS
Hey guys,
For a while I have been having trouble getting good edges and getting the bevel set. I have been using the Shapton GS system (1k, 2k, 4k, 8k, 16k). They cut quick and are quite consistant, but because of inexperience, I was having some trouble. After watching a few of Glen's vids on using the Shaptons from bevel set to finish, I noticed something quite interesting. He was using a slurry on the shapton using the lapping plate to produce the slurry on the GS. That kind of struck me as odd because most of what I read mainly mentioned about not using a slurry on them. But I thought that since one of the honing masters was using it I thought I would give it a try. So I took my 1k and let it set in the water for about 5 min, produced a slurry, and went to honing but only to where I guessed the bevel was set. And I say guessed, because I had no reference prior, but I was scheduled that day to meet up with Steve56 that day and he was going to help me out and get me pointed to the right direction.
What I did to try to set the bevel was:
produced a light slurry
40 circles (40 one side, 40 the other) heavy pressure like lynn said,
then tested
did another 40 circles with heavy pressure.
Then 10 laps,
diluted the slurry with a spritze or two of water, 5 laps,
diluted, 5 laps,
then 10 laps water only,
All while progressively going from pressure to blade only weight.
Because I was meeting up with Steve I thought I would take advantage of the situation and take my new bevel and get a second opinion on it, and also get to see a razor that he had honed only to bevel set so I could finally get my finger calibrated to what a set bevel actually felt like. So you probably could tell that I had no confidence at this point in knowing whether my bevel was set or not, especially since most of the answers provided to most questions here is "the bevel is not set". When he examined my edge, he said that the bevel was set, and after feeling his edge, though it was set on a shapton pro 2k, I could feel the similarities. When he said this, it was a big confidence boost thinking that I was actually heading in the right direction. While we were meeting, he took out a few of his supplies and took his razor from bevel set to shave ready right in front of me and it really was like the light turned on while getting to set down with someone who has much more experience than I.
Well after this confidence boost I went home and took my razor from the bevel that was set to shave ready, while continuing to use the slurry on each of my progression steps.
For each stone except my 16k finisher I would:
produce slurry, then 5 laps
dilute, then 5 laps
dilute, then 5 laps
then 5 to 10 laps water only
For the finisher:
I produced a really light slurry, 5 laps
dilute, then 5 laps
then 10 careful finishing laps water only.
then 7 laps on crox on balsa
20 linen and 60 latigo
And I was suprised at where it seemed like a bear to get my edge to shaving seemed a lot easier. So thanks Steve and Glen, that all was a big help. The most help seemed to be the confidence boost from meeting with someone who knew what they were doing. And I hope that this edge last a good while. I don't know how long it will last since I shave my head and face with a st8, and thus end up shaving about 3x more hair in one shaving session than some that don't shave their head. So I guess we will see as time goes on.
I do have a question though that I would hope that someone could answer. I know that you can overhone when using a slurry. That is without a doubt, but does it make it harder to overhone (or make the edge too thin) when using a slurry because of the extra particles bombarding the edge during each progression? Just a question that was running through my mind since I had a good shave where the edge seemed to last longer than my other attempts even though my honing attempt seemed easier. Hopefully its also where I'm getting better and my confidence level is up :gl:, because it seems like another razor that I have been working on seems to be progressing nicely. Much easier than prior attempts :p
What's yall's thoughts?
