Thread: Hones and Edges Under the Microscope

Originally Posted by PuFFaH

Can you put up photos of the arkansas @ 200 to compare?
Close ups of the hones really gives a clue to their potential finish don't you think?

Great work!!!!

PuFF

I did take some pictures of the Arkansas. But, they didn't come out well. The stone is just too translucent for a good picture.

Tim Z.

Originally Posted by heavydutysg135

Thank you very much for taking the time to conduct this study and share your results. When you say "without a slurry" does that mean that you used the stones dry, or did you use the stone wet without rubbing it first and assume that a slurry did not have a chance to form in only 10 strokes?

The "without slurry" stones were lapped with 2000 grit silicon carbide. Next, they were washed to remove all stray grit. They were used wet without attempting to develop a slurry. Since only the weight of the blade was used, even the coticule didn't have any slurry after 10 strokes.

Tim Z.

Originally Posted by rgdominguez

Do you have a technical backround?

Also, a legendary type of hone is missing from all this, Japanese hones. Tim, would you dare to delve into that world? Thanks for your beautiful work and your "a picture is worth a thousand words" approach. I am learning a lot from looking at and thinking about your pictures.

I'm a left over genetic engineer (specializing in forestry) who took a strange turn in life.

I would be interested in taking pictures of the Japanese stuff. I haven't gone in to that as I can't afford the good ones.

Tim Z.

Tim, this is very interesting and I want to thank you for sharing it with us.

I like my Chinese 12K stone more than ever now, but was surprised that you got the results you did after only 10 laps as I've always thought that one was slower than most.

Mparker, thanks for the comment about my "youthful exuberence", at 63 I don't hear this enough!!! Scientists never lose the curosity of children. Tim, whether you were the first to see this or that is unimportant. You are the first to publish a series of photos which show systematically the effects on steel that different stones in different configurations have. I found your pictoral essay very enlightening and fascinating. I'm going to try out the Belgian followed by the Escher technique that I believe that your pictures suggest might prove interesting. I do hope that my youthful exuberience for your work will encourage you to expand your pictoral essay. Thank you very much!!!

As for japenese stone pictures I have a very good book called the the art of japenese sword polishing. They have very good pictures of what type of finish the synthetic and traditional stones leave. I do not have a scanner so I can post pictures here but you could go to the library and check out the book and see them for yourselves. But these pictures are not of the edges of the blades just the finishes on the sides. I do not know the magnafication of the pictures either but they are very good and you will have a great respect for polishing a sword using this technique after reading this book.

That may be sufficient. The Japanese refer to the process of sharpening a sword as "polishing" for a good reason - they sharpened the entire side of the sword, like we do a wedge razor.

Originally Posted by rgdominguez

Mparker, thanks for the comment about my "youthful exuberence", at 63 I don't hear this enough!!!

I think the problem with Japanese waterstones (at least some of the natural ones) is that they make Eschers look cheap.

The complete guide to sharpening, by Leonard lee also has lots of pictures of shrpened edges and hones, though it focusses more on woodworking tools.

mparker,

In your exchange of ideas with rgdominguez, you commented to the effect that what we are looking at has little to do with the ability of that edge to shave and that there were apparent differences in various lapping materials' ability to contribute to a comfortable shave. Or something to that end. I think your apples are different from my oranges in that the pictures of the edges were attempts at the beginning to show what sharp looks like vs. what you my think about those edges when cutting hair off your face. Since shaving one's face is a unique operation and describing it is totally subjective, even if each of us use were to use the same razor on the same day, it would likely ellicit different descriptions of feel, closeness, etc. So I have to join the throng and thank Mr. Zowada for starting on this path. As a beginner in the process of honing a razor, I think that what I and other tyros learn from these pictures will be of great benefit to us in both choosing and using hones.

...and that's how I "feel", Bruce