Thread: My first hone . Yellow Lake

Hello Everybody;

I just got my first hone. It is a yellow lake natural stone.

I also got a Gold Dollar 208 to practice.

As expected the GD is not sharp at all.

Is it realistic to expect that I will be able to sharpen the GD with the Yellow Lake?

How?

Thanks

Hello!
I'm not familiar with that hone, but someone will be.
When I began honing (not a master yet), I watched numerous videos. I had several stones but was missing one around 8000 grit. So when I went to my finishing stone, I just couldn't get it right.
The stones do not make the hone meister... BUT without good tools...
I bought a Norton set and had immediate success. Part of the reason was having the right progression of grits. Part of the reason was that I then watched some of Gssixguns YouTube videos on which he was specifically using Norton stones. That helped.
Perhaps there are similar tutorials on your stone? I wonder what grit your stone is? Do you have a progression of grits? What condition the blade is in determines the stones necessary...
Anyway I hope that was some help.
Good luck!
Mike T.

Originally Posted by MikeT

Hello!
I'm not familiar with that hone, but someone will be.
When I began honing (not a master yet), I watched numerous videos. I had several stones but was missing one around 8000 grit. So when I went to my finishing stone, I just couldn't get it right.
The stones do not make the hone meister... BUT without good tools...
I bought a Norton set and had immediate success. Part of the reason was having the right progression of grits. Part of the reason was that I then watched some of Gssixguns YouTube videos on which he was specifically using Norton stones. That helped.
Perhaps there are similar tutorials on your stone? I wonder what grit your stone is? Do you have a progression of grits? What condition the blade is in determines the stones necessary...
Anyway I hope that was some help.
Good luck!
Mike T.

Thank you for the replay.

This is a finishing natural stone around 12 k.

My purpose was to maintain my SR and make Factory Ready SR into Shave Ready SR.

I bought the Gold Dollar to practice before an temper with my good SR but the GD is sub factory shave so that is why I am asking if maybe creating some slurry I could approach the GD to a shave ready SR.

Okay I see. No problem. But I have a hard time seeing a 12k taking a GD to shave ready, maybe need a lower grit too?
Just read this post... very informative:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...-please-2.html

Good luck again! I hope it works out. Now I'm curious about that stone and want one...

I would imagine that your GD will need a complete bevel resetting, in which case, you'll need a full range of stones. The only way you'll know for sure is to try it on your 12k, strop, then see if you can shave. Good luck.

If you are just starting out I find it unlikely you will be able to do much with the GD. They are known to have serious geometry issues, although some people have bought some that were well made. IMHO it is a terrible place to start. There are tons of razors in quite nice condition that go through the classifieds on a semi regular basis that are geometrically correct and of good quality. Starting with anything less than a perfect blade is going to be a very hard place to start. It is your journey and you can make it as easy or as hard as you want. Now if you are wanting to start from a bevel set your best to go with a 1,4, 8K progression. I am sure that your yellow lake will be great after the 8K or for use touching up a blade. You kind of need to decide what direction you are going to start from. If you want to start with learning a bevel first then some more hones are in order. If you decide that you want to learn to refresh first and then work your way back to bevel setting, you will need a different razor. If you can get together with other straight razor users to learn to hone hands on it really is the easiest path. A mentor or a meet is truly the fastest way. If you are unable to find someone for hands on, then watch a few videos and decide who presents the material in a way you feel you can learn from best. Then watch only the one persons videos until you get a grasp on the process. There are many many different paths to the perfect edge, all of them are correct, but to try to follow all of them at the same time can be confusing to say the least.

Rezdog's suggestion to meet with others is a very good one.

There are two members in Barcelona. Contact icarusflies (http://straightrazorpalace.com/members/icarusflies.html)

Don't know his expertise level.

Here is a link to find others in Spain
http://straightrazorpalace.com/memberlist.php?do=search

Good luck and keep us posted. You can always ask questions.

Thanks for all this comments.

I just got the GD to have a SR to practice refreshing a blade but i thought it might be possible to make it shave ready. I see it is a no go and that is fine I will just use it to practice the moves.

I am in the process to get a new SR, Probably a Wacker Le Barbier´s bride. I supose they don´t come shave ready. Will my Yellow Lake be able to get it shave ready?

Originally Posted by Icarusflies

Thanks for all this comments.

I just got the GD to have a SR to practice refreshing a blade but i thought it might be possible to make it shave ready. I see it is a no go and that is fine I will just use it to practice the moves.

I am in the process to get a new SR, Probably a Wacker Le Barbier´s bride. I supose they don´t come shave ready. Will my Yellow Lake be able to get it shave ready?

The Wacker will come shave ready so you would be doing it a disservice by putting it to a hone with nil in the skills department. Go to Whipped Dog Straight Razor Shaving Equipment and pick up a good inexpensive razor or three to work with. They can be had a less than $20 USD. You can also find plenty of other items you would most likely need.

The GD is a RSO, not worth the time or money that it would take for a novice such as yourself to learn on. All it will do is confuse and frustrate you. Invest in the lower grit stones for setting bevels and setting the edge. Watching Gssixguns YouTube videos is going to be the best advice if you really want to learn. I would also suggest that as you develope your skills send a razor off to a mentor that can help you identify the areas you need to improve in.

Good luck in your endeavors.

Well, it's not that a GD is a "no go", it's just that it "might be" a no go, and the problem is that when you are new to razors and honing you are not really in a position to know one way or the other. That's why we don't recommend GDs for people new to the sport, despite their being cheap to purchase.

The yellow lake hone is, from memory, one of those UK stones that could be any number of things, because the owner of the mine use the name Yellow Lake simply like a brand. Some are welsh (purple) slate, for example. Others are more like a finisher. Did it come in a box that says "Yellow Lake" on it? It's a natural stone, so the only way to know what you have is to try it out. And again, if you are new to the game of honing you are not really in a position to know where your stone sits overall. It's not a problem, just a matter of experience.

I agree with the others - that GD probably needs some bevel work and regardless of what kind of Yellow Lake you have you'll need a lower grit and faster cutting hone. Or send it out in initially, then try the Yellow Lake as an edge refresher down the track.

James.