Thread: Hone of the Day

Originally Posted by MODINE

Did you final finish on the dark green Haida Gwaii stone Shaun? Extra hollow grinds can be very fragile at this level sir, congratulations.
MIke

Yes, it is one of the hones that I shaped, but it is a rather new one. This one is different, I will pm some pictures. So far there has only been two of these shaped.

Nice. That is what I thought. Just a suggestion, these stones are so hard you may try oil, glycerine, Smiths, liquid soap etc. If a suction is experienced, you may try torquing the blade up and away from the stone.. you may even see the extra hollow blade flex while doing this. Which is kind of cool.
Mike

My first time honing my first kamisori! This is a NOS Tosuke that came in from Japan last week. I've been watching kami honing videos all week until I felt I was ready to dive in. Being NOS, I decided I didn't want to use tape. I'm also not sure that I like the idea of tape on this type of razor. I set the bevel on the Chosera 1k and I was surprised by how fast it Responded to the stone. I then went through the Naniwa progression using a 10:1 ratio. Again I was surprised by how fast this blade moved through each stone with little more then weight of the blade. I finished it on the 12k, stropped it up and it responded very well on the HHT. Unfortunately I already shaved earlier today so the shave test will have to wait until tomorrow.

I was really looking forward to learning something new here. The truth is though, this kamisori was very easy to hone. I'm sure I have more to learn, but in many ways this was easier then honing a western razor. I suspect that learning to shave with it will be a bit more challenging, but maybe not.

Today's honing was a good one I watched Dr. Matt's new video on how he corrects geometry problems. Since I go for function not looks 100% of the time I didn't care if I put hone wear on it if it would shave better. Performance > Appearance. A straight is just a tool to me. Others would disagree and that's ok too. For some they love their NOS $500 W&B with 0 hone wear. His technique is not for you fellows. To get back on topic his technique grinds the spine flat correcting warps and wobbles while taping the edge. Once the spine is straight the tape is taken off the edge and the razor is honed tape free to grind the edge and spine together.

I did that on a razor given to me by Collin (TrilliumLt) that I was having trouble getting an edge on. Well after using Matts geometry correction technique I easily honed it.

I did a fun progression of 1k king to my new hard coticule with water only for a couple hundred laps. I shave dangerously. Test shave to come later. What I like about this stage is I can refine on water to tweak the shave or take it to another stone to refine it further. The options from here are endless which is why I like to stop and test after 1k to coticule.

Anyways enough babbling on.

Smooth and close shave. Very comfortable. 2 pass and I was where I wanted to be. Best of all now I don't have to fuss with tape for a touch up.

Originally Posted by BeJay

My first time honing my first kamisori! This is a NOS Tosuke that came in from Japan last week. I've been watching kami honing videos all week until I felt I was ready to dive in. Being NOS, I decided I didn't want to use tape. I'm also not sure that I like the idea of tape on this type of razor. I set the bevel on the Chosera 1k and I was surprised by how fast it Responded to the stone. I then went through the Naniwa progression using a 10:1 ratio. Again I was surprised by how fast this blade moved through each stone with little more then weight of the blade. I finished it on the 12k, stropped it up and it responded very well on the HHT. Unfortunately I already shaved earlier today so the shave test will have to wait until tomorrow.

I was really looking forward to learning something new here. The truth is though, this kamisori was very easy to hone. I'm sure I have more to learn, but in many ways this was easier then honing a western razor. I suspect that learning to shave with it will be a bit more challenging, but maybe not.

Ive honed with and without tape on kamisoris, the reason why some might use tape is that the omote (non stamped side) which sees most of the hone wear is generally a softer metal and can wear down at a faster rate. Yours obviously to your findings had no issues. The two Tosukes that i have are a dream to hone.
Shaving the traditional way with kamisoris with only the non stamped side against your face can be a bit tricky but im sure you'll have fun.

Honed up several blades in the last few days, using these 3 stones. The blade pictured is a Dearden, one of the two, they are a matched set....

I started by removing small chips on the edge, using two layers of tape. As I progressed, I had to change the top tape once. As that second tape worn down, the chips went away and my double bevel was coming closer and closer to the "vintage bevel", at the same time. I thought that was a pretty cool "coincidence". Then I removed the second tape, killed the edge and kept on going, wearing down the first tape now and resetting the bevel. When I got close to the point of wrecking the tape, the bevel was set and I switched to the Suita. On slurry, this stone made short work of erasing Naniwa 1K marks. No pressure now, so the tape wasn't wearing at a fast rate any more. At the end of that, the tape was still good, the edge improved, visual inspection also showed up all good. I moved to the Shobu asagi and finished, still on the same tape. You can imagine my bevel after this exercise, is pretty close to the original bevel. In my mind, this should not have worked, but it did somehow and I am happy - I didn't put any more spine wear on the razor and I got it to shave well. Then I repeated the exercise on a couple of Klas Tornbloms, it worked like magic - this time with one tape: Bevel set with tape, then removed the tape and proceeded to the jnats. I didn't mind putting some mild hone wear on these, as they are pretty well preserved.

Originally Posted by S0LITARYS0LDIER

Today's honing was a good one I watched Dr. Matt's new video on how he corrects geometry problems. Since I go for function not looks 100% of the time I didn't care if I put hone wear on it if it would shave better. Performance > Appearance. A straight is just a tool to me. Others would disagree and that's ok too. For some they love their NOS $500 W&B with 0 hone wear. His technique is not for you fellows. To get back on topic his technique grinds the spine flat correcting warps and wobbles while taping the edge. Once the spine is straight the tape is taken off the edge and the razor is honed tape free to grind the edge and spine together.

I did that on a razor given to me by Collin (TrilliumLt) that I was having trouble getting an edge on. Well after using Matts geometry correction technique I easily honed it.

I did a fun progression of 1k king to my new hard coticule with water only for a couple hundred laps. I shave dangerously. Test shave to come later. What I like about this stage is I can refine on water to tweak the shave or take it to another stone to refine it further. The options from here are endless which is why I like to stop and test after 1k to coticule.

Anyways enough babbling on.

Smooth and close shave. Very comfortable. 2 pass and I was where I wanted to be. Best of all now I don't have to fuss with tape for a touch up.

Solitary Soldier-Thanks for the tip. I have been watching and learning a lot lately from Dr. Matt's videos. As it seems nearly every razor I own has issues (hone wear, uneven, warps, etc.), I have been thinking about trying this method as I get tired of constant "rocking and rolling" and other acrobatics trying to get all of an edge on the hone, but it's obviously not for the faint of heart for those of us who like our near-mint vintage blades and their pretty spines as you mentioned!

One other thing I learned from him is the cherry tomato test-honestly, it's better than all the other hone tests in my book. Unconventional techniques, but they seem very effective.

Not sure about cherry tomatoes, but I have a quandary.
Torn like an old sweater!

NOS Schlemper. Stropped it on my palm and it blows hairs away.
Should I strop and shave, or should I take it to the 12k and on to Escher with a layer of tape.
The hone is damp. I could do it!

Originally Posted by S0LITARYS0LDIER

Today I had a little fun. I was watching a video for my college course and decided to hone up this pain in the ass warped keen kutter royal. Took a dry king 1k and sat in front of the computer doing laps until I set the bevel. Then took out my little 4x1-1/8 Modern La Veinette coticule. Started honing dry probing the edge with my thumb pad. I then started honing on the coticule I received today from Helge (rockabilly) for the finish because it is so much harder and finer than my smaller coticule. Proceeded to do laps for about 5-10 minutes.

I then put some oil on the larger coticule and did another 5 minutes of x strokes. I find the oil less messy than water especially sitting in front of a computer.

Edge felt right on the thumb pad. Stropped and test shaved. Wonderful. It is nice to get an edge on something you've been fighting with.

Attachment 254170

What type of oil were you using on the large Coti....and how did you feel it made a difference from the water? Or was it just a question of less mess?

Sharptonn...strop and shave.

You can hone later, but can you unhone a NOS razor?