Thread: Hone of the Day

Nice rock, Steve.
Sweet blades, too.

Originally Posted by DaveW

It's more a condition of the stone than it is the lube. If you scuff one up with a diamond hone, it will cut fast. If you don't, it will cut slowly and do more burnish than cut (but never super fine level).

Plus, they are very sensitive to pressure, so once they are fine cutting from lack of lapping, you can still apply a little pressure to get some cut out of them, or apply very little and get a very near finished edge (actually, once settled in, you can shave off of them relatively comfortably, but it's still easier to get final finish from a finish stone).

Lube has more to do with how the stone loads. With water, the stone will load faster. With a heavier oil, the particles will stay floated out of the pores a little better and the stone will stay cleaner (heavier being something like a medium mineral oil or light mineral oil - unscented baby oil is a decent choice). Lube would've been a bigger deal in the past when it wasn't as convenient to lap a stone to restore its cutting power.

Yes mine is more of a burnished stone.
I have yet to go back and lap it since the first time, and don't slurry it anymore. I've honed my kitchen knives on it as well as multiple razors, and its still true, and flat.
I have thought of shaving off it, but I know I'm not going to enjoy it, like I do from a true finisher. Spoiled myself.[emoji56]

Thanks fellas.
A Washita is one I don't have but need to try. I was looking at one but I missed it.
The kiita is a good all around rock.

A Washita is a very different animal in its properties, composition, and abilities. I think there is more to these stones than we realize.

It is the only stone that I know of that can actually set a bevel and finish a razor. Not finish like a thuri, but it can finish an edge.

Very sensitive to:
* steel hardness
* surface preparation
* pressure from honing

They can be brash, or they can be mild on an edge, depending on what you do with them.

Originally Posted by Steel

A Washita is a very different animal in its properties, composition, and abilities. I think there is more to these stones than we realize.

Originally Posted by DaveW

It is the only stone that I know of that can actually set a bevel and finish a razor. Not finish like a thuri, but it can finish an edge.

Very sensitive to:
* steel hardness
* surface preparation
* pressure from honing

They can be brash, or they can be mild on an edge, depending on what you do with them.

That's why it will always be a part of my rotation. Its so versatile in its abilities, and I love the feed back.
It tells me when a bevel is true, if there's a telltale skip during the pass, the bevel isn't joined completely. But a constant, velvety draw through the pass...game on.!! [emoji41]

Originally Posted by DaveW

It is the only stone that I know of that can actually set a bevel and finish a razor. Not finish like a thuri, but it can finish an edge.

Very sensitive to:
* steel hardness
* surface preparation
* pressure from honing

They can be brash, or they can be mild on an edge, depending on what you do with them.

Well DAVE, I may have found a technique to finish a razor on one as good as any thuringian or other finisher with MINIMAL effort and no pastes. Not jumping back and forth and tweeking with a strop either but I need to play around some more. I will shoot you a PM.

I'm looking forward to spending more time with my Washitas. It's been hard to stray too far from my coticules as the edges have been so enjoyable, but Washitas and novaculites in general, offer so much to learn it seems a good direction for branching out. Lot's of fun to be had!

New stone to the collection, will definitely be getting a lot of action.
Was testing it a bit coming off 5k/8k and looking at scratch marks. Finished with 8k naniwa and then water only to under lightly running water, shave tomorrow. (Special #1 duck)

I failed to mention what kind of razors I finished on my kiita. The top one is a King, New King & the bottom one is a Koken Army & Navy.