Thread: Hone of the Day

Hey Joel,
Sounds like you are where I was around 18 months ago. The synthetics we have access to are possibly less of a challenge.
Part of the allure of naturals is that they require trial and error to learn how to achieve the desired results.
Some of us enjoy the process.
I have been exclusively using my trans ark this last year and a half. Have found what works for me with it. Haven't felt the urge to get a different rock as of yet. But if the right deal comes along I will prolly get another natural to play with.
At the lip of the rabbit hole I would say.
Ken

I don't always understand you guys, but respect you in the utmost.
Hones have always represented work to me. I enjoy the simple and sure-fire approach.
Lotsa ways to a great shave!

Last night i used a blade i hadnt used in a year. Smooth shave. Went back to my log and checked and found i had honed it on the Zulu. Too bad I didnt make notes back then like i do today on how i honed it.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I don't always understand you guys, but respect you in the utmost.
Hones have always represented work to me. I enjoy the simple and sure-fire approach.
Lotsa ways to a great shave!

Sometimes I am of the same mind. My GOK 20K. Is the fish in the barrel solution to refreshing an edge.
Then the nostalgic side of me asks. "What did the guys use to hone these things when they were "new". As in I just bought this razor at the hardware store.
Now it needs sharpening.
Using the same methods of sharpening as they did, sometimes seem more appropriate. Rationalization? Probably. Hobby yes.
Ken

Friodur 72 1/2. I was reading the above posts regarding stainless and I have seen a similar thing. They dont seem to like the very hard slower Jnats, the grey stones. So I thought maybe test it on a suita but the edge wasn't there yet. To the kiita it went which is a fairly hard stone but very fast. Close and comfortable shave.
Bevel set 1k chosera. Then left to right, botan, tenjyou, suita and then kiita. I used koma on the suita, top white stone and finished on a nice yellow tomo slurry.

Originally Posted by Maryland998

Sometimes I am of the same mind. My GOK 20K. Is the fish in the barrel solution to refreshing an edge.
Then the nostalgic side of me asks. "What did the guys use to hone these things when they were "new". As in I just bought this razor at the hardware store.
Now it needs sharpening.
Using the same methods of sharpening as they did, sometimes seem more appropriate. Rationalization? Probably. Hobby yes.
Ken

I dunno, Ken. With all the collective knowledge shared, could it be that we get better shaves than they did?
Gawd I hope so!

“I dunno, Ken. With all the collective knowledge shared, could it be that we get better shaves than they did?”
“Gawd I hope so!”

I don’t know either. A good Ark, Jnat, Slate and some swear by Coticules, I swear at them, for me the are a notch below.

But a synthetic progression, Jnat finish and 2-3 lite laps on a clean SG20 is pretty smoking, no-brainer edge, for most razors.

Experimenting with the number of laps does make a difference, more than 5-6 and it is a pure SG20 edge.

I think some folks have been shaving, pretty well for a long time off of naturals.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

“I dunno, Ken. With all the collective knowledge shared, could it be that we get better shaves than they did?”
“Gawd I hope so!”

They? The folks of old?

There's something to be said about their practical knowledge and use of daily skills for decades and centuries.
For example, using a scythe, the knowledge and skill the folks of the past had was tremendous. It's been the major tool for harvesting for centuries and millennia with the accompanied wisdom. It's an amazing tool and they knew how to use it, set-up the scythe how to peen and sharpen and use it a lot, hard work.

They knew much more and were much more capable than we give them credit for. Look at the amazing structures they've built with primitive technology that we almost can't even replicate with our "modern advanced highly intelligent" machines and tools. In many regards we got dumber. In a lot we got more intelligent.

We are more advanced technology wise, but not skill wise or in a wide spectrum of practical skills.

I loved harvesting with a scythe, I loved working with our Belgian draft horses, it was hard work, but it was a different way of doing things. One isn't better than the other. But the old way had much more charm.

I think many shavers of old had it mastered and figured out, a way of doing things that's been passed down from father to sons for a LONG time. You can't beat that. Of course we come very close, with the internetz. But our view in using a SR is different than back then, we're also obsessed. Of course also many couldn't get anything shave worthy out of a razor and stone. Also depending on the time frame.
Are the edges of today better? Doubtful, they had coticules, they had thuringers, they had jnats. Is it easier to hone nowadays? Absolutely, with all the synthetics it has become much less complicated or frustrating.

Do I still finish on a natural? You betcha! Does it beat anything a synthetic has given me? Yes, including the Suehiro 20K. But to each his own.

I'm positive the knowledgeable capable shavers of old had just as good an edge as we do today, maybe better.
I know my great-grandfather and my great-great grandfather's Coticules were tweaked for maximum performance, alas I was never able to ask for what exactly how they used it. Both Coticule and BBW side were heavily used and very darkened, heavily used with oil maybe? But the edge it gives is the smoothest edge off a Coticule I've ever experienced and I can't replicate it with any of my stones.
I know they shaved daily and never missed a single day. They must've been doing something right.

This came in a catalogue that was in the box with my new Norton--Recommended degree of angle for sharpening.

Yes, the folks back in the day surely did not obsess like some of us do.
It was get a shave and get to work!