Originally Posted by
jnats
The problem I see with these two photos, to be devil's advocate as it questions what I see as confirmation to my own findings and beliefs (which are of course that quality Japanese Whetstones are superior in edge quality to all others) Is that though the Nakayama one is much much cleaner and more refined edge line and bevel- we are also looking at two different razors and what's more: steels and therefore the carbide size and quality can be assumed to be different so the superior edge (pun intended) of the Nakayama honed one could be more or less (even dare I say...inferior. gasp. sacrilege I know) than the nagura alone on the other stone. There is that one lacking control, aside from N of 1 sample size. Not to berate your findings or diminish my own satisfaction in this jnat delivering a superior edge- but I am a perfectionist and I'd like to remind us all in our inquiry the importance of being equally skeptical of results in experiments and experimental design as we arrive at our conclusions. As I scientist I am personally in disbelief that synthetics have not trounced naturals yet, which makes me cherish each of my stones all the more. But I look forward to the day when the envelope gets pushed further :D