Thread: Hone of the Day

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

So because I can't help myself, I further refined the surface and radiused edges of my new Dan's primitive 14"x4" with 2k and then finished on 3k. You can't tell it from my lousy pic, but looked at obliquely lengthwise, it is glass smooth. After a couple of kitchen knives, I took the Fox Cutlery 142 (an early rescale of mine in Gaboon ebony) that was just too sharp on the last shave, and gave it a spin. It cut effortlessly, but left me very raw.
Attachment 318248
So a few squirts of WD-40 on a very hot hone that had been drying on my sunny deck rail, and that heat-thinned WD-40 was just sheer joy to do full-length "windshield wiper" laps on to smooth it out-I think I've invented a new technique-hot honing! Of course the test shave will see how much I smoothed it, but it still feels extremely sharp. And the feedback on such a hard, smooth stone is just silky smooth-I could feel it getting smoother.

14" x 4"? I wouldn't know whether to hone on it, or lay down and take a nap on it! LOL!

But yeah, sounds very nice! I am not a frantic fanboy of natural stones, or stones at all, for that matter, and you can grow a beard in the time it takes to hone on some highly burnished superhard arkies, but they are very pleasant stones to hone on, for all that, once you have them dialed in. And I really like lots of honing real estate. That is one big big rock and if I was going to buy another natural finisher, it would be a trans or black crazy hard Arkie, one at least 10"x3".

I bet that wasn't cheap! I know you will enjoy it, though. It will just get better, the more you use it.

I always had different oils with different viscosities for honing on Arkies. A heavier oil provides more buffering, and while it slows cutting to a dead creep, it does make a very very fine finish. A very thin oil, obviously cuts a little faster. Hot WD40 is probably way up there thin. What about thread cutting oil? That might be interesting to try.

One thing that might gentle down your arkie edges is to add a couple of pull strokes on both sides every 10 laps or so. Just pull the razor directly ACROSS the hone about 3/4", flip and do the other side. Works great on a variety of honing media.

Hardcore lapping film and balsa guy here, but I must admit I am slightly envious of that rock. Enjoy!

Slash, if you keep hangin’ out here we’ll turn you into a rock nerd!

Originally Posted by CrescentCityRazors

14" x 4"? I wouldn't know whether to hone on it, or lay down and take a nap on it! LOL!

But yeah, sounds very nice! I am not a frantic fanboy of natural stones, or stones at all, for that matter, and you can grow a beard in the time it takes to hone on some highly burnished superhard arkies, but they are very pleasant stones to hone on, for all that, once you have them dialed in. And I really like lots of honing real estate. That is one big big rock and if I was going to buy another natural finisher, it would be a trans or black crazy hard Arkie, one at least 10"x3".

I bet that wasn't cheap! I know you will enjoy it, though. It will just get better, the more you use it.

I always had different oils with different viscosities for honing on Arkies. A heavier oil provides more buffering, and while it slows cutting to a dead creep, it does make a very very fine finish. A very thin oil, obviously cuts a little faster. Hot WD40 is probably way up there thin. What about thread cutting oil? That might be interesting to try.

One thing that might gentle down your arkie edges is to add a couple of pull strokes on both sides every 10 laps or so. Just pull the razor directly ACROSS the hone about 3/4", flip and do the other side. Works great on a variety of honing media.

Hardcore lapping film and balsa guy here, but I must admit I am slightly envious of that rock. Enjoy!

I was kind of shocked at how cheap it was, TBH. $127 and change with shipping included-I kid you not. If you could even find a finished stone that size (and I've never seen one even close!), it would probably push $1k on ebay-that's why I wanted the primitive. Thanks for all the tips and ideas. So are you Slash from B&B? (or Guns and Roses lol!). If so, I've enjoyed a lot of interesting posts from you over the years.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

I was kind of shocked at how cheap it was, TBH. $127 and change with shipping included-I kid you not. If you could even find a finished stone that size (and I've never seen one even close!), it would probably push $1k on ebay-that's why I wanted the primitive. Thanks for all the tips and ideas. So are you Slash from B&B? (or Guns and Roses lol!). If so, I've enjoyed a lot of interesting posts from you over the years.

Guilty as charged! I am on TSD as Slash McCoy also. Thanks for the kind words. Yeah that is crazy cheap! How much for a whole countertop? LOL!

I bought a no-brand translucent at a hardware store in Matamoros, Mexico once that was almost that size. That was supposed to be my first razor hone! And I knew nothing about straight razors, or honing them, back then. I must have put a quarter million laps on that rock with that wonky Dovo, all the while trying to teach myself to shave with it, too! I tortured my face for years, back in those pre-internet days. Took a long time to get things figured out and start getting shaves instead of just scrapes. Once I got hold of a nice Boker and put together a progression, things got a lot better. I then had the tools, just had to develop my technique. Anyway, now I wish I had kept that rock. I wouldn't mind rubbing steel on it again.

Originally Posted by CrescentCityRazors

Guilty as charged! I am on TSD as Slash McCoy also. Thanks for the kind words. Yeah that is crazy cheap! How much for a whole countertop? LOL!

I bought a no-brand translucent at a hardware store in Matamoros, Mexico once that was almost that size. That was supposed to be my first razor hone! And I knew nothing about straight razors, or honing them, back then. I must have put a quarter million laps on that rock with that wonky Dovo, all the while trying to teach myself to shave with it, too! I tortured my face for years, back in those pre-internet days. Took a long time to get things figured out and start getting shaves instead of just scrapes. Once I got hold of a nice Boker and put together a progression, things got a lot better. I then had the tools, just had to develop my technique. Anyway, now I wish I had kept that rock. I wouldn't mind rubbing steel on it again.

Sounds like me. They tell you not to learn to hone and shave at the same time, but I came over 10 years ago from high end Japanese kitchen knives, and I already had razor-grade stones, or close, so why put off learning to hone razors?

It all worked itself out, fairly quickly.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

...So are you Slash from B&B? (or Guns and Roses lol!). If so, I've enjoyed a lot of interesting posts from you over the years.

Buckethead is better.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Joseph-I'm just curious what you have against the green brick. Saying that, I have no experience with the Nani 800 or Debado 1k; you may have a better system.

Hi Aaron,
I have nothing against the green brick, i dumped my Shapton Glass 1k for it some years ago , it "was" an excellent stone, soft feel etc.. However there is no going back for me..
The Debado is new and interesting, a totally different animal, more refined too..
Thanks.. Love your new stone also..

(The Nani 800 is for restoration work)

Originally Posted by Straightandproud

A while back I had similar problems with a convex LVRR coticule bout that I was playing with. When I would slurry the stone it would shed particles, leaving small voids in the stone. It was and still is an aggressive stone but the resulting texture was unacceptable to me. I lightly retextured it with a diamond plate and started over.... with the same results. The stone was put away for a few months in frustration.
A bit later it was revisited with a different mindset. Without slurry, I honed three different knives on this stone over about a month's time. The coti started to show a burnished looking shine and much improved surface texture. Due to the aggressive nature of this particular stone I now use it without a slurry stone for pre-finish work.
I am not implying that this is the problem with your coti, just that these wild caught hones can sometimes refuse to fall neatly within the parameters we humans tend to set.

I had issues like that with La Veinette vein coticules. It seems that building a slurry on them actually cause a thin layer of the stone to separate a slough off. Those stones are one of the reasons I started finishing/refreshing the surfaces of my coticules with a slurry stone under running water. My belief is that the gentler action keeps the stone together, as I have had no issues with them since I adopted the technique.

And a quick follow-up on that Fox Cutlery HOTD I did on the big primitive Arkie (the one that had been giving a harsh shave). I just got a much smoother (but still keen and precise) shave after the progression mentioned and some basic leather stropping. No razor burn either-I can't wait to see what this thing does after I really get it dialed in!

A beautiful little Apache Strata with a 6/8 Friodur.

I have been experimenting with this razor on and off for a few months. I have never been a big fan of stainless steel but when you nail an edge with one of these beauties it seems to keep it for an extended period.

It was in need of a touchup so I tried a three stone progression. My convex La veil Rouge De Regne (LVRR) to a La Veinette has been a successful combination lately but I have felt that a touch more keenness might be possible.

I haven't exercised this Apache Strata for a while so out she came. This particular little stone is pretty touchy but capable of excellent result when used properly. Although it is a fine finisher, I find it to be rather slow and not really a capable mid level stone. I have found, through trial and error, that there are a few details that must be followed in order to succeed with this stone. I always remove the glaze with a coticule slurry stone before use. This dramatically improves it's speed. When I believe I am just about done I always rinse the Strata before the final finish. This seems to make a big difference. Pressure can be the enemy with this Strata. Light, razor weight only passes are the key. If I follow these rules on a razor with a properly set bevel thru a penultimate coticule it will deliver a sweet edge.