Thread: Hone of the Day

Originally Posted by JOB15

Had this on the grinder today then on the stones for an Escher finish.. It has a very smooth HHT .. I cant wait to test it. Thanks

Sheffield Steel.
Attachment 320820

1K Debado . Shallow scratch marks, amazing feedback on this.
Attachment 320816

5K Naniwa . The corner fell off today, woops, i'll glue it back on.
Attachment 320817

10K Great stone but every stone is great.
Attachment 320818

Yellow Green
Attachment 320819

What magnification is that at, Joseph.? The 10k looks worse than the 5k

Originally Posted by alex1921

Hard kiita that I initially tried with an asagi tomo. Results were so so. I went back to koma and then as a tomo I used the piece that broke off. Finished on slurry without much dilution, kept it nice and hydrated though. Silent HHT and man, wiped whiskers off and absolute comfort.
Which actually pissed me off that it broke during shipping. It's an old stone, it has the hand saw marks and it really made me sad it was damaged.

Attachment 320825

Alex I have had the misfortune of this experience more than once in many years. It actually turned my stomach to think of how long these survive in use only to be broken in seconds by mispackaging and carelessness of others.

Originally Posted by rideon66

Alex I have had the misfortune of this experience more than once in many years. It actually turned my stomach to think of how long these survive in use only to be broken in seconds by mispackaging and carelessness of others.

Agree Tom. I have been laminating about this one.
I was talking to So few years ago and he told me his biggest concern and area he sees them being damaged are the corners.
I have had one that shattered. This one really broke off cleanly.

It’s hard to image how rough you have to be with the mail to break rocks, but they manage too. I had cut a very unique hone, and sure enough, they broke it. Ham fisted . . .

Originally Posted by alex1921

Agree Tom. I have been laminating about this one.
I was talking to So few years ago and he told me his biggest concern and area he sees them being damaged are the corners.
I have had one that shattered. This one really broke off cleanly.

Yeah that sucks. Looks like a beautiful Iromono too. Alex said the same thing about those corners. He said on these stones sometimes just a simple bump on the corner can cause a layer to let loose. Although using his simple method of shipping he said he has never had an issue. I follow his method and usually add a little bubble too. Also another reason to seal those sides somethimes just to give some extra reinforcement.

Also looks like that stone had some Namazu running through it by the looks of that chunk. I had one break completely along the Namazu line and clean too. I think those may be a weaker point sometimes.

Originally Posted by outback

What magnification is that at, Joseph.? The 10k looks worse than the 5k

I think it is supposed to be 400 magnification.. Don't let the looks deceive you . The only one that really matters is the bevel set 1k. That's where i spend my time killing the edge and re setting until it pops arm hair and looks good under the scope. If it doesn't look good there are a number of checks to through . Bevel angle is normally what's wrong..Especially using fat tape on older blades restored..
When honing for a customer i take a before and after photo.. Jnat edges look amazing under the scope..
Thanks Mike

Damn that does turn your stomach! I would have to go fishing after that!

Those glassy lines and namazu lines are mineral filled cracks. They’re naturally weak and if a stone is subjected to stress, a lot of times that’s where they fail.

I’ve also had a Hakka tomo separate in my hand along the layer structure, no crack needed, it stuck to the hone because it wasn’t soaked long enough, and presto, I had two nagura, one in my hand and one stuck to the stone.

Today I finished this WH Oates in black horn on the unique, massive primitive black Arkansas stone that I got recently from Dan's Whetstones (which I gave more info. on the mounting process in the "What Are You Working On?" thread). The super-soft British steel on this razor took an easy, killer edge after a quick progression on water stones up to 8k, then using WD-40 on the highly burnished Ark surface. I purposely left out the Nani 12k step, as I'm intrigued to try this minimalist approach to edge retention and longevity that Shaun and others talk about. I look forward to the test-shave.

I also put on a 2nd layer of tape and set a micro-bevel on 4 others that felt like they needed something more-we'll see.

Last night, I set the bevel with the green brick, then took this 7/8 Wade & Butcher up to around 8k, using a Washita, and dark blue, Thurigan.

This evening, I finished it out on the B/G barbers delight.
Only thing left...shave test.!