Thread: Hone of the Day

Well, finally got around to finishing my first full restore, successfully - if i do say so myself.

It was a bit rough at the first try, but i just went a few more rounds on the blue coti and it was all good!Oddly, and this I did not expect, a few rounds on the blue side of the coti and it was smooth enough to shave. I did end up doing a few turns in the yellow side and the thuri to finish off ofc, but still... Nice smooth shave, no nicks or roughness so yay! Still, not as good as that time outback restored a norris for me, that one was godly smooth.



oh you know, forgot to add: meant to ask, how do I know it's time to move to next stone without the use of a loupe?

I basically use the 1k until it passes the thumbnail test. Then I 4k until it tree tops a few hairs. Move to 8k until it tree tops more hairs and more smoothly. Etc etc. I do that even with a loupe.

But, you gotta just do trial and error to find your benchmarks. I don't count strokes are anything, I just test every time I need to add water. I just kept scraping and testing until it seemed like I was no longer getting improvement on each stone.

Your razor looks great. Nice job.

Once you’re above 2k, you can give it a few licks on a strop or your hand and it should pass HHT, getting better with each higher grit - but a loupe is cheap and works better at lower grits.

Up today is a 7/8 F & F Paris Le Hyalin, using the usual bulletproof sequence, a Shapton Glass 2k HR for bevel set (it was already pretty much shave ready but I wanted the heel a little better), a Shapton Glass 6k HC, and jnat. The edge was as good as it gets with HHT.

Originally Posted by Steve56

Once you’re above 2k, you can give it a few licks on a strop or your hand and it should pass HHT, getting better with each higher grit - but a loupe is cheap and works better at lower grits.

Up today is a 7/8 F & F Paris Le Hyalin, using the usual bulletproof sequence, a Shapton Glass 2k HR for bevel set (it was already pretty much shave ready but I wanted the heel a little better), a Shapton Glass 6k HC, and jnat. The edge was as good as it gets with HHT.

I'm not sure how licking the strop would help, but ok... (Instructions unclear, ate the stone by mistake?!)

anyways, thanks for all the inputs guys it's just gonna be a learning process I guess. Is it weird that i was pretty much DONE at the Blue Coti? That's what weirded me out, usually i'd assume i'd still feel a little roughness/pulling and i'd need to smoothen it with a finisher

It depends on the stone, especially with natural Coticules. Not all BBW are garden variety BBW, but much finer that the Coticule side. There is a lot of great info on the Blue stone if you search French Hones, in the Advanced search.

With experience you will learn to feel what is happening on the stone. Depending on the razor and stone, you will feel that the razor feels smoother on the stone as the bevel gets flatter and the stone or slurry stops cutting just the high spots.

Once the bevels get very flat you may feel some stiction, where the two surfaces are flat and creating suction. But stiction does not mean the bevels are meeting fully. Also, a taped bevel will dampen stiction. A smooth tape like Kapton is slicker on the spine and does not affect the feel of smoothness like electrical tape will. Kapton can be use over electrical.

Looking at the slurry or water will tell you if you are honing to the edge, but again not fully. Water or slurry will easily ride up on to the belly of the razor. The puddle of water or slurry will also push away from the edge smoothly because the edge is flat and in full contact with the stone, acting like a squeegee. Here again it does not mean the whole edge is honed and making full contact. Often the heel and toe are not.

The only sure way is to look at the bevel and edge with magnification. You can inspect the whole bevel and edge. Ink is also your friend and will quickly tell you if you are making progress and if not were.

If you are using slurry, there is a point where heavy slurry is counter productive to an edge. The same aggressive grit that is grinding away steel is slamming into the edge and dulling it. You can still get all the positive feedback from the above test and be dulling the edge you are trying to perfect. Try finishing under running water.

When you look at a bevel and edge with magnification, first look from the side to ensure the stria go all the way to the edge, from the heel to the toe. Then if so, look straight down on the edge, from heel to toe. Any shiny reflections are where the bevels are not meeting fully, especially at the heel and toe.

Fili 12 fresh off the karasu. I have 15-20 ish razors and wanted to go through all of them. I have my gf pick one out, give it 5 shaves then put it in the back of the line. Fili 12 took an awesome edge today

Originally Posted by Christian1

Fili 12 fresh off the karasu. I have 15-20 ish razors and wanted to go through all of them. I have my gf pick one out, give it 5 shaves then put it in the back of the line. Fili 12 took an awesome edge today

Love those green scales!

Was good fun honing this lovely pair of Lecoultre framebacks the old fashioned way. They both took a very nice edge.

I love the shaves from my LeCoultre, I remember Niel Miller saying some of the steel used was also for making watch springs.

I’ve been looking for a nice specimen of these Lecoultre for a long time and I’m glad I found these. I love the shape and finish of the horn scales and the coffin box is really interesting.