Thread: Hone of the Day

Originally Posted by TristanLudlow

Thanks, good idea.

I haven't shaved with a thin slurry finish yet, but while honing I've felt that a thin slurry felt "smoother" / better while honing than vs plain water.

My Jnat has a nagura of the same fragment, but also came with a ultra-hard Ohzuku Nagura. I'll give that a try.

I could actually feel the stage where the slurry got too thin and too watery that made the feel of the hone and razor feedback change for the worse, actually both on the Escher and the Jnat.

Gonna try a water vs thin slurry side by side shave both on the Jnat and Escher.

If I may suggest, also try undiluted slurry, just keep it wet and working it well and also somewhere in between undiluted and thin.
I have stones that give the best edge somewhere in between and some that like undiluted slurry.

Today I honed up 2 razors, killed the edge and used a Naniwa 1K -> 3K -> 5K progression followed up by BBW -> Coticule

Finsihed one on the Suehiro 20K
The other on an Escher, slurry -> dilutions -> finishing on light slurry (as the label suggested, but they call it "slime")

One weeks worth of growth.
Both razors shaved fabulous. Very hard to notice any difference between them.
I honestly don't know which I like better for now.

I just wet the face, lathered up and shaved ATG on the first pass with one week worth of growth.

Not even the slightest hint of a pull or tug, none.
These stones are fantastic.

Now it's going to be a matter of which edge can I tolerate better when shaving daily, both amazing edges. Superb.

I might experiment more with the Escher, finishing thicker slurry, plain water, etc.
But finishing on a misty slurry really does great things for me.

Honed this Geo. Wostenholm and this New England Razor Company razors. shaved with both this morning...each razor took on half my face. Fine shave from both. Naniwa progression. no issues.

another side by side
2 razors, Swedish steel

Killed the edge on both and corrected the heels, I absolutely hate honing into the stabilizer.

Both honed with the same progression Naniwa 1K -> 3K -> 5K -> BBW -> Coticule -> Suehiro 20K

Took one of the two razors and finished it on an Escher with only water.
(the Escher is sloooow, instead of doing dilutions this time I simply came from the 20K, which is fast for a finisher that grit and leaves a highly polished edge, an easy shortcut that works flawlessly)

Shave test: both super smooth and sharp edges, shave was effortlessly with both razors. Some of the finest edges around. I'm hard pressed to find differences or choose between either.

Didn't notice any difference in sharpness and both very smooth.
The Escher was a tad easier on the skin.

I'm impressed by both, the 20K is amazing.
My Escher didn't degrade my 20K edge at all, au contraire.

Although the 20K finish is certainly very easy on the skin, the Escher just added that tiny bit more. This is the only way I could tell them apart, but the 20K is as close as any synthetic gets to a natural finish.

The 20K reminds me more of a Jnat finish someone else put on a few razors in the past.
Although there are many variables between different Jnat finishes, it's hard to make a generalization. But what a great edge!

I'm all set. I found my favorite finishing stone. And beside the one Jnat I have, I'm not going to chase any more stones.
I've tried so many Coticules and BBWs and I still like them for their capabilities, I will keep using them, but my personal preference for a finishing stone is without a doubt the Escher.

HAD in remission?
Addictions are life-long. You are stronger now but soon or later you'll succumb...

After hearing a bunch of talk about the 1K challenge, I decided to give it a try on this Clauss that has been unable to get up to snuff. It wasn't until I read this old thread by JellyJar that I had heard anyone mention getting tree topping off a 1K stone. With lots of honing, jointing, and a significant increase in stropping, I got the toe half of the blade to tree top arm hairs.



Despite only half the blade tree topping I went ahead and shaved. It was decent enough. It pulled but wasn't intolerable. The usual trouble spots were more trouble, but again, not intolerable. The shave certainly wasn't as close as a normal straight shave. All in all I think that the shave comfort and results were similar to my old Mach 5. I will definitely go back and get the whole blade tree topping and try another shave.

JellyJar's thread: https://sharprazorpalace.com/honing/...t=1k+Challenge

Heels need correction, The spine is not ground evenly near the stabilizer and is keeping the heel half of the razor from making full contact like the toe half of the razor. (Blue Arrow)

Moving the heel corner of the edge away from the stabilizer about a ¼ inch will take that part of the spine out of play and allow the edge to sit flat on the stone. (Red Arrow)

Keep in mind the goal of setting a bevel at 1k is to grind the bevels into the proper shape/angle AND get the bevels to meet at a straight edge. A fully set bevel.

When you grind the bevels flat and in the proper angle with a 1k, the edge can get chippy from all the metal that is removed. But first you must, get the bevels to meet fully.

Understanding, how to determine a fully set bevel is key. Look straight down on the edge, with magnification, if you see any shiny reflections on the edge, they are spots where the bevels are not meeting. If half of the edge is not meeting, you have a problem and you need to figure out what the issue is. Simply doing more of the same is not a solution, it can make things worse.

Honing on a 1k is a double edge sword, it is aggressive and can remove material quickly, but once the bevels meet if you do too many laps or use too much pressure you can thin the edge and make it chippy.

If you are progressing to a finer stone, this is not an issue, because the next stone in the progression will refine the edge and all the deep stria and weak edge will be removed.

But if you want to try to shave off the 1k edge, the 1k must refine the edge, hard to do if you have a lot of deep stria at the edge making a micro serrated edge.

Once the bevels are flat and in the correct plane and meeting but jagged, joint the edge straight, Clean and Lap the stone flat and hone with super lite pressure to reduce the stria height without creating new deep 1k stria. Stria is a series of hills and valleys.

Side honing (honing parallel to the edge) can help by cutting off the tops of the hills. Then lightly hone edge leading and or edge trailing. To refine the edge. The problem is with a 1k it is easy to go too far and create deep stria and a micro serrated edge. A lot will depend on your stone, the steel of the razor and the pressure and technique of the honer.

Stropping between honing laps can help by removing the micro burr/flashing and micro thinning/polishing the edge. If you go too far (microns really) simply joint the edge and try again.

If you want to see the power and results of Jointing, look at Skorpio58’s Learning with Microscope post. Look at todays post and see the original edge, after jointing and after honing to the jointed edge. The results are impressive, but not as dramatic as jointing a 1k edge.

Donato has made huge progress honing, in a few short months, this was accomplished by his great micrographs, that allowed me to critique and explain what we were both seeing and his attention to detail. None of this could have been possible without his ability to recognize a fully set bevel.

Like Glen said in the original thread, “The concentration and attention to detail is the actual learning process here LOL we tricked you into paying REAL attention to the bevel set, once you learn how important that really is, honing becomes fun?
Once the bevel is fully set, the rest is just polishing. A fully set bevel can be jointed and re-set in as few as 10 laps, removing microns of steel.

You are close, correct the heel and look straight down on the edge and see if the bevel is fully set, then perfect the 1k edge. You cannot perfect an edge that does not exist.

Thanks Euclid. I can't see any shiny spots when I look down the edge, so best I can tell the bevel is set all the way down.

So, the blue arrow is pointing to the spine next to the shoulder being thicker than the rest of the spine? Not really honing on the shoulder, just a small area of the spine?

I did joint the edge several times along the way. Also, for whatever reason, did do several edge traiiing laps. I rarely do that but it seemed like the right thing to do. I don't usually try to hone with much pressure, but edge trailing just felt even lighter.

I have been following skorpio's thread. Also Glen's comment about bevel setting was one of the things that tipped me into this 1k challenge.

Not thicker, wider look at the width of the spine from the top of the hollow grind to the top of the spine. Note the wonky grind.

Bottom line if the edge is not honing evenly from heel to toe, there is a problem.

If the razor was flat on the hone, the whole edge would be honed evenly.

Here is what you should see, use as much magnification as you have and a strong light behind you.




Almost fully set bevel,




Fully set

Thanks Euclid, I appreciate it. I'm going to play with it a bit and if I have more questions I'll start a thread.