I have been following this thread.
I decided that if Planeden and Jellyjar were doing the 1k challenge I should too.
I was advised to shave with my 1K edge a while ago but to honest I didn't think it would be worthwhile and always wanted to move on to the next stone.
Planeden's and Jellyjar's experiences have caused me to rethink the whole 1k thing.
I got out my trusty Kinfolks because that's my learnin thing and killed the edge 3 times on the corner of my 1k Naniwa ss. I gave ithe stone a quick 10 laps with my 400 plate just to have a good surface after last time i used it.
I wanted to get as good an edge as possible for obvious reasons.
I painted the edge with a sharpie and did 4 full x- stroke laps. The marker was gone the whole way from both sides, I knew that would happen actually because i have honed this razor a lot.
Anyway, i over honed with 40 x stroke laps very gentle torque to be sure that the bevel was set. This was new to me but i think I saw Joseph do it.
I had one layer of Kapton tape and I had not even nearly burned through it so I am confident that I wasn't using pressure on the spine.
I joined the edge on the corner of the 1K stone and did 6 no pressure x stokes test and 6 more, the edge was cutting arm hair but I wanted to see if it would get better so i did another 6. Now it was a better edge than i had ever achieved with a 1K.
I left the Kapton on and did 40 laps on flax, 30 on herringbone cotton, 40 on English Bridal Leather and 60 on Buffalo (light draw).
I am completely gobsmacked, I'm going to shave this afternoon after my shower and I am excited. If that 1K edge is as good as I think it is i will be very happy.
I want to thank Planeden because if it weren't for this thread I wouldn't have thought to try this challenge.
I have always thought my edges were pretty good and they always shave well but by shaving with 1k I think I am learning the importance of a fully set bevel and a truly sharp 1k edge.
I have been told that I will look back in a few years and laugh at today''s edges.
I think that todays shave will teach me a lot about the importance of a good foundation and my finished edges are almost certainly going to be in a different league, all because of a good bevel.
Whoda thunk it eh?
I wonder if it would be an idea to strop my edge after each stone before moving on. Does anyone actually do that?